12 Comments

I once got a pair of Raybans from a thrift store for $.99 and I just bought a great leather jacket for $5.00. We recently purged everything and moved to Europe. It’s hard not replacing stuff you don’t need more than once.

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Oh wow this book speaks to me for a couple reasons:

1) a portion of my job is coordinating the removal of items from homes after a person passes away. This has made me more willing to purge my personal items when I have the time.

2) I recently joined my area buy-nothing and have enjoyed seeing what is considered “valuable” to the community and what isn’t

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I once got a denim jacket in a Montreal thrift store that’s basically my favorite fall outerwear.

That said, I also got some solid use out of a portable bar I found in a thrift shop in college.

Either way I’m really excited for the book and it should fun. I am wondering if the online shopping boom especially owing to the pandemic is going to lead to a big surge in discarded stuff soon, which I must say is kind of worrying.

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Enjoying this book so much! Pretty much every chapter has something I have to lean over and tell my husband. (British closets contain 3.6 million unworn garments?) And I have a lot of good memories of the secondhand economy. I remember being excited to see the costume jewelry I donated to the local St. Vincent de Paul show up in their display case — it meant they thought someone else would really want it too. Because it’s so true that you really want other people to appreciate your things after you.

And the best thing I ever got secondhand cost $8. I had just changed a lightbulb in my crappy post-college apartment and the light fixture cover broke. I was going to have to pay the management company for a new one and I was not happy. But you know that giant thrift store in “Lady Bird”? On a trip to Sacramento with my friend I swear I went there (along with a restaurant called Pancake Circus, which was also fun) and they had the perfect replacement. It still makes me happy to think about.

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I found an amazing duck shirt at a Goodwill in Hazard, KY that I always get compliments on. There was actually a missing button when I bought the shirt so I'm glad that it even made it onto the sales floor.

One thing this book has really got me to think about is the difference in where you find secondhand items, what you'll find, and the price. In rural and small towns I have noticed that the quality and barely used items end up in Goodwill. Versus living in a major metropolitan area a lot more stuff ends up in consignment shops where the price is easily 3-4 times what you might pay in a Goodwill type store.

I really enjoyed the first four chapters and am looking forward to where we'll be heading next in the book.

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Still stuck on this. What kind of a person just let's a Fondue Pot sit there unused to become junk? In general Fondue Pots are way underrated and have been a hit of sunshine for me my whole life.

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"90% of garage space is used to share “stuff” and not cars". Share? Did you mean "store"? Sharing would be great, mind you

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My best secondhand finds certainly have been comics, sports cards and vinyl records. That said the best thing I ever got second hand was this Leather British Pilot jacket that topped Maverick Top Gun coolness without a doubt.

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Took my diamond to the pawn shop, but that don't make it junk. Loving this book so far, especially because since the pandemic hit I've been tackling my goal of downsizing (Other pandemic goals 1. Watch Game of Thrones 2. Start playing Chess again. 3. Do a Cannonball Run). Anyways it's been fascinating to read about the history of Goodwill, Garage Sales, Thrift Stores & Ebay. Plus the chapter on Japan was truly interesting and really made me think (Btw I would have totally scooped up that Elton John vinyl Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player). Also, enjoyed reading about Antique Roadshow (wonderful show) and American Pickers (Guilty Pleasure). In addition, it is totally mind blowing that the storage unit industry's profits have tripled Hollywood's! The author is correct so far that readers will find "A surprising world where what's old becomes new again, over and over, and the desire to profit from castoffs creates innovation and livelihoods all over the world at all hours of the day. Finding it is a treasure hunt that anyone can join".

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