Thrift shopping as a trend negatively affects low income households
December 7, 2021
With an increase of thrifting trends on TikTok and other social media platforms, necessary resources are being taken away from people who can not afford other clothing stores. Thifting as a trend, rather than a means to survive, is inherently classist and should not exist. The gentrification of thrift shops has only further harmed low income families.
Senior Jasmine Perez enjoys thrifting but agrees that sometimes people take it a step further than just buying clothes.
”One thing with thrifting that I personally don’t like is resellers on Depop and how people are literally thrifting clothes just to sell online for expensive amounts of money,” Perez said.
It is one thing to buy the stray t-shirt, or one obscure piece of clothing from the local Goodwill, but people who can afford to shop at other stores and continuously thrift for their own financial gain, are increasing prices in thrift shops.
Depop is a popular online clothing retailer that specializes in buying and reselling clothes. The platform encourages people to sell their used clothing while providing a global platform. Now there is an influx of people reselling things they purchased for low prices at second hand stores.
The people who are being hit the hardest are those from low income families. According to the United States Census Bureau, the official poverty rate in the United States in 2020 was 11.4% of the population. This was an increase of one percentage point from the previous year.
Thrifting is supposed to be a way for low income families to have good quality clothing for low prices. Clothing that tends to run more expensive, such as winter coats or jeans, is being bought at rapid speeds by people who do not depend on second hand stores as their main clothes shopping supplier. The lack of options at thrift stores is especially true for children’s clothing.
According to the Children’s Defense Fund, one in every six children in the United States live in poverty. They are the most impoverished group in the United States. The Children’s Defense Fund states that the number of children in poverty is nearly one and a half times higher than that of adults aged 18 to 64 years old and twice as high as adults 65 and older. Now as thrifting has become trendy, a lot of these children are missing out on clothes that they need.
“I’ve noticed a trend on TikTok on thrifting and people just reselling clothes and even children’s t-shirts and putting them up on Depop and labeling it as a crop top which overall is not okay,” Perez said.
A common trend sweeping the fashion scene at the moment is the baby tee. Women and girls are buying shirts intended for children and passing them off as cropped shirts. They will then resell said shirts on Depop for an inflated price on the basis that these shirts are “vintage”. While the price might originally be less than 10 dollars, on Depop the seller might charge 30 for 40 dollars.
That is not to say that everyone who sells on Depop does this, or that everyone who posts on TikTok is promoting the gentrification of thrift shops.
“I feel like today in this generation, we see more topics on TikTok on thrifting and how you can find good finds in Goodwill and other local thrift stores,” Perez said.
Everyone is allowed to thrift shop, there is not one specific group who can or cannot utilize Goodwill. According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of a thrift shop is a store that sells secondhand articles and especially clothes and is often run for charitable purposes.
On one hand, I could understand how people who thrift for profit would argue that they are helping because they are purchasing from a store where the money goes to charity. The more that one person buys, the more money is going towards a good cause. While that is technically true, one thing that people often do not take into consideration is supply and demand. The more clothes they buy from thrift stores, the higher the prices go.
High demand mixed with a low supply gives way to inflation. The people who can afford price increases are not the ones facing the consequences.
Overall the people who are harmed the most are the families that rely on thrift stores for clothes. It is not fair to them that trends have led to those with more of a disposable income buying up their children’s clothes and reselling them for the “aesthetic.” I stand by the assertion that people who thrift shop for their own personal financial gain lack integrity.
Cassie • Aug 7, 2023 at 9:15 am
First of all, let me say I completely respect your opinion and see where you are coming from. However, I personally have to look at the overall picture of the nonprofit thrift store operations such as Goodwill, Salvation Army, Union Rescue, etc. I think it safe to say that the majority of the thrift stores operate as nonprofits. As a reseller who frequently visits these locations all sales go back into their programs which help others in need, so this cannot be overlooked. As listed in some of the comments below there is a percentage of the items that are tossed or not even looked at and this can be for various reasons (i.e. condition, overstock, etc.). I know you preached “supply and demand.” But a great example would be during COVID, the thrift stores stopped accepting bulky items because they were not moving anything on the floor. This left the thrift stores to dispose of these items which is money they could ill afford and was impacting their operations. No demand get rid of the supplies. I have actually reached out to thrift stores looking for certain items and I can tell you my niche as a reseller there is always a surplus of goods. While I understand with inflation the lower income households are relying more on thrift stores. You may want to look to see how many lower income households rely on reselling as well, you would be surprised. Also, what is the percentage of sales are being purchased by resellers?
