Eagle-eyed thrift shopper blown away by actual price of item discovered without a price tag: ‘Imagine my surprise’

One amazing thrift find, shared on the Reddit r/ThriftStoreHauls forum, is making a shopper want to sing and dance.

The poster shared a photo of the vintage record player they picked up at their local store, sharing that when they took it to the register, the employee priced it at $19.99.

“In this condition it’s worth around $750-$1,000. (But I didn’t tell him that),” the treasure hunter said.

This eagle-eyed shopper almost missed out on the deal. “I had to convince myself to pull it out and inspect it,” they said in the comments. “At first glance I just assumed it was some s***** in-house Sears model or something. Imagine my surprise.”

Besides getting killer deals on high-quality vintage goods, shopping at a thrift store also has numerous environmental benefits. Buying thrifted, consigned, and resale goods diminishes the need to produce new products and keeps the old ones out of landfills.

When it comes to record players, buying thrifted is one of the best ways to diminish the environmental risks associated with the machines and vinyl. Most vinyl records are made with plastic polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a petrochemical derivative that releases planet-warming gases in its production. On average, vinyl records produce more than 12 times the air-polluting gas of CDs, according to The Hustle.

In addition, lead has often been used in manufacturing vinyl records to increase their durability, according to the Environmental Working Group. Scientists have reached a consensus that lead has potential dangers to human health, particularly the neurological system, and there is no safe level. The European Union has ceased using lead in record production, but the United States has not.

Buying used records and record players can decrease the PVC used in the production of novel records and reduce the potential occupational harm of working and adding lead to vinyl records. Plus, vintage tunes are just that much better.

Other users were shocked at the find.

“That’s actually a really nice turntable and I hope you use it well. Awesome find, OP!” one user commented.

“Man I wish I had thrift stores where I live that had good stuff,” another user said.

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