45 Times People Came Across Such Fantastic Second-Hand Finds, They Just Had To Share (New Pics)

Bored Panda reached out to the creator of Weird Second-Hand Finds and she was kind enough to tell us about what it’s like running the page on Instagram. Our colleague Jonas previously talked with Sarah, the page’s owner, about a year back. She then told Bored Panda that her love for thrifting began when she was little. “When I grew up, I started to go with my dad to Goodwill and flea markets. My father used to buy things to resell them and for our house as well," she said previously.

Now Sarah says that not much has changed. She still runs the Instagram page by herself. The page currently has 19,700 dedicated followers on Instagram. There’s also a Facebook group that’s associated with the page as well that has over 152,000 members. It’s for thrifting enthusiasts to post odd and unusual pieces they come across while visiting yard sales, estate sales, antique stores, and so on.

One of the joys of second-hand shopping is that you can find rare and one-of-a-kind items. Whether it’s clothes, furniture or house decorations, some finds can be rather priceless. Sarah says she loves thrifting because it becomes a lifestyle in the long run. “I like the weird items,” she says. “Anything that’s abnormal or unusual.”

She credits this feature as the reason why second-hand shopping is so popular nowadays. “You can find some really cool, weird and priceless items while thrifting,” Sarah is certain. She says clothes and furniture are her favorites to rummage through, but her page has no bias toward any kind of items. It features all sorts of used items, as long as they’re unique and interesting.

Bored Panda also spoke to recycling artist and video creator Shelly Kennagh. She runs a YouTube channel Repurposed My Way where she shares various DIY and trash-to-treasure projects. Thrifting and shopping second-hand can be like a little adventure, Shelly says: “Thrifting and searching for second-hand items is almost like a treasure hunt for me. It is thrilling to find a previously loved item and hopefully rescue it, renew it to be re-loved.”

Shelly is passionate about thrifting and repurposing old items – whether they’re bought from a second-hand shop or found at a yard sale, or have just been lying around at home for too long. That’s why she uses the word “re-loved”. She believes that the things we own can have a purpose and deserve attention and to be loved.

Shelly agrees that buying used items is a great way to both get rid of stuff you don’t want, and find some gems you’ve been looking for. “Whether it be clothes, housewares, or home decor, thrifting is helping recycle unwanted items into the hands of people that want it,” she believes.

Buying second-hand also doesn’t hurt your wallet. “Even if it’s to repurpose, update their wardrobe, or help fill up a new home, most of the time the prices can’t be beat,” Shelly admits.

Shelly’s YouTube and Etsy pages are full of her DIY projects for other enthusiasts to check out. She also shared with us her most recent find that made her the most excited. It’s a huge ceramic rooster she found at Goodwill. “He got a nice paint job to match my decor and he is beautiful in my kitchen,” Shelly gushes.

Although it sounds like there’s only positives to thrifting, it’s possible to go overboard. Shelly says there can be such a thing as over-thrifting. “It can be kind of addicting and when that thrill of the new treasure hits, it could easily be a hoarder situation,” Shelly recommends people to be cautious.

Naturally, there’s also the sustainability element. The sheer number of thrift stores and the goods in them are proof that there are enough clothes in the world to dress everybody on the planet. The same might be said about furniture. Manufacturing new goods reportedly generates 100 times more greenhouse gas emissions than refinishing.

It’s been long argued that buying used things is more sustainable and friendlier to our planet. Yet studies begin to show that recycling and reusing only plays a small role in reducing global waste. That’s especially true to the clothing industry.

“We thought a lot of this stuff would be resellable, and it's not,” CEO of ReCircled Scott Kuhlman said in a video conference interview. “It's just not to the level of quality that anybody would agree to buy, at least not at the price point that works in the market.”

Adam Minter, the author of the book Secondhand, told NPR how the sorting process goes on at Goodwill: “[the sorters] go through and they feel the fabric. Is it thin? Does it feel like something that's gonna fall apart after one to five washes?”

That’s why most fast fashion garments cannot actually be reused or repurposed – they were literally not made to last that long. Minter concludes: the best thing each of us can do for the planet is to not buy more stuff.

It looks like even second-hand shopping needs to be done with some caution if you’re making your shopping decisions with ecological and social issues in mind. The clothing industry is by far the worst contributor of waste, even with recycling and reusing in mind.

But if you’re just looking for some funky trinkets to spice up your home, don’t beat yourself up – it’s not  as bad. Also, you can always do some eye shopping when scrolling through lists like this. Maybe your itch to thrift will be sated by these spectacular second-hand finds?