AVON, Ohio — Spooky season is just getting started and already stores are running out of your Halloween favorites.
Consumer reports show more people are shopping for the holiday earlier this year than ever before, but there’s a way you can still find all your spooky things without breaking the bank.
The keyword here is thrifting.
When it comes to Halloween they are no amateurs.
“Halloween is Goodwill’s Christmas,” said Aaron Baker, store manager at Avon Goodwill.
Baker’s team takes the holiday to another level finding special items while processing at least 800 new pieces a day.
“As soon as Labor Day ended our Halloween season started,” he explained. “Anything that can be weird, unique, vintage we actually save. We store throughout the year…We could never do this without the community. We love our customers and our donors they are the reason why we’re here.”
Baker says customers didn’t waste any time getting in and claiming those items. He says their decorations and accessories are just about gone. However, he says Goodwill is the place to go if you’re looking for a creative costume. Josh Mullins, a store manager for Goodwill Vermillion, repurposes damaged clothing into costumes giving customers more options. He showed the News 5 team a dress he created explaining, “this is actually a part of another costume that was destroyed that I cut out and sewed in.”
You can also piece costumes together.
“The thing about shopping thrift for Halloween costumes is that you want to let your creativity just go,” said coupon expert, Rachel Krych. "It’s not just that you’re saving money but that you’re also able to give back to the community."
Krych, who often finds her Halloween steals in Goodwill, says start with the accessories to get an idea of what the store may have. She suggests then looking for things that stand out.
“If you found some scrubs you could start with your doctor costume this would be super easy. You could pair it with something else. You could do nurse and let these are probably only a couple bucks,” she said.
She suggests also checking out the store’s shoe collection to find inspiration.
“[It’s] way cheaper than if you were going to a store and spending $40 on a pair of shoes that you may only wear a couple times,” she said.
However, she says you can still shop at bigger chain stores and save money.
"What you can do is do a little of both," she said. "You could buy a piece here and then you could spend a little more money at a Halloween store."
Lastly, Krych says don't go Halloween thrifting alone.
"When you shop by yourself you have a little bit more limited ideas."
