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Doing Black Friday on a dime: Welcome to second-hand Christmas shopping

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DENVER -- We hear so much about big box store bargains on Black Friday, but some die-hard deal hunters say nothing compares to secondhand savings.

At Goodwill Denver on 21 South Broadway, shoppers were digging for everything from brand-new bargains to gently used toys to white elephant gifts and ugly sweaters.

Kristi Dirks, who was hunting for some bargains herself, says her family now gets her Goodwill gift cards for Christmas.

"It's a running joke in my family. Did it come from G-dub? We call it G-dub. It's a code word," she said with a smile. "I do buy gifts here. Shhh. You can find brand new stuff here with tags still on!"

Grey Martineau says shopping used just makes sense.

"I buy secondhand gifts, too," Martineau said with a laugh. "This tie, we're getting for them for 2 bucks and I found this cute pair of shoes for $9. So, that's pretty great."

At Big Daddy's Jewelry and Pawn, second-hand shopping goes high-end – from Rolex watches to diamond rings.

"Number one thing is jewelry for sure. Sometimes jewelry stores have a 500 percent markup and we don't do that," said online sales manager Robin Lindsay, who said they often sell items for less than half the price of retail.

ProTip: They don't mind a little friendly haggling on everything from almost new Apple laptops to new designer handbags to guitars.

Other ideas for shopping and saving second-hand: consignment clothing stores, second-hand sporting goods stores and flea markets.