Does Taiwan have thrift stores? How to find them?

Individuals in any place always are different, but Japanese culture long has embraced collecting. When combined with the prolonged economic slump in the 1990s, this strengthened a willing market of sellers interested in liquidating goods that were no longer needed and buyers who wanted to save money, etc.

In general, Taiwanese culture is less enthusiastic about used or second-hand goods. It is not uncommon for second-hand goods, especially clothing, to be viewed with superstition even. Many donated goods are shipped overseas rather than sold locally.

What second-hand goods are available locally often focus on antiques (or reproduction antiques) or vintage clothing (or vintage-inspired clothing). In Taipei, there are some antique type shops around Dihua (???) and some vintage clothing type shops around Gongguan (??).

Although it doesn’t concentrate on electronics per se (it often does have some older laptops, though), the closest thing to the Japanese chain Hard Off in Taiwan probably is BBbobo. In addition to using the “??” (Èrsh?u), second-hand designation, it describes itself as a ???? (Tiàoz?o b?n pù), roughly a flea market, and ????? (Jìmài zhu?nmén diàn), a consignment shop. Those likely are good terms to use in Taiwan.

With that said, used computer shops/consignment shops generally will have computers that are 5-10 years old. Computers of this age still will have some resale value and life left. Anything older than that, but still usable, probably will have been mostly sold off in bulk to other countries where incomes are lower than Taiwan (although inexpensive mobile devices have replaced some of this demand in recent years).

40-year old computers mostly were scrapped 25 years ago and buried in a landfill, sit forgotten in dad’s closet, or are in the possession of a collector or packrat. It seems doubtful that you will find much of this vintage for sale in a shop.

In Taipei, your best bet would be to go to the back streets around Guanghua Digital Plaza (????) and ask around. Have some photos of what you’re looking for specifically and ask about old computers (???, Jiù diànn?o) or very old computers (?????). Odds are good that merchants generally will reply with ?? (Méiy?u) and a politely dismissive hand wave, but who knows, maybe you will uncover something interesting.

Hope this helps. Happy thrifting!