The second-hand shopping industry started to grow a few decades ago and is only becoming more and more widespread. Now the spaces of second-hand exchange are competing with first-hand retailers. In the light of environmental concerns and the return of “retro” aesthetics it becomes more and more popular to reappropriate, upcycle and reuse things, thus involving them in the chain of circulation.
The current study views the practices associated with second-hand exchange and customers’ perceptions on circulated objects through the lens of material culture, which can allow us to look deeper into the status of value, fluctuations in commodity chains and decision-making in relation to reappropriating an object from the thrift store.