The reasons to go thrifting are as varied as the people who go bargain hunting in secondhand shops. "I think the thread that goes through most of them is the hunt. You can't go to a thrift store and get what you want. You have to spend the time going often, and at that point, you only increase your chances," Casey told Bored Panda.

"So when you finally go into that thrift store and you find that thing you have been looking for weeks/months/years. The end of the story you get, and the excitement of finally owning it. Everyone who thrifts for the experience gets that to some degree, whether consciously or subconsciously. That is why the subreddit works. We are sharing the ends of the hunting story with everyone else who knows that feeling. Sometimes it's a hunt that lasted a week, sometimes it's a year or more."

The thrill of the hunt might be important to most members of the sub, but some new members see thrifting as a way to make cash. "The last couple years there has been an influx of people looking at thrifting purely as a place for monetary gain. Which, I am fine with. I understand their need/want for the extra cash. Where that line intersects the sub however is where I put my foot down," Casey, the founder of the r/ThriftStoreHauls subreddit, told Bored Panda.

"I don't care what you do with your stuff, just keep the 'this is for sale' or 'I want to buy this if you are selling' off of the sub. Furthermore, in our push to keep the reseller influx to a minimum we have made it a rule not to allow information-seeking titles. Which does sting a bit because we have such a lovely community of knowledgeable people. It was just getting to the point where people were just using us as a more specific google with less work."

The founder stressed that when they made the sub, they simply wanted to create a place to show off what people got. "Simple as that. So far with our growth, it seems like that vision is shared with a lot of people, so we keep growing."

Bored Panda spoke to the creator of the community about how the pandemic has impacted the thrifting lifestyle. Here's what they had to say.

"Early in the pandemic, I had a sticky post stating that we should just remain at home. Wash your hands, stay away from people. I said that that was just my opinion, but regularly I would see people (pre-pandemic) state that the sub had inspired them to go thrifting. Which that, I felt a bit of guilt since I would assume people were still going based on seeing all the cool stuff people were posting. I told everyone that I can't force them to not go, just be mindful. As time passes, and more people are vaccinated, I still urge people to be safe," they told Bored Panda, adding that they literally got their booster shot 30 minutes before writing back to Bored Panda.