Thrifting: how do you choose?

Things I've found at the thrift store lately, with their rationalizations:

Silver and purple pendant necklace. Out of a whole rack of necklaces, why did I choose this one? Size, shape, and colour. I could see it fitting in with the clothes I wear most often. 

Plum-coloured jersey top with...poppies, maybe? The photo is showing purple, but it's more reddish, the same colour as the necklace. Why this one? It took a little more thinking: I don't usually buy clothes with pictures on them, and I do have a plum-coloured top already. But I liked the springy flowers very much, I like jersey t-shirts, and it is mostly cotton, not synthetic fabric. The fact that it was a half-price deal decided it.

Teal-green trench coat with a button-in lining  The winter weather has been "stink, stank, stunk," but by March this coat should get lots of use. Why this one and not some other coat? Honestly, need (and the fact that it was four dollars on the clearance rack)! I used to have a brown trench coat (no lining), and I wore it to church and places like that for years...and years. Finally I started to feel like a relic from 1989 every time I put it on, so I let it go, and I've been long-raincoat-less ever since. I did remove the shoulder pads on this coat, an easy fix since the inner lining isn't sewed down at the hem.

Conclusions: This story seems to need an ending. Here's one: know what you need, know what you like, know when to stop.