Book Review: Secondhand

Adam Minter, Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019. ISBN: 9781635570106.

Genre: business and economics

Subgenre: travel, logistics, supply chains

Format: hardback

Source: Madison County (KY) Public Library 

If you ever wondered what happens to stuff you donate to a charity or thrift shop this may be the book for you. Minter travels the world and talks to all kinds of folks involved in the multi-billion dollar secondhand trade. From entrepreneurs for hire who empty houses of the deceased to rag makers to television repairmen, the author asks questions and explores what happens to stuff we discard and/or hope may be reused. Along the way, he looks at consumer society and provides some suggestions to solve the ever growing glut and clutter. In addition to stories, Minter also provides data and facts from various sources. For details on sources you can check the notes section.

The book is arranged with a preface, 12 chapters, and an afterword. Minter begins close to home in the United States, but soon we are traveling the world to see where various items end up. Along the way we learn a hard lesson: many objects do have a lifespan, and they are destined to a dumpster or landfill. 

An interesting element in the book are the various stories of folks in the secondhand trade. Some are following family tradition. Others just come to it for an income or because they saw a market gap that needed to be filled. Minter presents humane stories that are interesting and moving at times. I was also amazed by the ingenuity some of these businesses show. 

The book also provides a look at how markets work and how these items can travel the world. For example, restrictions or not, border zones tend to be strong places for secondhand trade, just look at the U.S.-Mexico border for example as items no longer wanted in the U.S. make their way to be sold in Mexico. 

Most of the book is interesting, but it does have some slow parts here or there. 

If you read his previous book and liked it, Junkyard Planet, you will probably like this one. This book is a good option for libraries both public and academic. It makes readers ask themselves some hard questions. I liked it overall. 

3 out of 5 stars. 

Additional reading notes: 

How to find data in a hard to trace market: 

"Fortunately, a lack of data doesn't mean the trade in used goods is untraceable. But instead of finding it through data, a reporter must travel to the places where secondhand goods are collected, bought, repurposed, repaired, and sold" (xvi). 

The booming business of emptying houses: 

"The reasons for these cleanouts vary, but they typically revolve around downsizing and death. Business is booming: by 2030 senior citizens will account for one fifth of the U.S. population. Some of those seniors want to remain in their large single-family homes packed with stuff. But many others downsize, either by their own or someone else's choice. And some will pass on, leaving the heavy responsibility of cleaning out a life's accumulations to somebody else" (2). 

 

Contrary to what many Americans think, the stuff in their homes is worthless aside the owner's sentimental value: 

"The contents of a bathroom-- from toothbrushes to soap-- can't be reused. Kitchen utensils are typically too beat up to serve anything but the scrap-metal industry. Old CDs, DVDs, books, and media players are generally worthless unless they're scarce, in good condition, or of interest to collectors. Furniture, unless it's an antique of value, has a diminishing market, especially if it's made by IKEA. Used clothing, unless it's made by a well-known and expensive brand, is often barely competitive with the flood of new garments made in low-cost factories around the developing world. And electronics, from desktop computers to phones, rapidly depreciate into a state of worthlessness-- at least to consumers in places where the next upgrade is just a season away" (4-5).