dude i just came from a charity thrift store and i spent 25$ and i just got a collard shirt, small coin purse and a pair of black pants i had to get for work because i didnt have time to wait for shein shipping
Fr, i'm sad i wasn't able to have a job back then, and was also to young to get there on my own w out my parents, who never took me 🥲 literally the second i finally got a job, inflation hit hard af
"Remember when people used to make fun of you for shopping in thrift stores because you couldn't afford anything else? Those are the same people who are shaming you for NOT shopping in thrift stores now." Exactly. There's also the fact that resellers pick stores clean of good and cool clothes. You cant shame somebody for not going to the thrift store anymore when your clothes are all from a reseller who makes it impossible for poor people to have nice things. It's ironic because people who have less money will save clothing (even fast fashion) forever, while many who "buy vintage" or resell will throw away or resell all their clothes when theyre "not their style" anymore. Because they can always afford new clothes
yasss. exactly..I turn 33 in two days, but I am still wearing clothing I bought in 6th grade from hot topic. and the things that don't fit? split the outer seams and make cool diy pants with fabric sewn on the sides. I don't throw my clothes out
I worked in thrift store for YEARS!!!! It’s not just resellers. When anything of any value came in, my manager was listing it on EBay with a quickness and pocketing the cash.
@ Greed. The rest of us were making minimum wage. She wasn’t. She had healthcare and got promoted because the general manager was smegsually attracted to her.
My mom's friend was a reseller and I helped her find stuff at a Goodwill bins location near our houses. She took it up as a way to support her family when her husband was battling cancer and couldn't work. She didn't overprice shit or act like the resellers do today. Before she moved, it got harder and harder for us to find stuff to sell because of the other, more vicious resellers.
That's a genuine reason. I'm glad she was able to find something that helped her. In the early 2000s when eBay really started picking up, there were people dashed myself included who found a niche. It was a way to supplement your income where it was lacking. Working in retail and having rent, I made enough for rent but not nearly enough for additionals like food. The small amount that I got from eBay help me grocery shop every week. And there are people that use it out of genuine necessity but nowadays, people do it out of she agreed and boredom.
Fr, there's plenty of resellers on depop who don't overprice, or lie about it being vintage, or lying abt the brand. I support lots of em, i'd never support the bad ones though i can't stand them 😭 but yeah, there's definitely lots of em who are genuine. I even met some really cool friends by buying from them on depop, n then qe started talking there haha
This is why basically all older sellers from before this mania started where doing. These new batch of resellers are the ones that do it solely for the money and they have no conscience. Older sellers are here for the love of vintage and used and have been on the hustle to support their families from the start of online selling.
I am one of those moms that thrifts.. I have 5 small children so it helps us survive.. I have thrifted my whole life I grew up kinda poor But I grew up in a good area because the thrift stores near me had a lot of older people who would donate and it was good quality items.. I loved thrifting when I was younger.. now it is so damn expensive. I went last week and saw the most busted looking pair of heels.. like these things were almost talking and they were charging $18 for these things.. ugh.. thrifting can still be OK, but you need to spend literally hours to find some good stuff. Much ❤ Angela.
I'm really sorry to hear that. When you grow up thrifting as a means of survival, it's an instinct and a skill that sticks with you. And it's weird to think of thrift stores not serving the same purpose anymore. $18 for a pair of jacked up shoes is some audacity. I can't get my head around the pricing. Once upon a time thrifting is what you did when you needed to clothe yourself and your family on a budget but people will always find ways to make ends meet and unfortunately, that can sometimes lead to less ethical sourcing.
As a former employee of a big chain thrift store, what many people may not know is they would sort through and take out the most high value items (antiques, designer, etc.) and sell them on their own auction website, essentially the chain itself beating resellers to the punch for the big ticket things. If you found something you knew was high value on the shelves, it was to be removed and sent to the action site…so the everyday shopper‘s chance of finding a truly great score was already reduced. Then, the full time resellers would come first thing in the morning when they knew we were putting out new stock and the pushy ones would follow the employees around to scrape up the mid-tier items (real leather, mid-price brands, NWT). At smaller thrifts (which used to have the aforementioned bag sales) I see the nicer items displayed in special areas with higher price tags-like a hybrid vintage/ thrift store. Only a select few with limited hours and chaotic setups remain truly cheap. I blame greedy corporations and the hardcore resellers above all for the shift. There is still a tremendous amount of stock especially with trend cycling and fast fashion (the sale tag colors are always gone from the floor because those are the oldest items which get pulled to make room when new stock comes out because there is no room left on the shelves-they’re increasingly hard to find) and what is not valuable to the auctioneers or trendy to the resellers might still fit someone’s personal style. For this reason (and personal bias bc I do enjoy the hunt of thrifting still even though I am no longer working minimum wage retail) I don’t have a problem per se with hobby thrifting FOR PERSONAL USE. Even the most avid thrifter shopping for their own personal wardrobe is hitting the same spot maybe a few times a month at best and picking up a handful of items-nowhere close to what a bored retiree or trendy TikTok reseller will pile their cart with on the daily. Also, between the auctioneer sites and price gouging-that is all pure profit for the thrift chains at an astronomical rate-they certainly aren’t using it to update facilities or pay employees better wages. Resellers may have started the fire but the big stores are sure not shy about stoking those flames to win at the greed game every time to the detriment of everyone.
P.S. just another thought-like fast fashion, big chain thrifts may be the only places with hours that work for working class people, meaning that while there might technically still be deals to be had at the swap meet/ yard sales/ tiny thrift stores with weird hours, not everybody is going to have the time and energy resources to hunt those down-which is why it’s extra fucked up that the big chain prices seem to be rising the most rapidly
Exactly. I think for personal thrifting there is still plenty to choose from. At my thrift stores, they are overwhelmed by the amount of clothing and shoes they receive daily.
The corporations didn't start it though, the resellers did, much like house flippers who bought up all the cheap fixer-uppers, flipped them on the cheap and then jacked up the price so people with less money couldn't afford them anymore.
The funny thing is that nowadays I typically go to thrift stores to find linens and used retro and vintage patterns... I've found a lot of gems and have created a lot of gems because of so lol.
