A consigment thrift shop is a combination of a thrift shop where people donate their stuff usually to a charitable organization so that they can sell it to make money in their shop and of a consigment shop. The later is where somebody hands in their stuff to someone, not donating it, and that somebody sells it for them.

Apart from supporting a good cause when used for charitable purposes these consignment thrift shops have pretty much become a necessary part in our world today. We have always been gatherers and with new modern possibilities of buying pretty much anything at anytime we gather more than ever. The consignment thrift shop has become a vital part of our consumption cycle as self storage are bulging with our goods.

The history of charity shops go several decades back and so in a sense does then the history of the consignment thrift shop. The first charity shop for example in the UK opened in 1948 in Oxford. In several countries across the globe there are chains of these establishment that has taken this area of business from small local affairs to nationwide organizations.

Usually in consigment thrift shops the original owner of the goods gets a portion of the sales, thus seperating it from a strictly thrift store. This however though can vary from location to location. Popular merchandeis sold at these establishment includes items such as antiques, automobiles, books, clothing, athletic equipment, music, furniture, tools, musical instruments and toys.

The word consigment in later Latin languange means to hand over or to transmit. The word thrift has taken on a life of its own in the US, where consigment thrift shops amongst others have become so popular that a new term, thrifting has appeared in the everyday language. The act of thrifting is said to be a celebration of the recycling of formerly owned items and is manually practiced by out of the mainstream individuals looking to find a personal flavor.

As we continue to create new technology and create new variations of old goods, there is no slowing in sight of the second hand trend associated with consignment thrift shops. As mentioned in the beginning, gathers we have been since stone age and today the oppurtunities are staggering to collect pretty much whatever you desire. Since the amount of space in our closet usually does not grow in proportion the old stuff has to go somewhere.

Kari Eriksson is an infopreneur and visits Consignment Thrift Shops with a keen eye. He operates his site http://www.consignmentthriftshops.com where you can find articles, links and useful resources in regards to Consignment Thrift Shops.