Finding unexpected and useful treasures in thrift stores
In December of 2006 a rare Velvet Underground record sold for over $155,000 on eBay.
A record selling for this amount is undoubtedly amazing, but what is truly astonishing is that the seller found the record at a flea market for 75 cents.
Another jackpot thrift store snag occurred not too long ago when former long haul truck driver Teri Horton bought a painting for $5 as a gift for her friend.
The painting would not fit in Horton’s friend’s trailer, so she decided to sell it in a yard sale, where a college art teacher saw it and suggested it might be a Jason Pollock painting.
Upon verification of the painting’s authenticity, it was estimated to sell for approximately $50 million (not bad considering Horton has an 8th grade education).
I purchase essentially all of my clothes from thrift stores. Some of my friends say that’s disgusting, I say it’s called a washing machine. Nearly 90 percent of the shirts I find still have the tag from the dry cleaners on them(no I don’t wear them straight out of store, I still feel compelled to wash them before I wear them no matter how clean they look).
In today’s society several people possess this better than everyone mentally, with their justification based entirely on the car they drive, the phone they own or the contents of their wallet. Clearly this elite mentality must be abolished; we are all created equal.
Anyone can go to the mall and find something they like, or something that fits, if it’s clothing.
However, when you browse through a thrift store and discover something that captures your interest, there is only one of them there.
There are no special orders and no extra supply in the stock room. If the article of clothing happens to fit, a strong sense of sentiment and destiny is created.
Furthermore, with brand new clothes, most people seem apprehensive toward being active in them or participating in activities they love, and so the things you own will end up owning you. I love to fish, and recently I found a pair of Lucky Brand jeans at a thrift store. Not once have I ever been reluctant to wipe fish guts on them, for they are merely a pair of jeans to me.
The tags on the clothes we wear should mean no more than the colors of our skin. When we take into consideration that average budget of a college student, shopping at thrift stores is an intelligent decision.
After all, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.