I no longer donate to thrift stores, which is sad. Now I donate to family/friends/neighbors first, then women's shelters/veterans groups. I am DONE w Goodwill. F them. It's criminal how they are treating ppl and charging. I've also become so averse to purging my wardrobe, I refuse to donate cashmere sweaters to make thrift CEOs richer or a flipper vs someone who needs a sweater affordably that would really appreciate it.
Thank you so much for posting this. Thrifting has become trendy now, which annoys me, and the prices are hiked so extremely high, it's ridiculous. I remember when tops were 3 dollars (Canadian), pants were maybe 10 at the most.... You could get a full outfit, a full cart even, for 30, maybe 40 dollars. Now you're leaving with the same amount, but spending 90 or more... 😢
It's gotten ridiculous! I remember when I was 17 and got my own apartment for the first time and needed everything. My budget? $300. That $300 got me a couch, chair, desk, three book shelves, a dresser and a bed minus the mattress and box spring as well as dinnerware, a 20" TV, toaster and a microwave. I would regularly hit up the thrifts for clothing as well, and as a young person couldn't afford cable TV starting out so I would buy paperbacks to read which were usually 3 books for $1 or 50cents per book at other places. Recently tried to jump back into thrifting to get some of the things I need and.... Wow, it should be illegal to call your store a thrift store. $150 for a used, scratched all to hell desk? Books are now $4-$7 each and found the perfect ottoman to match my furniture.... Except it was $175 USED. Hopped online and it retails brand new for $200. I started noticing this about 8 years ago and it has only gotten worse. It's a virtual guarantee, as soon as something becomes a Millenial or Gen Z trend for social media It's going to quickly become expensive as hell.
I used to think that reselling was a nice idea for those who are a bit lost in finding their style, but now i know that it has just become another consequence of consumerism, people hoard second hand clothing too. The problem just got a lil more complicated. I've read recently that consumerism could be linked to the "epidemic" of loneliness and tbh, it makes sense. Some want the perfect outfits for pictures, but not so much to wear it at social events because the thrill of getting likes on social media has replaced the thrill of having an active social life.
@@starscreamthecruel8026 there might be some, but i remember just being with my peers, wearing the most non aesthetic outfits possible hahaha and having a blast, we were allowed to be cringy teenagers without fearing social media's bullying.
@@starscreamthecruel8026 Yes. Not everyone's Faceplant account contains nothing but a steady stream of bathroom mirror selfies just because you've assumed that the few ways you've heard of social media being used are the only ways it can be used.
I agree with everything you have said here . As a 52 year old woman I remember shopping at thrift stores when it started becoming a big thing to help people in need. Now the prices are so high where I live and the employees all tell me the prices are higher because they donate money to homeless and pet shelters. Even if that’s true…the prices don’t have to be that high 😮
I think discussions like this is the reason why goth needs to continue having that social awareness that was derived from punk and to emphasize anti-consumerism, DIY, and communal economies (going to goth/spooky events where people sell their handmade stuff). I'm kind of tired of seeing some people hide behind certain social issues (classism, ableism, etc.) as a ruse to continue buying goth-in-a-box stuff from unethical brands and companies and to disassociate from DIY ethics (which was pretty much meant to accommodate marginalized people).
What lol. If you can't afford to thrift, that's not "hiding behind a ruse." And as a plus-size person, thrifting was never an option for me. And as a disabled person, I can't physically afford to spend all my energy (often non-existent) on trying to hopefully maybe find something that is suited to me. These aren't excuses, these are people's lived realities.
@@awkwardpawsomeyou can easily buy basic clothes from brands that cathers to plus size people and diy the hell out of it, some rips, stiching, slashing and patches makes all the magic
We started an event locally called a "Free Sale." Everyone brings the stuff they don't want/need and lay it out on tables. Anyone else can take whatever they want. It's a one-day a month event and so far, I've not seen any resellers, but it's probably only a matter of time.
The thrift stores in my area don't even put the good stuff people donate in the stores. The staff go through the items and put the better options online for sale at a high price. Can't even find anything decent in there anymore.
It's a problem even over here in the UK right now too. Everything is marked up and a lot of the good items are going to resellers, there's so many people who actually need thrift store clothes as well, I need to thrift a lot as I'm neurodivergent and can't work. It's so sad what's happening right now.
uk charity shops are putting the prices up a lot (which in part is due to the rent they have to pay) but also greed. they won’t even have scrap bins any more for ripped or stained items that they could sell for a £1 and people could diy.
Our thrift stores (Purley) are useless. (They've all but disappeared in Croydon.It's just TJ Max now) If you aren't a size 6 or want to look like someone in their 90s, you're gonna be out of luck. (Im in the UK too)
@@starscreamthecruel8026 I use to love rummaging around a charity shop or 5 (I live in a Kent seaside town) to see what bargains I could get, but I hardly bother going in now as between the prices and the resellers it slim pickings.
eBay might have cheaper pieces because people are sometimes getting rid of their old clothes. However, sometimes you end up paying more for the shipping than you do for the item itself.
Ebay also has some wish and aliexpress resellers now I've noticed. I'll find a cheap shirt that's listed on wish for like 5 dollars on ebay for like 20. So even ebay is a hit and miss now. I'm not great at weeding that stuff out and it makes me nervous.
It's the same for vinted there's low prices but postage and additional fees such as the "buyer protection fee" which costs a certain percentage of the item listing price quickly adds up and can work out much more than the item listing.
"It's cheaper to buy from fast fashion....." That is why I shop at Temu. I am 37. I have bought my clothes at the Thrift Store all of my life and over the past eight years I have watched, as you said, the same people who mocked us mercilessly as kids for wearing clothes from Thrift Stores start shopping at those same stores spending hundreds of dollars just to re-sale the stuff. I know how this sounds but I would never buy from a place like Poshmark because chances are high that I would be buying from the same people who priced us out of Thrift Stores. The prices at Thrift Stores will never go down so long as these people get the money they are looking for out of the items we can no longer afford at the Thrift Store. I know many people on those sites are just selling their own stuff but you don't know where the seller got the stuff. 🤷🏻♀️ And for anyone who donates their clothes to thrift stores, I would advise donating to battered women's shelters or local homeless shelters instead if you want people who need the stuff to actually get it.
@@lainiwakura1776 You realize most of the stuff at Temu is a fraction of the price of Walmart. Also, anything from Walmart that comes from China absolutely comes from the same factories. Nothing at Walmart is any less fast fashion than what you will get from Temu.....it just costs way more so people believe it's better.
