Thrift-shopping: Yay or Nay

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I am living in a country where you can see second-hand items anywhere. We call these second-hand items "ukay-ukay". Ukay-ukay came from the Tagalog word "hukay" which means to dig. You literally dig because most of the ukay-ukay items are placed on a table and buyers need to dig and find items that fit their clothing tastes. Going to the wet market weekly for our vegetable supply, I discovered a cheap store where I can buy ukay-ukay clothing. At first, I was hesitant to buy clothes from the thrift shop. But when I saw an original Ralph Lauren shirt, still with a tag price, I became a fan of ukay-ukay. And take note, I got the shirt for only 25 Philippine pesos. Buying second -hand items is not bad at all. For me, money is well spent, good quality of clothing for a cheap price. As long as you choose carefully what you buy, avoiding those with damages such as incomplete buttons and faulty zippers, stains and dirts. The only downside of thrift shopping is that we really don't know where these items came from. The solution I have for this is by pouring boiling water to the items before the usual laundry process.