On a recent outing with friends, I saw a jacket in the local Goodwill thrift store that caught my eye. It was tagged at $34.99. The jacket was a vintage Indiana Colts varsity jacket with applique patches and made from durable fabric, the kind that I rarely find in new clothes.
A thrift store should be a place of equal opportunity
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This specific instance is an example of a growing issue that I’ve witnessed throughout the past few years. The prices of everyday objects and clothing in second-hand stores have hiked dramatically and without warning. A place where inexpensive clothes could once be bought can now hardly be considered ‘cheap.’ The root of this problem, though widely speculated, lies nowhere else but in corporate greed. Prices must go back down.
Thrift stores exist (in theory) to provide the opportunity for individuals and families on a tighter budget to find donated products of good quality while not dispensing too much money. The clothes, housewares, toys, etc. can be of great value to those seeking them out second-hand. The thrifting cycle of purchase, donation, and re-purchase is not perfect, but is a more sustainable and ethical way of dealing with unwanted things that others may need.
Having been an avid thrift shopper for the majority of my life, I understand that thrifting has become a mainstream form of clothing consumption. Shopping for clothes at the thrift store is commonplace not only for those with lower incomes but for all ages and financial demographics. Thrifting is cool. Generation Z has realized that second-hand stores have hidden gems waiting to be found and can be a fun activity: a treasure hunt of sorts where the perfect item is hidden behind one more rack.
With the rise of Gen Z shoppers, the practice of buying and reselling cheap thrifted clothing for much greater prices online has also risen. Is this a problem for the business of thrift stores? Hardly. The inventory of thrift stores is never in short supply and is donated entirely free of charge to the business. A large portion of donated clothing is in fact thrown out, as there is not enough space to accommodate the sheer sum of donated items. Rising prices have nothing to do with limited inventory.
This is what’s going on: Large thrift chains, such as Goodwill and Value Village, have realized that customers of a generally higher income demographic are buying frequently and in large quantities from their stores. As a method of increasing profits (when the cost of inventory is virtually zero), they mark up products of good quality or of a particular brand that is likely to be sought after, knowing that the inflated cost, although still under the initial cost, will nonetheless be purchased by someone able to afford it.
This phenomenon is annoying to me, as an upper-middle-class citizen wanting to thrift not because I need to but because I enjoy it. But my frustrations are insignificant. How about those who seek the chance to find a nice piece of clothing for an affordable cost who don’t have the financial freedom to spend $20 or more on a single item?
Although thrifting has transitioned to a popular practice, there’s no rational need for prices to increase, aside from growing business and increasing profits. Thrift stores are hiking prices because they can, not because they have to.
It’s understandable why this problem is occurring. The capitalist system of our society encourages growth when possible. It is no surprise to me that conglomerate companies have taken advantage of consumers by making sought-after items more expensive. Furthermore, there remain thrift stores, primarily those run by nonprofits (such as The Depot, run by Mennonite Central Committee), whose prices remain relatively cheap and affordable. But in my experience, these stores are the minority.
Companies with more inventory, bigger stores, and better advertising will attract more customers to their higher costs. A thrift store should be a place of equal opportunity: Something nice can be found and bought by anyone, regardless of finances. The greed of companies has now made this impossible. An economic hierarchy has been created in second-hand stores.
The ethical reality of further limiting those of a lower financial demographic is reprehensible. High-end fashion companies can hock at whatever prices they choose. But thrift store items, no matter the quality or brand, should never cost more than a few bucks at most.
These for-profit businesses have to consider their own blatant hypocrisy and reestablish thrift stores as the inexpensive resources that they once were.