@@angelabenedict finally had a chance to watch it in full, and i have to say, you hit the nail on the head with every. single. point. as a college student working part time on minimum wage (in the bay area where prices for everything are insane btw), i don't often have a choice but to shop fast fashion, and it's largely because of the downfall of thrift shops. i used to go all the time in high school, and i swear i was able to find whatever i needed at relatively decent prices. to this day, i have most of my thrifted clothes, and i don't plan on getting rid of them anytime soon. that being said, I've had to switch back over to fast fashion for a lot of things in recent years as I'd rather spend 20 bucks on a brand new poor quality shirt instead of 15 bucks on the same, poor quality shirt that already has holes and stains in it. it sucks, but that's just what makes more sense for my financial situation at the moment. i never think about looking at sites like poshmark, but i might have to look into it as an alternative because i am SICK of paying full price for clothes that i know are going to fall apart in a year or two. something to consider is looking for local garage sales for clothes rather than thrifting! they won't always be available of course, but oftentimes you can find clothes for much better prices as people are just trying to get rid of whatever they can. this is definitely something i want to start doing more often as i really do miss the experience of shopping second-hand. great video, as always 🖤🥀
I've shared my agreement of your frustration with resellers in the comments before. My family had very little income to spend on school clothes after (and even before) my dad passed in my early teens. My mom was one of the best bargain hunters I have ever known, and we got many things from thrift stores. My grandmother lived through the depression and held onto everything, so I loved sifting through her storage for beautiful things as well. The cruel comments from other kids about my second-hand clothes were commonplace well before being labeled the "freak" and "witch" in high school. Even though I can now afford all the beautiful things I would have died to have in high school, I still love diy and thrifting. It's sad that younger goths aren't getting to enjoy thrift shopping for treasures with friends like we did.
I made goth bell-bottoms in the 90s from thrifted black pants,jeans, scarves, lace and satin from vintage nightgowns. Everyone asked me where I got them.
I've been an avid thrifter for a few years now, not just for work clothes, but also for repurposing to make dyi cosplays for myself and my daughter for Halloween and conventions/events we'd go to, and I agree that they've gotten out of hand with their pricing. And while I do think that resellers contribute to the problem, I think it boils down to greed. Goodwill and 2nd Ave Thrift are supposed to be charity but they make profits. and with everything from food to housing to basic necessities being overpriced these days, the thrift stores are upping their prices too like everything else. So the last couple of times I've gone to the thrift stores in the last month, I try to be mindful and go for specific things/items. and try to just pay with cash so I'm less inclined to buy/spend too much. I was in need of a good jewelry box and had my eye on one. I went back and got it and picked up another one, I spent a total of $13 for both which isn't bad. I have been thinking about some of the amazing finds I've found in thrift stores over the years and thought about doing a video or a blog about it. One of them is a vintage Winding Brook Reversible jacket I bought for $6 in Goodwill back in 2017 because it was just too weird not to. I did a reverse image search just recently, and the same jacket is being sold on Poshmark for $150, another listing for $70! It's also on ebay for $23. it's crazy. I'm thinking I want to go through my closet and whatever doesn't fit, my old work/professional clothes I'm going to donate to a local "store" at our county job center. It's actually a free store for county residents and primarily for people going to the job program so they can get interview/work clothes, and also the local recovery programs send people there too. They used to have kids stuff there too but last time I was there they didn't have kids stuff. So I have to call and see what they're doing now, though my daughter's stuff I tend to hold for her cousins because they're still young yet. Whatever I can't donate to the county "store" or give to my sisters' kids , I'm going to try to resell on ebay/mercari/vinted/poshmark, but at reasonable prices. not crazy overprices, if anything just to recoup the $5 or $10 I originally spent on the items. or I might just have a yard sale or sign up to vend at a flea market or something. but overall yes I agree that thrifting isn't being thrifty anymore and it sucks.
1st thing to say: I'm a german, living in South Germany. Every time you or other youtubers said, that you shop in thrift stores for a few bugs, I thought that would never work in Germany. People are too asocial / narcisstic, too greedy and too money-hungry. We even don't have many thrift stores. But in this few stores you need a social ID card from the social welfare office to be allowed (!) to buy stuff! I'm not sure if they have to take the bills for proofing that they are not illegal resellers, but it totally would make sense. And that is why I, teenagers etc never go thrifting. We are not allowed too 🤷🏻♀️ I think our system would be great for America, England etc too! ^^
I get quite fired up when it comes to resellers and how people that actually need the thrift stores are no longer able to afford to shop in them anymore. I was in high school in the 90s and I remember being able to go to VV and my mom gave me and my brother $100 each to purchase clothes for the new school year. The cart would be full of cool stuff that no one else was wearing can't do that now. I still have some of the pieces I wore in high school still. When my son was growing up I would also thrift a lot of his clothes because he would grow so quickly. I noticed prices going on a bit in early 2000s and they have keep getting more expensive. I have been extremely frustrated because I am now a larger size (due to health issues) and trying to find clothes for a decent price is not possible thrifting anymore. I can find stuff on clearance at a retail brand store than what I can find in thrift store. I am currently on a fixed income so I am struggling to get clothes for myself because I struggle to find things in my size because if the resellers aren't snapping it up to sell at jacked up prices, the DIY "girlies" that are size 0 will grab all the 1-2 XL clothing to "thrift flip" for content because there is more fabric in the plus sized to flip. Then see them destroy a perfectly good item that someone like me, that already has a difficult time finding decent plus sized clothing within budget (since most plus sized clothes are more expensive than standard sizing), could have worn to work. Making things that are held together with glue gun glue because they don't know how to sew and just want something that can last for a bit till they get bored and change it out for something else. I understand thrift flipping and don't have an issue with it for the most part but when I see people that aren't the size taking clothes from a person that already struggles to find clothes because they have like a 4 foot section to choose from instead of the rows and rows of straight sizing, it really irritates me. Larger people exist and we need clothing too. Honestly I think social media has ruined thrifting for good. All the videos of "how I bought something for $2 and sold it for $100 and "don't buy fabric, just go to the thrift store and buy bigger clothing so you have more fabric to work with and all you need is a glue gun to make something cute". I have had to switch my clothing to natural fibres (thanks to health issues and being unable to wear plastic polyester clothing anymore) so it is even more difficult. I used to be able to sometimes find cute 100% cotton pieces at thrift stores for not too bad of a price but now it is too pricey. It hurts my heart, thrifting was the only way I could afford to decorate my home and cloth myself within a tight budget. I am in Canada so not sure we have Vinted and such up here, even if we did shipping in Canada is stupid and I need to be able to feel the fabric before I buy something (sensory issues) so many retail stores have put all the plus sized online only so you can't even get them in stores. I have given up and decided I am going to put my sewing skills to use and start making myself some stuff with clearance bedsheets (still can find 100% cotton ones on occasion). You are right about the ones reselling seem to be the people that would have been bullying and treating the kids that could only afford to thrift like crap and now they are keeping those people that need thrift stores to just clothe themselves out. I once saw a severely stained Columbia jacket at VV and it was listed as $69.99 CAD. I managed to get a fall jacket, winter jacket and spring jack for less than that one jacket on clearance/end of season sales. They weren't stained.
