P.E.I. Thriftspotting group on Facebook connects thrift store shoppers with finds
'At least if I'm not going to get it, I can share it with someone else,' says group's founder
A pair of pants that doesn't quite fit — or a cute lamp that doesn't go with your decor. These items can be tough to say no to in a thrift store, but a P.E.I.-based Facebook group aims to help these "thriftspots" find the right home.
"I love going thrifting, and I feel like I always find some pretty cool stuff, but I'm not always in a position to buy it," said Katharine MacDonald, who started the P.E.I. Thriftspotting group late last year.
"I know a few other fellow thrifters and I thought maybe if we had a community online where we could share the things that we found but that we were passing up, then people who might want to go grab that item could go check out what we'd found and we'd kind of support each other that way."
Since the group started, MacDonald said she's found lots of neat items through it — other times, she's arrived at the store to find the item is sold.
She's also had positive feedback from people in the group.
"People that I know say they check it every day," she said. "It gives them a little bit more of a sense of purpose when they go shopping. They know, 'Well, at least if I'm not going to get it, I can share it with someone else and maybe they'll find it and get that treasure.'"
Inspiration for a website
One post to the group shows what Thriftspotting would look like as a website.
User Kristin Cheverie turned it into a web application for a coding bootcamp.
The website, which isn't live, shows photos of different items from the group, and a map of where they can be found.
"That was amazing," said MacDonald. "I just had visions of Thriftspotting being something so global. Really, right now it's so local and everyone almost knows each other, but it really does have the capacity to scale up like that."
Hopes to expand 'tip to tip'
MacDonald said more thrifters are welcome, and hopes to see more treasures from across the Island.
"A lot of people just post in Charlottetown but we'd love to see thriftspots from tip to tip," she said.
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