In my previous article I discussed my fascination with the thrift store culture in Hiroshima, Japan, where those kinds of stores played a significant role in helping us set up our son for university life in the city, with the surprising benefit of being able to do it within budget while at the same time being confident in the quality of the pre-loved goods and appliances that we purchased.
I thought that thrift stores were uniquely Japan feature, because as we visited all the “reuse” stores like Book Off and Second Street we could find during those days we spent in the city, looking for deals for our son’s dorm room. It seemed like the Japanese were just fond of selling stuff they didn’t need or want any more to those stores that evaluated the quality of the used goods, and then performed the necessary repairs and refurbishment so they could give it their own seal of quality, even with a limited warranty for defects.
The thrift stores we went to sold everything from books, clothes, shoes, bags, to home appliances, electronics, games, computers, including iPhones, iPads, laptops, Echo Dots, Airpods. It even has a high end designer section selling bags, watches, and other apparel at reasonable prices, where both the buyer and the seller know that almost everything is second hand. The biggest advantage of it being in Japan, and probably why it works, is that there is almost no fear that you are buying fakes, because maybe it’s just me, but I have this stupid impression that there are no fakes in Japan. This meant that yes, we were also checking out the potential deals on pre-loved high end stuff that they had on display in locked shelves.
Anyway, as already mentioned in the previous column, we ended up buying almost 90 percent of our son’s dorm appliances from the thrift stores that were run like full service department stores. We were able to fit everything within the tight budget that we had, as while we were aspiring to have an international scholar, we never expected that the universe would conspire to make that dream a reality. Anyway, at the end of the supply run, we even had enough funds left over get him a mental health package: an electric guitar with amp, second hand of course, which would allow him to indulge in a hobby during his free time, at a fraction of what it would cost to get him the same package in the Philippines. The musical instrument for his hobby also gives him a lifeline in case things go awry: he can use it to busk for tips.
I feel like it needs to be stressed that the stuff we got from the thrift store passed two quality checks. The in-store checkup, and our own checks, because even if we trusted the Japanese and their system, we had to make sure that whatever we got hadn’t been overused or wasn’t well-taken care of. While the choices were limited, there was enough to pick the one in the best price/condition matrix. We didn’t get anything where the plastic was already yellowing or showing signs of obvious age or wear. We made sure that whatever we got could pass for brand new, and if it failed, then we went to the brand new route, which we were forced to with the oven toaster and personal sized rice cooker. We fully understood the risks of thrift store shopping, and hedged our bets that Japanese ones will live up to their reputation.
If you come to think of it, the Japanese reputation for quality made it so much easier to consider thrift stores, which seems like that experience is something that we can only dream of here in the Philippines, where our ukay-ukays are limited to only clothes, bags, and shoes, and there seems to be a miniscule chance of finding almost-brand-new stuff, or anything with a warranty.
Anyway, on the way home we had had a few hours in the bigger city of Fukouka, as there are no direct flights to the Philippines from Hiroshima. While waiting, we found on Google Maps that a Book Off is within walking distance from the train/bus station, and since we were still on a thrift store high, we decided to check it out. It turns out that their version only had books, games and hobby stuff, and some electronics. So it may seem that thrift store mega shopping could only be a Hiroshimanian phenomenon, which makes me feel a bit better for us Filipinos, who to the best of my limited knowledge, will have to go all the way to Hiroshima to experience what my wife and I enjoyed so much during our short stay there. Knowing that it could be an exception rather than a rule in Japan was actually a bit comforting, because I just don’t see how it can be replicated in the Philippines, given our culture and situation.
In an ideal world, thrift stores would be an important link in a circular economy, where instead of being sent to landfills or taking up storage space, things that people no longer use can still be reused by those who need or want it but have limited budgets and greater tolerance for pre-loved stuff. It is a veritable treasure hunt that can be good, from the pocket all the way to the planet. I guess it is just something that we can either wish for or slowly but surely, work on.*