I noticed the change within weeks of Macklemore's Thrift Shop song being released. A song about creating a look while being poor. Immediately, thrift shopping became insanely trendy. St. Vinny's and Goodwill jacked up their prices. The latter in particular. The song is largely forgotten, but it's effect upon thrift shopping is visible everywhere to this day.
When I worked at a thrift store, the customers were always complaining about the prices while my managers were always telling me to price stuff higher.
ugh people that can afford to buy 2 carts full of stuff at the thrift store are the reason I cant take just 20.00 dollars and leave with a bag full of goodies anymore, SIGH!
I have seen decore from dollar tree ($1.25) at goodwill for five dollars 🤦🏻♀️ It is so greedy to sell stuff for way higher of a price that they get for free 😬
Goodwill has no goodwill left for people.... they were the first thrift store I noticed raising prices after ebay started, and then the larger cities started warehouses for online sales quickly when they realized there was a market
Growing up in an European country, I didn't know the concept of a thrift store. But me and my siblings would get hand me downs all the time. Most of my clothes and shoes were second hand. Now, that I can thrift, I do it not for necessity, fortunately, but because I want quality garments, and you cannot find natural fibers or nicely tailored clothes in regular stores any longer. I started going to second hand stores to find wool skirts. Ended up finding some linen, cotton, wool, leather. Tailored skirts, dresses and coats. I got some nice treasures in thrift stores. Most of their stock was genuine vintage from the 80s and 90s. Now, 90% of the stuff I see is fast fashion. Shein and the likes. Rayon, polyester, nylon and faux leather.. shit that doesn't last 2 washes and priced like raw silk.
I remember people used to talk so much trash to my friends and I who loved to thrift because it was more affordable and we could find lots of cool vintage items. This is kind of how goth, nerdy, emo, scene kid, etc are all of a sudden trendy bc of TikTok instead of the shitstorm I endured in school for being into those things.
In the UK, it felt like right after Lock down, as soon as they reopened, all the charity shops had put up their prices. Many have eBay sites too, where they list their best items and the staff look up the worth before pricing in the shop. Many of the charity shops I choose to visit, have “well off” volunteers so I also believe they are pricing higher because that cost is actually nothing to them.
Here in my end of Denmark thrifting became the 'hip' thing to do some years ago, prices went up (and they weren't necesarrily low to begin with, though I have on rare occasion gotten lucky) - to the point that (like you describe) thrifting a plain tshirt costs the same as buying a new (fast fashion) one, if not more. I haven't seen a lot of thrift-flipping here (but at the same time I haven't paid attention, the one website I did see people resell on were selling them to the same price as the new item). Another thing is also that as a goth who is (by danish standard) on the slightly larger end of things (by US standard I'd probably be mid-size/small+), finding stuff that actually looks good or is reasonably moddable thrifting is not as easy as some makes it seem because a lot of clothes above a certain size is just not nice to look at. I'm someone who will wear my clothes (regardless whether it' fast fashion, brandname etc), til they fall apart or under no circumstance can fit but it still bugs me that thrifting has become so expensive because I miss it
@@angelabenedict i know right? Another problem is the stuff that people donate, sometimes it'll be holed, broken and stained (or in a bag with a lot of other stuff, including items that would be rather sus to donate) or dropped off after hours to stand out in the weather overnight (because not all stores have containers we can pop it in), and sometimes those bags will have been looked through when the thrift store employees come find them on their doorstep.
I'm lucky. Here in Toronto (Canada), I've found Doc Martens for around $25 and I also have a few lacy dresses, slips and a black dress from Killstar all at Value Village. But sometimes the prices make me upset. This is at Value Village. I'll rarely pay more than $16 for a dress, but a lot of prices really are ridiculous. We do however have a cool store called Black Market on Queen where you can get vintage and alt stuff for like $10, but those kinds of businesses are rare.
you know the part about the goth club it's what saddens me the most. before the goth clubs were fashion shows, everyone wore such unique outfits out of literally anything you found that was black and you could put together, now if someone dresses up usually it's in branded stuff (loooots of killstar) and not really that original, and it sucks because i think originality, diy and thrifting it's a vital part of the goth community. great video as allways!!!!!!
2017 - my first job was a thrift store chain. It being a chain, the prices could be kind of gnarly sometimes but for the most part were respectable (especially since you could really get into the grit of it with coupons and color tag discounts). 2 years there I noticed prices steadily rising and noticed people who came in and skimmed to find the trendiest things they could, but nothing too crazy. I hadn't gone back to that chain until a few months ago and the prices made my JAW drop!! They were outrageous even when the piece had stains or holes!
Because of this, I tend to go to local goth events and if there's a goth clothing swaps, I always donate. I've even had the pleasure of hosting a couple. They're really cool, everything is free and you can really find some nice things, you can bring things to swap out. Meaning if you have some old pieces you can swap them out for something on display, you can simply donate, or you can come and just get things that are on display. So many people supported these goth clothing swaps that I had to pack thing away to bring back for the next clothing swap the following year. So if you every see an event that has goth clothing swaps please support or if you are a promoter of goth events, this may be something that you'd want to add to your event, A gothic clothing swap parlour. 🦇⚰🧛🏾
I have done this with goth and steampunk groups. Always fun. There is always a “free” table at TeslaCon and the Chicago Expo also had a lady there making outfits for people without a steampunk look and making them great outfits of free stuff.
