Answer Angel: Finding bargains

Ellen Warren, Tribune News Service on Mar 24, 2026

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Dear Answer Angel Ellen: My friends love to brag about the clothes and accessories they find at bargain prices.

Why do I always seem to pay full price for the ones I buy? What am I missing?

--Jenny V.

Dear Jenny: Those friends probably spend a good deal of time searching resale shop websites. If you want a bargain, you’re going to have to work for it. The good news is that you don’t have to leave the house to score. Sure, you might find exactly what you’re looking for on the “final sale” rack at your favorite store but that is unlikely.

As for your just-missing-out blues, I recently failed to take my own advice. In an impulse buy, I bought a deeply discounted name-brand purse while browsing a discount brick-and-mortar store, Nordstrom Rack. What I failed to do was check online resale shops on my phone before I handed the sales clerk my credit card. Shame on me. Often online resale sites have brand-new or barely-used items (tags on or off) at huge savings.

As for online pricing, if you stick with your searches — patiently — you might find someone who doesn’t realize that the Kenzo sweater (or whatever) that they posted is scarce, worth lots and is priced for much less than elsewhere. That’s when you score big.

To get you started, try these sites. (And many of these will alert you when there’s a new listing of your desired items.)

Dear Answer Angel Ellen: I’m heartsick. A friend came over and knocked a treasured decorative porcelain bowl off a side table and it broke into many pieces. I blame myself, not her. I should have displayed it in a less accessible spot in my apartment. But I wonder, other than putting them on a high shelf out of reach, is there a way to display and protect precious items from breakage like this?

--Monica B.

Dear Monica: What you need is museum gel or museum putty. There are numerous brands at prices starting at under $4 online or in hardware and home building stores. You stick it on the bottom of your precious items then place them where you want to display them. And they stay put. Quality varies so make sure you buy a brand that’s removable and designed not to harm surfaces.

Reader Rants

Eleanor H. takes a firm stand against weddings that stipulate black tie: “I think there should be no such thing as a black-tie wedding. Many of the guests will probably be young men who are paying off college loans or saving for a first home. They shouldn't be asked to pay for a tuxedo rental in order to attend a wedding. Rather, they should be able to wear something they already own.”

Alice S. laments: “I ordered a bra and when I got it and tried it on, I could barely hook it. I measured it and it measured many inches less than the size it is supposed to be! It was an expensive bra!" From Ellen: Unfortunately, sizing on many garments — bras are no exception — varies tremendously. Obviously it is best to try before you buy but often that is impossible. Reading online reviews can alert buyers when garments run large or small but even then there are no guarantees that it will fit. Free postage paid returns are highly preferable considering steep costs to send an item back if it doesn’t fit.

PhylIis M. has strong feelings about guest towels in the bathroom: “I would like to emphasize that people should PROVIDE AND USE GUEST TOWELS. There are two aspects of the same issue, hosts and guests. Both have a responsibility -- the hosts have a responsibility to provide guest towels and the guests a responsibility to use them! It's a matter of hygiene and etiquette. I am always amazed (in a negative way) when I go to someone's lovely home for a delicious meal (hosts are obviously people interested in providing for their guests) and there are no guest towels in the bathroom, only the family’s regular bath towels -- requiring me to use toilet paper or tissues, if there are any, or my own clothes as a towel! Using those family towels hanging in the bathroom? Ick!”