Recently, one lucky shopper was casually perusing purses at a local flea market when they came across an unexpected surprise — an authentic scarf from luxury brand Hermès. One collector commented on the post, saying it currently retails for $245!
"Went to the flea market and was rummaging through old handbags and stumbled upon this, a Hermes silk scarf," they posted in Reddit's r/ThriftStoreHauls subreddit. "Paid only a $1 for it."
The person included a few pictures of the red, fall-themed scarf, which sported art depicting leaves in shades of orange, red, green, and brown.
Buying secondhand items at flea markets, garage sales, or thrift shops is a great way to save cash, and you may even stumble upon a unique luxury item like this scarf.
It's also a more environmentally conscious way to shop, as it reduces the demand for new products, which are often sourced from virgin materials instead of recycled ones.
For example, about half of the clothing sold by large online fashion labels like Boohoo and PrettyLittleThing is made entirely from virgin plastic materials like polyester, reports the Guardian. The fashion industry accounts for about a fifth of global plastic production, according to Bloomberg, and also contributes to pollution and water waste.
Plus, buying second hand helps minimize your impact on landfill waste.
Americans toss away about 2,150 pieces of clothing every second, according to Bloomberg. All this clothing ends up with other trash — part of a collective 140-plus million tons of annual waste — in the country's overflowing landfills.
These sites produce methane, one of the most dangerous planet-warming gases. The creation of new landfills also can destroy wildlife habitats and contribute to other environmental hazards like toxic leachate.
The community was thrilled about the scarf snag, with the post receiving thousands of upvotes.
"I am a collector," one person commented. "This is an authentic scarf. The design is called Tourbillon (The Whirlwind) by Christiane Vauzelles. This size (45cm, or 18") currently retails for $245."
Another person added, "WOW! I'd be tempted to frame that. It's beautiful!"
"I don't care about name brands but that is the most beautiful fall scarf I've ever seen," someone else said. "I'm about to go look it up on eBay, I don't think I'm going to like what I find," they jokingly added with three flying-money emojis.
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