Secondhand cover art

Secondhand

Travels in the New Global Garage Sale

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About this listen

When you drop a box of unwanted items off at the local thrift store, where do they go? Probably across the country - or even halfway across the world - to people and places eager to reuse what you don’t want.

In Secondhand, Adam Minter delves into the vast, multibillion-dollar industry that resells used stuff around the world. He follows the trail of unwanted objects from the closets, garages, and storage units of Middle America to epic used-goods markets in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Ghana, India, Malaysia, and beyond. Secondhand takes us through the often painful and heartbreaking process of cleaning out a lifetime’s worth of possessions and shows that used stuff still has a place in a world that values the new and shiny - it entertains us, makes fortunes, fulfills needs, and transforms the way we live and work.

©2019 Adam Minter (P)2020 Dreamscape Media, LLC Engineering Environment Environmental International Nature & Ecology Political Science Politics & Government Public Policy Science Conservation Latin America Imperial Japan Africa China
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This was so interesting to me. I had no idea that there was a global marketplace for used goods at the scale described here. I operate a Cleanout business where I sell things that are left over from a Senior downsizing. Sometimes it’s very difficult to keep things out of the landfill that should be sold but they just won’t move. This has opened my eyes to some potential new opportunities.

Fantastic!

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What an amazing and factual story on the world’s reuse of secondhand consumer products. Well done. I look forward to listening to Adam’s other book! Very insightful.

Fascinating

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