Why are thrift stores so expensive?
Thrift & charity shops are pricing their donations the same and even higher than new unethically produced fast fashion:
Thrift stores receive literally tons of items every day for free, so many that only about 20% of those donated items actually make it out into the store for sale – large thrift stores even proudly advertise that they add 2000+ items to their over stuffed racks and shelves daily.
Clearly the supply is massively greater than the demand so why not price accordingly?
The charity shops I shopped at in Europe priced most of their large textile items under €3 (like winter jackets, suits, footwear, etc) and smaller textile items at €1 or less (shirts, pants, towels, bags, etc). Kitchenware, books, toys, accessories, etc were always sold for cents and furniture was usually under €10.
Why?
Because the supply was greater than the demand and donations came in faster than they could sell them. The logic there is simple: getting more out of the store and in use at a very reasonable price means less needs to be tossed + makes a bit more room for the massive donations arriving daily.
The shops I frequented when I lived in Germany (2008 – 2016) + the ones I visited in Poland, Romania, Denmark & the Netherlands during that time had the prices I mentioned above. Sadly, I’ve come to discover that Canadian chain thrift stores (even those run by charities) are ridiculously overpriced, especially when compared to European charity shops. Even thrift shops in the US have better prices than Canada – humph!
Why are thrift stores so expensive here?
Check out what happened when I compared purchasing new clothes to secondhand and my top trick for scoring fab free gear with my webisode: Fast Fashion vs Thrift Haul + Sustainable Fashion Tips:
To any and all who think secondhand & preloved shopping is “cheap”, “gross” or “unhygenic” & buying new is better, kindly take a peek at and share this article, this article, this article and this article and this video:
Thrift stores became more expensive during, and after, the Great Recession years. It became necessary for people to not spend as much so more people shopped at thrift stores. It became the thing to do.
The thrift stores, seeing this trend, upped their prices…over and over and over… They are businesses, saw the opportunity to make more money, and jumped on the bandwagon.
Until you get the prices you see today.
DIY was a big trend because of the Great Recession. As years pass both will become a fading memory and DIY will possibly become passé again (think of fthe ’70s going into the ’80s – 70’s was all about DIY, 80’s were all about conspicuous consumption).
Thrift stores won’t be as popular and will be forced to either lower their prices to stay in business or they will close.
This is my perspective on this. I remember thrift store prices before the Great Recession as compared to nowadays. I started sewing so I wouldn’t have to pay those prices for fast fashion OR used clothing. I’ll buy clothing/sheets/tablecloths at garage sales and use that fabric instead. That way I get exactly what I want.
♥ I now avoid all of the big name & chain thrift shops and stick to swaps, tiny “honest” charity shops & the monthly free market: https://awesomesauceasshattery.com/2018/08/10/zero-waste-really-really-free-market-thrift-haul/
That works. It will help get the message to the chain thrift stores and help out the smaller ones. 🙂