Well I scored a vintage W.A.S.P. tee on eBay....some were priced really high even on there..even Goodwill it's $6 for a top or bottoms. I got a cute lace skirt there & some animal print pants & some pleather pants....at least most things in there as far as clothes are one price. I remember though when I could go in there with $20 & get 2 tops, 2 bottoms and a pair of boots or shoes ..not now...I like making things & I might try to do more of that....fast fashion still calls my name sometimes. ..but the prices are better than Goodwill ..other thrift stores sell for more. I do try to match things up more than one way & try to wear things year round. I've seen the types you are talking about, their videos are all over TH-cam .
I always felt that if you don't need to shop thrift you don't because it was there for people that needed to, which I have needed it before. I think these days a lot of these places sell for higher prices and take a portion of the money they make to give to charity organizations. The problem with that is it doesn't get to the people that needed the thrift stores. People don't want to go to charity. The "hobby" people I think have screwed it up for the people that needed the thrift stores.
This has been my gripe for the last 10 years and it has only become worse with each year. I'm in New Zealand and it's the same problem. There are also pieces from fast fashion such as Shein/PLT/BooHoo that are sold in secondhand stores here for around the same price (or sometimes more) than what they are sold for on the website, and any decent quality clothing/shoes/bags are not around any more because they are snapped up immediately by resellers. If I do buy clothing, I still choose to buy vintage/secondhand from someone because clothes from over 30 years ago are infinitely more durable and better quality of garment, but I do get irritated that someone is making money off me because I won't be able to find it otherwise.
Kind of unrelated but a while ago on Depop I saw a "handmade" top that was selling for $20. It was most certainly a fast fashion black tank top, and the "handmade" bits were a few rips that the seller had done and safety pins across the rips for decoration. $20.... and judging by the amount of favorites it had, it probably sold for that price. 😐
The goodwill in my area has set prices for everything regardless of condition and brand (womens tops shorts $5 formal dresses $30 kids clothes $3 for example)
I was just venting to my sister about this a couple days ago. I grew up reliant on thrift stores and just second-hand things in general. And any time my siblings and I were able to go to a non-thrift store, my dad would always, always, ALWAYS tell us that whatever we got, it had to come from the sale/clearance rack and even that was no guarantee that we could get it. As an adult, I work in a school which means I get paid next to nothing and am still reliant on thrift stores. But the prices are getting ridiculous and certain locations in my area have even moved to more affluent parts of town! It all just feels like a form of gentrification.
Do you have any photos of back when you put grandma’s tights and velvet blazers, safety pins, slips and things in an outfit to wear to the club? I would live to see some of the outfits you pulled together. I bet they are amazing. Thank you for sharing your concerns.
I live in the UK and I used to work in a charity shop. I left there late last year and people would sometimes complain about the prices. The one I worked was not really overpriced but sometimes want something for nearly nothing.
And now the op shops (Australian word for 'thrift shop') having a growing number of clothes from places like Shein. It's such terrible clothing that is clogging up everything.
Oh man, I would’ve liked to get into thrifting. Get individual pieces and give them a new life. Now that you bring up the up-sale issue, I don’t know if I want to.
It is sad that thrift stores have gotten so expensive. Social Media influencers and resellers have ruined it for everyone. While my local thrift store is cheaper than new, it is much more expensive than it was even just a couple years ago. One of my local Goodwill stores have these two guys who are there every day grabbing stuff as soon as it comes out of the back, checking the value on their phones and then putting it in their carts if they think they can get money for it. I've also seen them grabbing items from other people's carts when they aren't looking. Once one of those guys actually grabbed something out of a woman's hand, ripped the box, then handed it back to her...sadly the manager witnessed the entire thing and did nothing, so they are in on it which is a disgrace.
I grew up in a middle class family, but my parent's are thrifty so I got a lot of my clothes from thrift stores as a child. I very much remember when admitting you got your clothing from the thrift store or god forbid Wally World or Kmart would get you mocked. Even still I have a lot of good childhood memories thrifting with my mother, sister, cousins, aunt and grandmother. I'm either upper lower class or lower middle class now. I can afford mall clothes to a point, but I still like going to thrift stores to find weird quirky stuff. But the last few years, Ive notice the prices at thrift store have sky rocket. Throwing down $100 at the thrift store is so doable nowadays. Thats very strange to me. An affordable option for people who've been priced out of thrift stores could try are clothing swaps. Those are usually free, or require a fee only to those that didn't bring a bag of clothes. Its also something that could easily be organized amongst friends.
I love the idea of clothing swaps, I wish they were more heavily advertised. I've been having a little trouble finding them myself. There are goth ones but unfortunately not in my area.
Last time i went to a thrift store was a year ago when i needed some baby clothes because i was 7 months pregnant and didn't have anything for her at the time due to budget issues. I went to goodwill first since it was closest to me and the prices were stupid expensive from the last time i was there to get clothes for work (2019). I ended up checking out another store that was farther down the road called Castaways and sadly there wasn't much for babies because a majority of the residents/donations were eldery people that retired to be by the beach, but i was able to find a few things for the baby under 5$ because they were having a clearance sale. Unfortunately i missed out on a vintage bassinet that i wanted to get but i didn't have 25$ available at the time. by the time i could afford it, it was gone 😔. Anymore i just scavenge the clearance rack at walmart because im able to find new pieces of clothing between 1-5$ and make them last for a good few years.
My wardrobe in the 90-ies was mostly thrifted and home made...loved it. Exept my working clothes (my employer provide those), some basics like cotton leggings and underwear, most of my wardrobe is thrifted and home made. My body type isn't made for most ready to wear clothing anyways (I'm tall and muscular). In my little town, there is only one thrift store and it's allright price wise (a pair of jeans for $8 and all skirts for $4/piece (translated from Swedish currency) and so on) But I sometimes go to thrifting in the closest big town and there the prices really are being jacked up, like 3-4 times as much as I can get stuff for here. The clientel is also very different. In my home town it's mostly low income people, immigrants and older folks. In the "big town" a lot of "influenser"-looking girls going around looking for pieces to "buy cheep and sell expensive" (yep I hear a lot of conversations about stuff like that). Not because they need the money, but because the can...sort of situations. Note: I allways donate good pieces from my and the daughters wardrobe if we "weed out" stuff, to our lokal thrift store. They loved me when the kids where small because I donated a lot of high quality, home made kids clothing 😉. I allso buy a lot of wierd fabrics (fabrics that isn't supernice material or just plain ugly early 2000:s curtains, that nobody else wants to buy) from them because I use it to make mock ups for my sewing. I'm by no means a Saint or dick head...if I find an item I or my baby bat kid can't use I allways leave it for somebody that really needs it to buy.