In my opinion this article paints resellers as vultures and there are so many variables to consider before forming an opinion on this subject. We are seeing a transition to online platforms and many box stores are suffering. If you look at it from that point of view, resellers are the middlemen putting these goods online for the consumers. I am curious though are you saying this is negatively impacting local lower income families? Because if that is the case you also need to do some more digging on people purchasing cart loads of inventory (primarily apparel such as shoes, jackets, jeans, etc.) from these thrift stores and transporting them overseas and across the border. The only reason I know this is because I have chatted with several people within the thrift stores and the goodwill outlets. And it isn’t just a few, they come in with about 6-12 people scouring the racks and pulling from bins within the goodwill outlets.
Please note many resellers such as myself still donate goods, funds, etc. And more times than not to the same places they are purchasing from. When I look at everything we do, I believe we do more good than harm. But again, we are entitled to our opinions, I just feel more research could be done on this subject before criticizing resellers. It is so easy to cast stones without seeing the whole picture and each person’s circumstance is different. PS if you are buying textbooks online chances are you are buying them from a reseller at a discounted price, you’re welcome.
BKG • Feb 24, 2023 at 4:01 pm
Thank you for writing this. The comments below are absolutely horrible. I grew up poor, and the price increases from wealthier people and their new quirky thrifting hobby actually did mean my family was not able to afford as much.
And if your response is, “well, it’s good for the environment.” Go shop on ebay on non-thrifting profiles. Start a clothing swap with your friends and community. Learn to sew. Anything but taking from the people who need access to these stores the most. Using “helping the environment” as an excuse to exploit a shop meant to help those in need is genuinely disgusting. You don’t HAVE to take from the poor. You have many other options to achieve your goal of decreasing your carbon footrpint. It’s that your desire to buy and sell clothes you don’t need is more meaningful to you than supporting the cause these stores were originally intended for. You’re not helping. You’re just selfish. People who shop at these places when they don’t need to make our lives even more difficult as it is. Harder to afford work clothes and shoes, harder to afford basic household products, harder to afford any of the things that used to be more accessible.
These commenters really ought to be ashamed of themselves. Privilege at its finest.
Stacie • Oct 27, 2022 at 11:39 am
This article is based on false assumptions and is harmful to the reselling community, who are providing a service and supporting their families with their income.
The author claims “thrifting is supposed to be a way for low income families to have good quality clothing for low prices.” This is a misconception; the purpose of thrift stores is to raise money. Providing access to affordable clothing is not their goal – thrifts that consider clothing the needy important simply GIVE clothes to those most in need. (Very rare with chains but I have seen small thrifts do this and some even list it as a service they provide.) As far as the thrifts are concerned, the more shoppers – and the more revenue – the better.
Love makes some other assertions with no supporting evidence:
“Clothing that tends to run more expensive, such as winter coats or jeans, is being bought at rapid speeds by people who do not depend on second hand stores as their main clothes shopping supplier.”
“Now as thrifting has become trendy, a lot of these children are missing out on clothes that they need.”
How does Love know any of this? It appears to be an assumption, as Love does not cite even anecdotal evidence. If you go into a thrift store, you can’t know what’s been bought already, or who bought it. If you obtained permission to hang around and interview shoppers at checkout, you could determine, at that specific store, what’s being sold and how many buyers are resellers, but I know of no such studies. Love also attributes buying for resale to “those with more of a disposable income”, another unknowable non-statistic.
Further, reselling thrifted goods is not a new phenomenon. Thrifts were aware of this over a century ago and have often capitalized on the demand for antiques in their stores, marketing them as the place to make a “find” and creating special curated sections to showcase their best items. Antique dealers, vintage clothing dealers, and online sellers have been combing the racks and shelves since the earliest days! It’s possible TikTok has had some impact, but that would be very difficult to measure.
Thrift stores receive FAR more donations than they can actually sort, price, and display, let alone sell. Sometimes donations are even *thrown away* because the thrift is overwhelmed. On average, only 10% of donated clothing is sold in-store. Unsold clothing is either sent to the landfill or put in unsorted bales which are shipped overseas, where a significant portion is also sent to a landfill, or dumped illegally. Of the 10% sold in-store, how much might be sold to resellers? (And how much of that amount is sold to TikTokers who are selling tshirts on DePop?)
