Bored Panda reached out to Sean, 41, the creator of the “Ridiculous Thrifter” Instagram account from Atlantic Canada. “I purchase items at thrift stores and re-sell them on eBay and Facebook marketplace as a side hustle,” he told us.

Sean first started thrifting after high school in 1999-2000 when a major thrift store (Value Village) opened up in his city. “They sell items on a much larger scale than the smaller boutique type thrift stores I was used to. They are considered the 'Walmart' of thrift. So as a young & broke college student, I saw a great opportunity to 'flip' these items for a decent profit on eBay… it was a no-brainer!”

Sean got completely hooked and from then on, he’s been enjoying this side gig for over 20 years now, while working full time as a Youth Corrections Counselor. “Over the years, I’ve brought many of the teenagers I work with out thrifting along with me. As a learning experience, I would teach them my craft, showing them some of the items they can make an easy profit on,” Sean said and added that most of them really enjoyed the experience. “Some of them would even ask, ‘Sean, can we drive to Value Village today?’ Haha. The thrill of the hunt is addictive…”

“Just before the Covid pandemic hit in early 2020, I was at Value Village one evening and I noticed they were selling small bags full of Canadian one cent coins (pennies… around 250 of them in each bag) for $3.99 plus tax. This was crazy! So roughly $2.50 worth of Canadian currency for $3.99 Canadian currency? How was this possible? Whose idea was this?”

The creator of the Ridiculous Thrifter page said that he laughed a lot in the store at how absurd this was while taking several photos of the bags. “When I arrived home, I posted one of the pictures to my personal Facebook profile, which became quite popular. I think it was shared close to 400 times, and because of that popularity, I knew there was something bigger here.” That’s how Sean decided to create a separate Facebook page (and Instagram a little later) to feature this post along with his other “ridiculous” thrift store finds.

“Well, it really took off… it became much more popular than I had anticipated. Followers began submitting their ridiculous thrift store finds as well for me to feature. It has been really enjoyable and I didn’t realize how big thrift culture was.”

“An average thrift journey for me usually lasts about an hour or so. Longer if I find a lot of items I can sell. Some days I can walk out of the stores with absolutely nothing. I mostly concentrate my time on looking for valuable electronics, retro toys & games, video games/consoles, books and movies. Small stuff that’s easy to mail cheaply. On eBay, high shipping costs on big and bulky items can really ruin the profit, so those items I try to sell locally.”

Sean also said that every now and again he discovers an item that he knows nothing about. “I will have to take out my smartphone and search what it sells for on eBay. My phone is so important in this case… several times my battery died in the store and I would have to leave items on the shelf because I didn’t want to take the risk buying a worthless item. But most times I already know the profit that I can make, how much I can sell it for pretty easily.”   

When asked whether thrifting has become more popular lately, Sean said that’s definitely the case. “It has actually exploded. Television shows such as 'Storage Wars' and 'American Pickers' have really popularized the hobby. In the early 2000s I was one of only a handful of people in my city who were selling thrift store items on eBay. I was able to pretty much fill my shopping cart full every visit.”

Now, however, thrift hunting became very competitive, says Sean. “There are lineups outside the thrift stores before they open in the morning. The early bird gets the worm… and as I work full-time now, it’s pretty much just for fun for me. I can’t compete with the younger generation. But I’m not upset at this. I’ve had my time in the sun!”

Today, Sean’s thrift store adventures are mostly to gather content for his Ridiculous Thrifter page. “If I happen to stumble on valuable items to sell while doing this, that’s all a bonus. It’s still really fun!”

When asked about the craziest and the weirdest items Sean has found, he said it’s definitely “the bags of Canadian pennies for starters… a normal beach rock for $2.99 (we are surrounded by beach rocks where I live), a 3/4 full bottle of bleach for $3.99, a full-sized canoe made completely out of popsicle sticks and empty (yes I said empty) generic brand tomato sauce jars for $2.99 each, to name a few.”