Shopper taken aback by bizarre tag on seemingly common item at thrift shop: 'I was so confused'

A thrift shopper, stunned by the ridiculous price and placement of the sticker on a "Harry Potter" book, took to Reddit to share their frustration. They noted the book was a hardcover in excellent condition, but the $45 sticker price killed off their interest.

"What in the world?" they said. "This wasn't a first edition, it wasn't signed, nothing special."

"This is not rare." — Photo Credit: Reddit

"I was so confused because the same hardcover is $25 on Amazon," the original poster said in the comments. "A friend of mine who thrifts a LOT said that people will pay it just for the thrill of 'the find.' I, on the other hand, had no trouble putting everything down and walking away."

The image prompted several comments that shared the OP's outrage.

One said, "$4.50?? Nooo that's $45.00." Another pointed out how fitting its inclusion was in a subreddit dedicated to overpriced and shoddy secondhand goods: "This is the definition of a thrift grift."

Another poster got creative in their critique, saying: "Harry Potter and the Actual Audacity, Hold My Spellbooks."

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The discussion highlights a key point. When appropriately priced, thrifting is an excellent prospect for the consumer and the environment. It's a practice that's gaining popularity as more Americans turn to secondhand shopping to offset rising costs; the average shopper can save around $1,700 annually by thrifting. Savvy shoppers can get quality goods at bargain prices, which also helps keep them out of landfills.

The environmental and human costs of the fast fashion industry are considerable. Textile production accounts for around 6%-8% of all harmful pollution yearly, according to one study. It also produces vast amounts of waste, and all those unsold goods have to be disposed of somewhere. In a lot of cases, that somewhere is the Atacama Desert in Chile, where some 59,000 tons of textile waste from Europe and the United States is dumped each year, per EcoWatch.

Overpriced secondhand goods benefit nobody. Unsold merchandise clutters store shelves and puts off potential customers. As one poster pointed out, overcharging for such a popular book series makes no sense.

"Harry Potter was one of the last popular book series before e-readers became a thing, so there are just so many out there! This is not rare. 10/10 for the grift. +2 for the awful stickered price tag."