I've not had a good interesting charity shop find for a very long time , I used to often find weird and wonderful curios , old medical devices , creepy old dolls etc , not seen anything like that for ages , I do feel lucky to find the occasional Item of clothing now , and still buy balls of wool for making wool dreads etc . I hope things improve again but it seems unlikely, also a lot of very dirty smelly clothes on the racks I've noticed now , a couple of times recently there was the sharp sour stench of vomit in the air , that was either on clothing or bedding etc , I left rather quickly! . It seems the quality standard as to what's going on the shelves has gone down, better quality items going elsewhere or snapped up by resellers. I find these days old army surplus things such as black tunics, peaked caps , and greatcoats and customising them in a dark goth style is how I can afford to make some affordable clothes, a lot depending on the fabric you can dye black too, not as cheap as the heyday of thrift clothes though.
It makes you wonder what happened to it all. Because I can understand the mass quantities of clothing and bits and pieces people would probably try to flip for more - but the curiosities. Where did those go?
@@angelabenedict I don't know , but a friend of mine collects creepy antique/vintage dolls and she goes to car boot sale's as soon as they open at like 7am on the dot as the sellers are still setting their stalls up, she said that's the only good way to get stuff these days, but she said the resellers are there even then which shows the scale of the problem.
@@angelabenedict i think it's part of people trying to cash in on popular aesthetics, like alternative ones, goth - which have grown since the pandemic, i feel.
What really annoys me about the whole thrift stores being online is the fact that you can't try stuff on😭 I remember growing up my mom always made sure I walked around the store with the shoes on for a few minutes to see if they would fit, same thing with every item, I would be doing all kinds of poses bc my parents did not have money to buy a bunch of clothes and these ones needed to last all the way to my little brother as well... Nowadays I just get depressed looking at a lot of the thrift store prices, thank good I have enough where I don't need anything new, and I can fix up everything old
Thrifting in the 90s was something else! My fave in high school was a little church run place where I could get freaking awesome vintage dresses and swimsuits for like 50 cents. The most I spent there was $2.50 on a grandpa cardigan that looked identical to Kurt Cobain's Unplugged sweater. I wore that thing until it literally fell apart.
I actually used to work at good will back in 2014 and firstly all the workers steal the good stuff and they are encouraged by management to overprice , I am a firestarter and I literally got a aspect of goodwill closed in Bakersfield they used to have a worker , put in a metal shipping box accepting donations all day with no bathroom, was expected to walk three or four miles at lunch to nearest bathroom if local school was closed on weekends on weekdays we literally had to go use a elementary schools bathroom we had to of course go to the office tell them we were the goodwill worker and they would let us use the nurses bathroom. Very messed up situation so I complained to h.r and a month later that position was shut down , sorry for the off topic rant but a lot of thrift stores especially good will are corrupt 💯
This reseller passed up a designer sweater that I grabbed after she walked away. It was the softest high end wool I’ve ever felt. Play by Com de Garçon. The entire right side from wrist to hem was unsewn. $10. Guess what me and my new serger did? Soft warm natural fabric. Grey with black heart (rare when I was trying to look up original). Mine for my “forever wardrobe” which I have been slowly working on. I’m 63. I love the hunt
And I did once have someone give me flack thinking I was an upseller, because I was a little to "excited" to find a bunch of silk black and white blouses. I actually had to argue with her a bit because she started telling me how many garments I could take and I legit had to explain to her I just get excited. She explained people would come in and pile their carts with shit and clear out whole sections and leave the "crappy stuff" blew my mind.
Exactly it’s hard to thrift it’s $20 for a used t shirt. I agree thank you for posting. It’s nothing to be ashamed about it’s called survival and it teaches you so much about finances.
To me it’s sad that they pick up the cute, or quality clothes/brands, because then they leave the fast fashion brand like Shien, which is where poor consumers are probably trying to avoid in the first place due to the terrible quality. They can’t use those clothes for work or just to wear around, because they’ll probably fall apart or are already falling apart.
I'm deaf and widowed and reselling (strictly on Poshmark) has helped me provide for my children. I never worked before my husband died and, while we do receive survivor's benefits, that won't be forever and it's not even close to what we were used to. There is more than enough at the bins where I shop, which also happens to be the last place they stop before the landfill. 11.3 million tons of textiles end up in the landfill annually. Thrift stores are also businesses who are, obviously reselling themselves, and they are not there to help poor people; they're there to make a profit.
Sydney opshops are insane. I was in one a couple of weeks back and they were trying to sell a black Zara cardigan with a button missing for $30! And they knew the button was missing because there was a bit of red tape highlighting the fact. Vinnies is jacking up the prices on low-tier designer that is in worse condition than something from Kmart in the next row. It's mind-boggling. A threadbare jumper with holes is not worth being 3 or 4 times the price just because of the flipping tag.
I am in the UK Channel Islands and the thrift stores are obscenely expensive and heavily picked over. It makes me sad because there are a lot of poor people on this island. The people cleaning out the stores suck and I hope it ends of biting them in the arse.
If I saw some pretty clearly well dressed person, acting like they were gonna pick everything usable for their shop - to the dismay of a family in there or someone with children, I'd probably start a fight lol
As someone who comes from a culture of donor clothes.. I never had to buy used clothes, there was donation drives or someone who just donate clothes and you'll do the same I didn't understand thrifting. When I lived in Cape Town I noticed that indeed thrift stores were way expensive than normal retail stores but thrift stores seemed like a fashion choice than a necessity
I've been looking for slips here in Sydney and they seem impossible to find or they're $30+ because they're vintage. It's hectic. I would lose it if I found that black/purple one you showed, it's bloody gorgeous.
I used to work at a goodwill in Colorado. Resellers would come in and spend more money in one shot than any of were making in a month. Those resellers would usually be there at least 3 times a week. Meanwhile the undocumented single dad who works for Pennies on a horse farm was coming in every single day just on the off chance he could find something he needed for his children or himself.
