Secondhand stores were originally created to alleviate poverty and help low-income individuals afford low-priced clothes, furniture, toys and other goods. Today’s cost of living is significantly higher than previous generations, making affordable options provided by thrift stores especially crucial.
Unfortunately, recent thrift store price increases are making secondhand buying unaffordable for low-income individuals who need them most.
In a country that does so little to protect low-income citizens, we cannot allow this wonderful source of financial relief to become another mere means for capitalistic gain.
Thrift stores must be transparent and connect back to the mission of providing affordability. Both resellers and shoppers must fight overconsumption, buy and sell consciously and encourage creative solutions to thrift gentrification.
The Leftovers
Beyond offering affordable items, thrifting is incredibly beneficial for the environment. It is a great alternative to highly-damaging fast fashion. Rather than constantly demanding new items, we can make use of goods that already exist. This means resource conservation, fewer carbon emissions, less waste generation and more.
Interestingly, thrift stores that fill their stores with donated goods receive far more products than they put on their shelves. Most donated clothing is sent overseas or placed in landfills and recycling facilities.
We are making more clothes than we have the space to sell in thrift stores. Mass production of, often low-quality, clothing is rampant. This indicates a clear problem with overproduction.
Shoppers must seek to limit — not expand — their consumption. The point of thrifting is not to supplement one’s newly bought items with extra thrifted ones. To counter overproduction and fast fashion, shoppers must decrease their consumption of new goods by replacing them with used ones.
Despite the abundance of donations, all thrift shoppers want to buy high-quality and low-priced items. These are a store’s “best” goods. When affluent shoppers enter thrift stores and buy all these goods first, they leave low-income shoppers empty-handed.
This is why affluent shoppers must refrain from buying every great item they find. Affluent shoppers can also avoid shopping at secondhand stores in especially low-income areas. This ensures they do not dig into the supply of “best” goods in those areas.
Resellers
Resellers enter thrift stores, buy items in bulk and resell them online at increased prices. This limits low-income and disabled shoppers’ access to high-quality items.
Jason Asher is an assistant vice president of retail operations and logistics for Easter Seals-Goodwill.
He said reselling is especially threatening in “small communities, if resellers are coming in and [aggressively buying items].” Shoppers in these areas likely have fewer thrifting options, and cannot turn to alternatives when resellers buy all their best items.
Furthermore, some resellers are the epitome of sleazy salespeople. They lie about the rarity, age and quality of their items. This allows them to sell at unreasonably high prices for selfish gain.
Some resellers even buy and upsell fast-fashion items from brands like Shein. By doing so, they directly endorse the worker exploitation and environmental degradation characteristic of these fast-fashion industries.
We need ethical resellers. Lying to shoppers about an item’s quality and perpetuating fast fashion is never acceptable. But ending reselling completely is not the answer. Asher said he met “a woman who was supporting her three children” by reselling. Some families rely on reselling and he “can’t fault” them for trying to make ends meet.
Alternatively, affluent resellers don’t rely on reselling for their livelihoods. They should spare items for low-income shoppers by minimizing the amount they resell. They must also resell honestly, price items fairly, stand against fast fashion and avoid bulk buying in low-income or rural areas.
Corporations, Not Charities
The same people who ostracized low-income shoppers for buying secondhand are thrifting today. As thrifting becomes mainstream, thrift stores assume a wealthier overall customer base. This means they can get away with deliberately raising prices for profit. For-profit thrift stores that price gouge exacerbate the gentrification of secondhand shopping. When they seek profit above protecting low-income shoppers, they stray painfully far from the original purpose of secondhand selling.
Asher said “rather than … raising prices, we’re trying to put out more goods.” Other stores must follow by example. Instead of selling small quantities of high-priced goods, thrift stores should sell large quantities of low-priced ones. This benefits all shoppers by giving them access to a wide variety of well-priced items.
Some thrift businesses are attracting customers with blatant lies. Savers is one chain thrift store that made headlines for offering false promises. They were sued for falsely claiming to operate like a charity despite only dedicating a minuscule amount of profits to charity. Value Village is another thrift store that — rather than providing real charity and genuinely fair prices — profits off deception.
Deceptive secondhand businesses must be held responsible for exploiting, rather than aiding, shoppers and low-income communities.
Looking Forward
Asher said secondhand stores like Goodwill are not just “cheap place[s] to buy goods.” They also give disadvantaged employees the “opportunity… to earn a paycheck [and] have dignity through work.” Leveraging a disadvantaged workforce is one way thrift stores can connect to the original mission of empowering people in need.
It is time to think creatively about ending thrift store gentrification, protecting low-income shoppers and maximizing societal and environmental well-being. This means designating specific thrift store locations for low-income individuals only. Or perhaps expanding thrift stores’ ability to properly recycle unused donations.
University of Utah students who thrift shop or resell items during events like Off the Rack or pop-up thrift events can also use these opportunities to practice mindful thrifting.
While searching for solutions, we must never use gentrification challenges to discourage thrifting overall. As Asher said, thrifting is “an opportunity for everyone.” The increased acceptance and popularity of thrifting — for all people — is a positive step. The key is for all parties to approach thrifting with integrity, intention and care.
