If you've ever tried thrift hunting, the chances are you’re hooked. And as the coronavirus restrictions ease and the world is now returning to the quasi-normal modus operandi, secondhand aficionados are uniting for a long-awaited rummage into the post-pandemic finds.
In order to see how the fellow thrift hunters with an immaculate eye for weirdly wonderful details of the pre-owned treasure trove are doing, we have to turn our heads to the best ones. We’re talking the internet’s favorite corner “Weird (and Wonderful) Secondhand Finds That Just Need To Be Shared,” a Facebook group that has people posting their proudest secondhand trophies, making everyone sigh and applaud in response.
#1 I'm An Electrician And I'm Constantly Saving Old Fixtures From The Dumpster, I Have A Whole Collection In My Basement
Today I brought home my greatest find to date. I noticed this beauty as soon as I walked through the door. One of the tentacles is slightly damaged (but easily fixed) so the homeowner didn't want it. It will someday hang in our future tiki bar.
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446points
#2 I Found This Fantastic Antique Salesman’s Sample Chair Off Of Facebook Marketplace A Few Months Back. I Knew What I Needed To Do
August, my Himalayan, also knew what he needed to do.
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444points
#3 Here’s My Vintage Thrifted Wedding Dress
Got at my local Goodwill in Worcester, MA last year for only $6.99!!!! I don’t even plan to have a big wedding but I could not leave this Edwardian beauty behind
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416points
To find out how the “Weird Secondhand Finds” Facebook group, the beloved miscellaneous corner of the internet, has been doing lately, Bored Panda reached out to its representative.
They told us that “things remained fairly steady for us throughout the pandemic, although we saw a slight shift in the types of posts we received while things were shutdown.” Moreover, “for a while we weren't allowing any items that had been recently found in person, so we were seeing a lot more things posted that didn't require people to go out and about to find them, such as items that had been thrifted online, inherited, or dug up in people's yards,” they said.
Now that stores are open again, the group’s spokesperson said that they have noticed a slight uptick in the overall amount of posts that are being submitted, along with returning to seeing items coming from physical stores, yard sales, etc.
#4 This May Be The Coolest Thing I Have Ever Found In A Second Hand Store!
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414points
#5 Filled My Mantle As Much As I Can With Found Colored Glass! Some Thrifted, Some From My Grandparents, Some From Family. I’ve Loved Making This Collection!
Thinking about putting a strip of light underneath or behind them.
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403points
#6 Lamp I Found At An Antique Store, Loved It So Much I Had It Repurposed And Hung It From The Ceiling In My Bathroom. $120 Well Spent!
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388points
If you've ever tried thrift hunting and succeeded in getting your hands on a valuable, one-of-a-kind piece, you’d know the thrill of it. On the other hand, while scavenging through huge amounts of secondhand stuff, it’s easy to get lost in what you really need and what you spontaneously want to get.
In order not to waste your time and moment on things that would stack up in your home, make yourself aware of things you’re actually looking for. Some of the great valuable items include anything made from silver (except you have to learn to identify the material!), vintage Pyrex bowls, vintage board games, vintage globes, Waterford crystal, and designer clothes.
Keep in mind that anyone who seems to always find some treasure in a pile of secondhand relics has probably been doing that for a long time. Thrift hunting is a fun skill to have, but like all skills, it takes time, consistency, and practice to build.
#7 If Any Of You Are Of A Fragile Constitution, Look Away Now
STEP RIGHT UP AND WITNESS THE MOST FEARSOME AND FEROCIOUS FELINE THIS SIDE OF THE MISSISSIP. HAILING FROM THE WILDS OF A WEST MILWAUKEE USED BOOKSTORE BASEMENT, THE WOVEN WICKER WONDER WILL SHOCK AND AWE YOU. WATCH AS ESTHER JELLYBEAN AND HER LOVELY ASSISTANT EUNICE MARSHMALLOW BRAVE THE JAWS OF THE THE RATTAN RASCAL, BARELY ESCAPING WITH THEIR LIVES AND A FANCY FEAST CRAB AND BEEF TREAT SQUARE. DARE YOU TANGLE WITH THE MILWAUKEE MANED MANIAC? THE TOOTHY TYRANT? THE PLANT PANNIERED BLOODTHIRSTY BOOKSTORE BEAST?
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373points
#8 This Is My Little Thrifted Garden Room
Someone was throwing these windows away on a house demolition so we created this little room with them. Most of the decor came from my thrifted treasures or items I made.