I quit shopping at the goodwill and salvation Army stores, because they're too expensive now a days. Most of the mum n pop thrift shops are better now a days. My favorite type in Orlando is the kind that have two discount tags per day, it helps to bargain hunt better and stay within budget. I just recently found some white linen dress pants go to the craft store n dye the fabric.
7:27 I also agree they are the same ones to say your not cool for shopping at SHEIN or whoever but going to the thrift and re selling a $5 t-shirt for $55 cause it’s gives y2k 💀💀💀
Thrift stores here (NZ) can have some amazing deals! But it pays to look around, as I've noticed the prices slowly going up. There's items in some of them that they're selling for well over $100, and they aren't worth that. I've even seen well-known big box store shoes going for MORE than they cost brand new. Thrift stores here also don't pay for anything. It's all donated goods. I'm happy to donate where I can.
I would buy some clothes @ the thrift store in HS and I remember my mom telling me that the neighbors daughter asked her where I would get my clothes because she loved my looks. My mom not knowing what thrifted diy was just said “ I have no idea, she makes them” lol 😭
ik this is an unpopular opinion, but i am not completely against resellers. when i worked at a thrift store, a lot of the resellers i got to know were older people who couldnt afford to retire but also could no longer work a traditional job due to physical constraints, and broke college students. theres more than enough stuff at thrift stores for everyone, including resellers j in textile items alone. these chain thrift stores should not be raising their prices even if a portion of their shoppers flip items for money online, especially the ones like goodwill that get all their stock for free anyway. its purely greed on their end. this economy is not kind to anyone. theres a false dichotemy that is created of resellers vs low-income everyday people, but in my experience, these categories are not mutually exclusive. a lot of resellers ARE low income people trying to supplement their wages.
Reselling isn't necessarily a bad thing when somebody is using it as a means for survival. Nowadays it's being used by people who are using it for a hobby.
then this video is not about those people. it seems to target people who could choose other forms of income and price gouge their items and won't share where they thrift because they're only in it to make the most money. reselling isn't a valid hobby when you can do something else. it is however valid if you are low income. there really isn't that much stuff everywhere, actually not only bc of resellers, but also because of fast fashion beginning to dominate the thrift market. true, it's also the greed of the shops, raising their prices because folks resell - it doesn't make sense, but i definitely don't trust most resellers on the internet these days
Sadly like a lot of industries today initially created to supplement lower-income people or to get around over-priced accommodations has been totally usurped (e.g. AirBnB, college book rentals, etc.). Now reselling is up there too.
i completely agree with this, i was sad to see this video pop up because the hate for all resellers is all too common now, especially on tiktok. it seems like angela has taken a more nuanced stance which is good. i can understand the initial hate on resellers, i too had to thrift growing up and i understand wanting prices to stay low, but at the end of the day the responsibility lies on the corporation who are getting their items for free. most resellers are too poor to worry about the hate we get online
There's a story I read about an NSWGR driver who bore the handle of "Mean Mike McGann" (not sure how much of that name is accurate or made up by the storytellers to hide the source...) He didn't get to be the best dressed driver in the railways by spending a lot: back then, the dead were buried in winding sheets a lot more than now. This allows removing any salvageable clothing, laundering it and selling it off dirt cheap by the funeral home. This is a guy who kept eating the eggs his chooks were producing, even though he was allergic to eggs.
Used to work for a chain thrift store I wont name. They absolutely marked up prices for a number of reasons, all of which made me furious Idgaf if we're a location who gets luxury and designer goods sometimes! I get we have to make money to keep the store afloat, but a most of the everyday, poor and working class people dont have $45 for a purse , let alone a set of plates and teacups with the kettle! They would purposely up-charge and customers would understandably be upset because they now couldn't afford thrift stores!
Where a I live the issue is that the actual thrift stores now pull all of the better stuff and sell it online themselves. SVDP and Goodwill have their own websites now.
You may he pleased to know that thrift prices have stayed pretty low in my rural area. I guess because we straight up will not pay top dollar here. A lot of them are ran by churches though. They'll have $50 bibles behind a glass counter and a judgmental little mamaw in a denim skirt is going to judge you while ringing up your items, but the hauls are epic.
I only buy certain things at thrift now. Even actual garbage like torn up 3 ring binders are more than a new one at target. I've found certain things are more accessible at consignment places sometimes. I really needed more silverware and found a giant bag of nice stainless for 10 dollars at consignment. Clothing especially is one of the worst things for this issue. Thrift adventures with friends are really amazing and we haven't done it in so long because it's not worth it now.
@@angelabenedict Sometimes a little over the top can be good and they bring a certain charm to your videos. They also support the points you make throughout the videos, love it!
I can never watch your videos early because i live on the other side of the world, but at least i have something to watch when i get ready in the morning
I am a person who has an overconsumption issue but I also thrift out of necessity. I’m not rich, I’m actually below the poverty line and I sell stuff that no longer fits me. I often feel bad about doing this but I really need the money back if the clothing doesn’t fit me (due to depression and being postpartum). I try to be reasonable in my prices but resell sites take so much from each sale. I don’t think there’s any good way to resell but I do try my very best to be fair.
I find another problem with thrift. People who are smaller buying up plus size clothes to “upcycle” when I want the dress just to wear. It makes me go to Walmart to buy summer dresses or Old Navy because their sales are less price-wise than thrift stores.
Crazy thing is it happens in my city in Denmark. Since I was little I got teased for wearing thrift clothes. Back then I was lucky to buy h&m... And that used to be really cheap. So it's weird seeing really well off people at my school buy thirft clothes cause it's "trendy". Ofcourse the fact they're being less wasteful is great. But the thrift stores have raised their prices double the price. There's still one slavation army thirft where the prices are still low, I think it's also about the employees being selfish beavause the ones at the salvation army always keep prices low and help families who maybe can't afford. I remember two weeks ago an employee let a father and son come to look at toys even though they just closed. Sweetest employees at that thrift since I was little, they would always let my sister pick a toy for less than 1 euro.
I worked for a the franchise chain American thrift stores, it's gotten ridiculous. I am cautious since no longer working for a thrift store, I can see diy your own clothing and shoes even seek out a mennonite or amish community for clothing. I would definitely hit up joanns fabric, my wife attends there alot. I've even gone there for knock off leather, vinyl and suede fabric for upholstery for boats I build to even making my own shoes cause I'm cheap to buy minimalist shoes and thirt expensive I diy my own moccasins for cheap since I get yards of it for bulk prices.
