Ca$h Clo$et

Although Thanksgiving isn’t here yet, Christmas tree lights are already starting to brighten the streets of Los Angeles, and stores are starting to carry ornaments to decorate dorm rooms and apartments. It’s a gentle reminder that ’tis the season … to start panicking about the lack of money in your bank account.

With the impending financial doom brought on by presents, plane tickets and other holiday expenses lurking over students’ shoulders, it’s hard to find a peaceful, stress-free moment. But there’s a way to make some extra cash while also completing your New Year’s resolution to finally clean your room: resell your old clothes and items.

“I know that college (students) are often or always on a budget,” said Casey Berner, a buyer at Buffalo Exchange. “If you are looking for something really desirable and fashionable, it’s a great place to shop.”

Stores like Buffalo Exchange might be the solution to your monetary woes.

In the case of the Buffalo Exchange in Westwood, they offer 30 percent of the cash value of their determined retail price or 50 percent store credit.

“We look for items that are in excellent edition, current styles or the best of all seasons,” Berner said. “It’s hard to say without seeing the items. But we’re always looking for denim, T-shirts, sweaters, jackets and shoes if they are in excellent condition ““ it’s really broad.”

With the philosophy that recycling is always in style, Buffalo Exchange has proven to be a successful enterprise, especially in college towns across America. Not only will stores like these buy your clothing items back, but if you look hard enough you might find brand-name or designer clothes for less than half the price ““ perfect gifts for that ultra-hip person on your list.

“We want to make current styles available to everybody regardless of income,” Berner said. “We want to make sure items are clean, in good or excellent condition; we want our stores to replicate the look of a retail store.”

It’s not only your too-small sweater from three years ago that you can get money for. Amoeba Music, located in Hollywood, will buy back your old DVDs and CDs that have been collecting dust since you got an iPod.

“We’re a mom-and-pop record store in a very large building,” said Jason Moore, who has worked at Amoeba Music for 10 years, buying used items for the store. “We pay accordingly. We won’t give you a couple bucks for something that we know for sure that we are going to sell for $100.”

Although they will buy rare and one-of-a-kind items, Amoeba is always on the lookout for top-selling CDs and artists that fill the CD collections of most college students. There’s no set percentage of the Amoeba sale price that they will offer you; they’ll often offer how much they want to give you for your item, and then it is up to you to decide if the price is right. Most people receive about 50 percent of the Amoeba retail price.

“I always tell customers, since people are always focusing on the high-end, super rare stuff, a $300 record is cool, but it takes a lot of time to sell a $300 record,” Moore said. “More important almost is quality records ““ the best bands ever that will always sell: the Stones, the Beatles, Bob Marley. CDs in the $10 to $20 zone will sell all day long, but an LP in the $300 will take weeks to sell.”

This also means that you’ll be able to find cheaper rare albums for your music- or movie-loving friends. Moore cautions, though, that since the economy has been down, he’s been seeing a lot of people come in and try to sell their old albums and movies. He warns that they are a bit more discriminating at this time, but it’s still worth a try to come down.

If you are finding that no one wants your junk, don’t fret; many of the places will take the items that you don’t want and donate them to charity. For example, a local Buffalo Exchange will take all your unsold items and donate them to The L.A. Mission, a homeless shelter downtown. Although you won’t get a tax write-off for it since the store acts as a middle man in the process, you can feel a little bit better that you’ve gotten rid of something that you don’t need and given it to someone who might need it more.

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