The thrifting golden age is coming — and it's about generations passing down an avalanche of stuff

We are about to enter a thrifting golden age. That’s according to Virginia Chamlee, thrifting expert and author of "Big Thrift Energy: The Art and Thrill of Finding Vintage Treasures - Plus Tips for Making Old Feel New."

You’ve probably heard about the “great wealth transfer” on the horizon in which an estimated $80 trillion to $120 trillion in assets is about to be passed down from the Silent Generation and baby boomers to millennials and Generation X.

But, the thrifting golden age is about more than money.

These generations are also passing down an avalanche of stuff. Furniture, silverware, clothes, keepsakes, collections and cooking ware. The Show spoke with Chamlee about it.

Full conversation

VIRGINIA CHAMLEE: We are seeing what a lot of experts are calling the silver tsunami. All of these baby boomers are aging and they're moving and they're downsizing, and that means they are releasing really their lifetimes' worth of stuff — furniture and art and household goods and collectibles. And that's kind of all going to end up in the secondary market, so thrift stores and estate sales.

LAUREN GILGER: Are thrift stores, antique shops, Goodwill — are they ready for this?

VIRGINIA CHAMLEE: I don't know. I mean, people don't realize how much stuff thrift stores are inundated with as is. Some of them get, I read a stat once, some of them get as many as 40,000 donations a week, and obviously that includes things like single items of clothing or a single sock or something. But you know, a lot of people donate kind of what's really trash to thrift stores. So I don't know that they're ready, but it's happening.

LAUREN GILGER: It’s happening. And it sounds like baby boomers were in particular like a generation, maybe one of the first generations that really acquired a lot of stuff, and they think about their stuff a little differently than we might.

VIRGINIA CHAMLEE: Absolutely. I mean, baby boomers, for one, were kind of one of the first generations to really start collecting, right? So collectibles, dinnerware, silver, china — these are things that maybe the younger generations aren't really as accustomed to buying or accumulating. But also baby boomers inherited a lot of pieces from their parents or, like, mid-century modern furniture, for instance. That is now very, very valuable and collectible and more rare and some of the younger generations are after. And at the time when baby boomers got it, you know, it was just kind of like, "Oh, my parents gave me this old chair," kind of a thing.

LAUREN GILGER: All that Lane furniture, right? OK. What are you expecting to see a lot of as this great stuff transfer happens? What are you on the lookout for?

VIRGINIA CHAMLEE: Well, I think well-made furniture is a really big one. And this is something that I am hopeful that we can get the younger generation to appreciate. You know, a lot of millennials and Gen Z are more accustomed to buying fast furniture. So pieces that you might have to build yourself or pieces that are made overseas and don't really hold up as well.

A lot of the furniture baby boomers have, it holds up. But it's also a lot bigger. I think one of the problems we're probably going to run into is that there are some things that baby boomers have that just aren't necessarily useful anymore. So I'm thinking about TV cabinets in particular. I think we all remember those from when we were young, like in the 1990s, everybody had a TV cabinet. And now, you know, TVs don't really go in a cabinet anymore, and they're flat screens and they're bigger and they're mounted on the wall.

So things like that, I think, might be an issue. But there are other things like, I mean, silver is a really great example. Obviously, you know, we've seen a big silver boom in 2025 and 2026 just for the material itself. But I think also some of the younger generations are kind of getting more into, like, hosting and using things like silver for everyday rather than just special occasions. So I think that's one thing that we might see a lot more of.

Also dishware — Pyrex, CorningWare — and some of that stuff is really, really valuable. I was actually looking at eBay sold listings earlier, and there are some pieces that, you know, have gone for $3,500. I think I saw a Pyrex that sold recently, like a casserole dish $3,500 earlier this month on eBay. So, you know, some of this stuff, it might seem like kind of nothing, but if you know what you're looking for, you might kind of luck out.

LAUREN GILGER: That’s amazing. OK, so let's talk about what we should be looking for and how we can luck out, right? Like, there are tactics to identifying something that is high quality that might be worth something. A lot of it is just sort of learning, but this is kind of what you do, right? So give us your top-line advice. How do we decide or understand or learn what's high quality, what going to be worth something?

VIRGINIA CHAMLEE: Well, I think the best way is just to inundate your brain with makers and design styles. So I spend a lot of time going on websites like 1stDibs and Chairish, not even to shop but just to, like, look. And also eBay, of course. You know, just get an idea for some of those things you see at the thrift stores. And maybe focus on one category, like let's say dinnerware. Just learn everything you can about Pyrex and fill your brain with it. And then when you go to the thrift store and you see it, you'll sort of know what it is without having to take out your phone and open up Google Lens.

There's also things like, I think abstract art and vintage art is something that I, as a vintage seller, have sold a lot of, particularly if it's framed. And that's something you can sell on, you know, eBay or a more high-end website like Chairish.

And sometimes it's about the maker, so it's about familiarizing yourself with that. But also just does it look kind of trendy? Does it look like somebody might buy it now? Then it's probably a worthy buy, you know, even if it's not necessarily by someone, by a listed artist or an important artist.

LAUREN GILGER: Yeah. OK, so say like your parents move out of their big old house or downsize or your parents pass away, you've got, you know, a lot of stuff to take care of. What do you think is like the best approach to, as a family, sort of addressing what's valuable maybe i n like a nostalgic way versus what might be valuable in a monetary way?

VIRGINIA CHAMLEE: Yeah, well, I think estate sale companies can be hugely helpful for this, because that's their job and they can kind of sort through everything. And I know from personal experience, oftentimes when a family member dies, you initially feel like, OK, we are going to go through every single piece in this house and really take out the good stuff. And by like day five, you're kind of like, OK, I cannot do this anymore. ...

It's a lot of stuff. We all have so much stuff and people don't realize it. And I think hiring outside help, an organizing company, an estate sale company, someone that will sort of take out those nostalgic pieces just so you don't miss them. You know, certainly I think if they collected wedding china or if there's any sort of trophies from work or sports or, you know, children's art, things like that, certainly you want to keep that for nostalgic purposes.

And then, you know, if you're looking for pieces that you don't want to just maybe donate and you're hoping to get some money for it, definitely always check for makers' marks and signatures. Whether it's furniture and you're sort of looking underneath a piece or if it's silver and you're looking for some of those markings or those brands.

LAUREN GILGER: Yeah, it’s familiarizing yourself with some of those brands, yeah. OK, so I have to ask you before we let you go, because you're known for this. Like, what are some of the best finds that you have come across? I mean, you're a pro at this, right? [LAUGHS]

VIRGINIA CHAMLEE: Probably my best find ever is my trunk. I have a really incredible Goyard trunk that I got at a thrift store for $95 ... and I have since been offered $30,000 for it from an auction house. So I said no.

LAUREN GILGER: You said no!

VIRGINIA CHAMLEE: I said no. I just joke that I'll be the old woman who lived in her trunk one day. But it was an auction house that offered me $30,000, so I assume they would turn around and maybe sell it for more, so it kind of scares me. But you know, everything has a price. Maybe if there's a listener who wants to give me like $60,000 for it, we can talk.

LAUREN GILGER: OK. All right. All right. She’s up for grabs here. That is Virginia Chamlee, the author of "Big Thrift Energy," thrifting expert, joining us to talk about the great stuff transfer. Virginia, thank you so much for coming on The Show. I appreciate it.

VIRGINIA CHAMLEE: Thank you so much.