International holidays - Thrift Shop Day

August 17th is Second Hand Store Day Stores selling used items sell both luxury clothing with a wear rate of up to 5%, as well as consumer goods People of different incomes and social groups shop at thrift stores - from connoisseurs of vintage items, regular visitors to flea markets, to students purchasing second-hand clothes and shoes Second-hand stores sell both expensive exclusive goods and things that a buyer in a difficult financial situation can afford to purchase According to statistics, about 70% of people have at least one item purchased in “second-hand” stores (as translated from English second-hand) Therefore, Thrift Shop Day is celebrated on August 17 by thrifty and thrifty residents of many countries around the world In the Soviet Union, speculation, ie resale of items was prosecuted by law Therefore, during times of shortages of goods, the New Economic Policy and the Iron Curtain, imported new or used clothing and shoes could be purchased at second-hand stores They were a symbiosis of a flea market and a store that sold antique jewelry, furniture, cameras, fur coats, boots and much more In the USSR by 1948 there were 552 commission shops They sold trophies - German gramophones, sewing machines, carpets, bicycles, leather coats, Selza watches, razors, IMCO gasoline lighters and more Despite the fact that goods brought from the war quickly ran out, thrift stores continued to operate By 1975, 1,593 analogues of modern second-hand stores were opened on the territory of 15 republics The owners of items, bringing them for sale, received a receipt from the store receptionist For services, the commission shop charged the owner 7% of the price of the goods sold If he doubted the value of an item, he turned to the services of an expert The guideline was state prices for similar goods, which could not be exceeded Most of the items in thrift stores were not used wardrobe items and equipment, but new clothes, shoes, perfumes, tape recorders, televisions and cameras They were brought into the country from abroad and given for sale to seafarers, diplomats, artists and musicians By 1988, in the wake of cooperation, the number of thrift stores in the country had grown to 3,430 In the early 90s with the opening of borders, the range of goods was updated not due to representatives of the creative intelligentsia, who were allowed to travel abroad, but thanks to shuttles After the legalization of trading cooperatives, the popularity of thrift stores gradually waned Suppliers of modern second-hand goods are wholesale companies that bring from the USA and European countries items donated by local residents to collection points Most of them were hardly worn, some are completely new because the color or style did not suit the owner Buying used clothes and shoes has long been considered something shameful Moreover, this approach, which gives a “second life” to things, demonstrates the fight against consumer society and concern for the ecology of the planet Therefore, August 15 is widely celebrated throughout the world as Second Hand Store Day