The moment an item is put on the floor, the clock begins ticking because after a few weeks, it will be disposed of. The chances that the right customer for an item will happen to come in and find it are slim, sometimes VERY slim if it’s an odd size or otherwise unusual. Resellers are providing a service, redistributing things that might otherwise become garbage, and making them available to people who otherwise wouldn’t have access to them.
lkanony • May 26, 2022 at 8:50 am
I actually don’t blame the shoppers at all…I blame THE THRIFT SHOPS for losing their “charitable” focus regarding the prices. The foundation of thrift stores is/was TO HELP THOSE IN NEED/LOW-INCOME families get the basic necessity of clothing. Hence, I don’t understand why they feel they should cater to these sudden “thrift shopping trends” and presumed upselling culture considering WE ARE NOT ALL buying to resale…WE JUST WANT CLOTHES TO PUT ON OUR BACKS DAILY THAT’S AFFORDABLE. I mean in essence, a store can’t prevent shoppers from coming into their store should they choose to shop there. But WHERE do thrift stores get off inflating prices for USED, OUT OF SEASON clothes? I would say 85-90% of the clothing ARE NOT vintage at a local thrift store, just simply, NOT THE CURRENT TREND…WHICH IS HOW/WHY THE ORIGINAL OWNER DONATED THE CLOTHING IN THE FIRST PLACE. There is NO overhead cost to BUY merchandise. Even if it IS vintage, any ordinary piece typically sales FOR LESS because it’s typically NOT going to be picked up by the masses because it “looks old”. NOT EVERYONE even care about or want “vintage”. The core audience just want practical, AFFORDABLE clothes. Otherwise, besides the programs that they create for people like what Salvation Army has, part of the “charity” is THE COMMUNITY’S DONATIONS. Yet, the prices are to the point of being equivalent to a Macy’s sale’s/clearance rack FOR THE NEW TRENDIER CLOTHES. So at the going rates, WHY would anyone buy older, USED clothes when they can go to JC Penney’s and Macy’s clearance racks and buy NEW? Thrift stores should recognize THAT.
Dee Neecie • Apr 3, 2023 at 4:20 am
AGREED! Once upon a time, I found much of my furniture by the roadside. Then came the ‘The antique roadshow’ and that was the beginning of the end. I watched the once discarded pieces sit in the front lawns for inflated prices and eventually donated when they didn’t sell.
Then came social media and we now see items in the thrift shops with tags on them like ‘sells on ebay for…’ or grow in popularity so the casserole dish once $1.00 is now selling for $8.00. If you think about it, the very reason that the item is popularized is the low price that the shops immediately change making the items once again less desirable! SHAME ON YOU THRIFT SHOPS! Fads come and go but you will sell more and more to those who truly need if you stop monopolizing on current ‘trends’.
Tess M • Dec 7, 2021 at 12:19 pm
Another pro of thrifting is that it is more sustainable and better for the environment.
Grayson Hatter • Dec 7, 2021 at 10:57 am
only 10 percent of clothes donations to major thrift shop corporations, such as goodwill and salvation army, actually make it to the shelves of the stores. the rest is sent overseas to rag houses.
most vintage resellers, or at least the large scale vintage resellers, get access to their vintage clothing through vintage wholesalers, who source their product from overseas rag houses, where 90 percent of US clothes donations end up.
this article makes it seem as though vintage resellers only do what they do to make quick cash, and also that it is easy. if you actually use thrift stores as a source, the amount of hours needed to find one good item is not close to the amount of money that you can make. the resell game is no easy industry.
vintage and designer is very different from quality when it comes to clothes. i agree that there needs to be more quality clothing found inside thrift stores, but that is at the hands of the large corporations, not resellers.
i have a lot of knowledge about thrift shopping and reselling and the vintage industry through 6 years of experience. if you would like to talk about it, i would be more than happy to talk.
i am very glad to see an article about thrift shopping on the echo, and would like to say that it is very well written. however, i do not agree with the opinions within the article, and the lack of other perspectives gives a very bad view of people who resell vintage, like myself.
lkanony • May 26, 2022 at 9:12 am
YES…I discovered the “ragging out” of clothes when I worked at a thrift store not so long ago. I was mighty surprised. Nevertheless, I don’t think it’s fair to place focus on the prices being what they are due to resellers and social media trends. The thrift store’s focus should be on the foundation of it’s existence which is HELPING THE NEEDY. WHO and WHY would ANYONE, low-income or not, pay for USED/DATED merchandise at the current rate? Plus, I wouldn’t even say 20% of thrift store shoppers buy items to resell or broadcast on social media. I think that’s a false perception. Once a taboo, the thrift store shopping environment has become more or less “accepted” by the middle-classes of today because some are now in financial straits too OR they go to a thrift store for practicality purposes once they realized they didn’t see the need to spend an excess amount of money on a wardrobe or piece of furniture.