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353points
#9 I've Wanted To Share The Story Of My Special Lamp For Some Time
A little back story: my Dad left the poor family farm during the Depression to pursue his education at Appalachian State deep in the NC mountains. He earned his tuition by living in a basement boiler room and keeping the boilers fired for that building. He frequently ate on 10 cents a day: a nickel for a Coke, a nickel for a can of sardines, and the soda crackers that were free with the sardines. He picked up a bit of pocket money by playing his guitar for the little mountain churches on Sundays, and playing saxophone with a local dance band on Saturday nights. 75 years later, with my Daddy long gone, we were cleaning out the house I grew up in, preparing to sell it. Among the artifacts that turned up - Daddy's saxophone. It was never a high quality instrument, and 75+ years in basement storage had not been kind to it. It didn't make sense to try to restore it, but I couldn't bear to throw it out. It came home with me and collected dust for a couple of years, until I came home from school one day to find that my brilliant husband had transformed it into this awesome lamp
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335points
#10 Found This Sitting By My Neighbors Trash Can, She Thought I Had Lost My Mind Over How Excited I Was And Was More Than Happy To Let Me Dig It Out Of Her Trash. I’ve Named Her Peggy
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335points
#11 This Beut Is Mine!
A hydraulics shop was selling it and a coworker spotted it on her way in. I RAN to go get it. P.S. we are librarians
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325points
#12 Our New Repurposed Lawn Flamingos. Picked Them Up At A Yard Sale Not Long Go. The Skeletons Last Year Off The Marketplace. And Well This Is What Happened
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319points
#14 I Found My Dream Dining Table On Marketplace In Minneapolis
5 extremely strong individuals, a truck, and days of haggling later, I finally was able to bring this beauty home.
The table is all single solid wood, and is EXTREMELY heavy. Just a chair takes 2 people to lift up (or I guess one if you’re really really strong). No clue what type of wood it is or how old it is. It was supposedly purchased at an auction a decade or so ago and given as a gift to the last owners who decided to sell because and I quote “when you have kids, you just can’t have nice things.”.
293points
#15 Here's My Vintage Dress Find For $15 Bucks From The Salvation Army. I Bought It To Dye Black For Halloween But Decided Against It When I Realized What A Beautiful Dress It Is. I'm In Love With It
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291points
#16 What Do You Do When You Find A Mini Coleman Tent Meant For An 18" Doll At Goodwill And You Don't Have Any Kids Or Dolls? You Get It For Your Dog, Of Course
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290points
#18 This Quilt Was Is Not A Second Hand Find But Rather Has A Long Family History And A Unique Story
My great grandmother started making this quilt when my mom was pregnant with me for a baby gift. She cut out all of the pieces but passed away before it was completed. Years after her death my grandmother decided she should complete the quilt for me. She worked on putting the small pieces together to form the large diamonds that would make up the star. At this time she realized that her mother had cut the pieces wrong and instead of being a 8 pointed star it was going to be a 7 pointed star. She became frustrated trying to figure it out and packed it back up in it's bag. Some time after that she passed the pieces to my Mom, who had limited experience and didn't attempt to work on it. Once I hit adulthood the bag was passed to me. I put the large diamonds together to form the 7 pointed star, but did not know how to complete the quilt. A few years later I got married, and my mother in law is a master quilt maker, so she took the 7 pointed star and put it on a beautiful white background and completed the quilt (she used the 8th large diamond to do the edging of the quilt. I think by the time I received the finished project I was around 40. I think that all of the hands and minds that worked together to make this beautiful piece, only make it more valuable. It fits a king size bed, which is a funny thing to make for a baby gift and has never been used on a bed (due to the color and nostalgia connected, and since I have 3 dogs) but I have had it hung up at different times over the years to enjoy. Sorry for such a long winded story, but I hope you enjoyed it. I took some of your advice and decided to use it for the first time ever, I put it on our bed and slept like a baby last night.
277points
#20 Got This Piano From A Friends Barn For Free When I Was In Middle School, It Was Built In 1920 And It Was Full Of Mice And Falling Apart
It was my first antique I ever aquired and I spent 2 years restoring it. We later moved and I moved it all over wherever I moved to, it went with me.
Now its in my parlor, in my house back in my hometown in Michigan, only about 8 mins from where I first found it over 10 years ago.
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263points