Used to love the op shops over here in aus then I went in and a used dirty pair of heels were $25au. I was like what 😅 then it was alllll downhill. $10 for a shirt that costs $10 brand new.
Man, I remember the days when you could get an entire cart full of stuff at a thrift store for like $25. Those days are gone and it's so sad.
Those were the days! Who knew that that was an option that wouldn't always be there? I really hope this is temporary.
dude i just came from a charity thrift store and i spent 25$ and i just got a collard shirt, small coin purse and a pair of black pants i had to get for work because i didnt have time to wait for shein shipping
It all boils down to greed. Shame people put the love of money before helping people.
Or whatever you can put in a bag for $5 sales.
Fr, i'm sad i wasn't able to have a job back then, and was also to young to get there on my own w out my parents, who never took me 🥲 literally the second i finally got a job, inflation hit hard af
"Remember when people used to make fun of you for shopping in thrift stores because you couldn't afford anything else? Those are the same people who are shaming you for NOT shopping in thrift stores now." Exactly. There's also the fact that resellers pick stores clean of good and cool clothes. You cant shame somebody for not going to the thrift store anymore when your clothes are all from a reseller who makes it impossible for poor people to have nice things. It's ironic because people who have less money will save clothing (even fast fashion) forever, while many who "buy vintage" or resell will throw away or resell all their clothes when theyre "not their style" anymore. Because they can always afford new clothes
Welcome to the world of Hipsters/Posers/Tourists to you particular interest. My stance for years has been do something cause you like/enjoy it or GTFO
yasss. exactly..I turn 33 in two days, but I am still wearing clothing I bought in 6th grade from hot topic. and the things that don't fit? split the outer seams and make cool diy pants with fabric sewn on the sides. I don't throw my clothes out
Yes, exactly. ❤
I worked in thrift store for YEARS!!!! It’s not just resellers. When anything of any value came in, my manager was listing it on EBay with a quickness and pocketing the cash.
Wow that's low.... But, was her or his intention one of need or greed?
@ Greed. The rest of us were making minimum wage. She wasn’t. She had healthcare and got promoted because the general manager was smegsually attracted to her.
My mom's friend was a reseller and I helped her find stuff at a Goodwill bins location near our houses. She took it up as a way to support her family when her husband was battling cancer and couldn't work. She didn't overprice shit or act like the resellers do today. Before she moved, it got harder and harder for us to find stuff to sell because of the other, more vicious resellers.
That's a genuine reason. I'm glad she was able to find something that helped her. In the early 2000s when eBay really started picking up, there were people dashed myself included who found a niche. It was a way to supplement your income where it was lacking. Working in retail and having rent, I made enough for rent but not nearly enough for additionals like food. The small amount that I got from eBay help me grocery shop every week. And there are people that use it out of genuine necessity but nowadays, people do it out of she agreed and boredom.
These are the flippers I support.
Fr, there's plenty of resellers on depop who don't overprice, or lie about it being vintage, or lying abt the brand. I support lots of em, i'd never support the bad ones though i can't stand them 😭 but yeah, there's definitely lots of em who are genuine. I even met some really cool friends by buying from them on depop, n then qe started talking there haha
@tabithahunter5197 real
This is why basically all older sellers from before this mania started where doing. These new batch of resellers are the ones that do it solely for the money and they have no conscience. Older sellers are here for the love of vintage and used and have been on the hustle to support their families from the start of online selling.
Remember the greed has started from the top down
I am one of those moms that thrifts.. I have 5 small children so it helps us survive.. I have thrifted my whole life I grew up kinda poor But I grew up in a good area because the thrift stores near me had a lot of older people who would donate and it was good quality items.. I loved thrifting when I was younger.. now it is so damn expensive. I went last week and saw the most busted looking pair of heels.. like these things were almost talking and they were charging $18 for these things.. ugh.. thrifting can still be OK, but you need to spend literally hours to find some good stuff. Much ❤ Angela.
I'm really sorry to hear that. When you grow up thrifting as a means of survival, it's an instinct and a skill that sticks with you. And it's weird to think of thrift stores not serving the same purpose anymore. $18 for a pair of jacked up shoes is some audacity. I can't get my head around the pricing. Once upon a time thrifting is what you did when you needed to clothe yourself and your family on a budget but people will always find ways to make ends meet and unfortunately, that can sometimes lead to less ethical sourcing.
As a former employee of a big chain thrift store, what many people may not know is they would sort through and take out the most high value items (antiques, designer, etc.) and sell them on their own auction website, essentially the chain itself beating resellers to the punch for the big ticket things. If you found something you knew was high value on the shelves, it was to be removed and sent to the action site…so the everyday shopper‘s chance of finding a truly great score was already reduced. Then, the full time resellers would come first thing in the morning when they knew we were putting out new stock and the pushy ones would follow the employees around to scrape up the mid-tier items (real leather, mid-price brands, NWT).
At smaller thrifts (which used to have the aforementioned bag sales) I see the nicer items displayed in special areas with higher price tags-like a hybrid vintage/ thrift store. Only a select few with limited hours and chaotic setups remain truly cheap.
I blame greedy corporations and the hardcore resellers above all for the shift. There is still a tremendous amount of stock especially with trend cycling and fast fashion (the sale tag colors are always gone from the floor because those are the oldest items which get pulled to make room when new stock comes out because there is no room left on the shelves-they’re increasingly hard to find) and what is not valuable to the auctioneers or trendy to the resellers might still fit someone’s personal style. For this reason (and personal bias bc I do enjoy the hunt of thrifting still even though I am no longer working minimum wage retail) I don’t have a problem per se with hobby thrifting FOR PERSONAL USE. Even the most avid thrifter shopping for their own personal wardrobe is hitting the same spot maybe a few times a month at best and picking up a handful of items-nowhere close to what a bored retiree or trendy TikTok reseller will pile their cart with on the daily.
Also, between the auctioneer sites and price gouging-that is all pure profit for the thrift chains at an astronomical rate-they certainly aren’t using it to update facilities or pay employees better wages. Resellers may have started the fire but the big stores are sure not shy about stoking those flames to win at the greed game every time to the detriment of everyone.
P.S. just another thought-like fast fashion, big chain thrifts may be the only places with hours that work for working class people, meaning that while there might technically still be deals to be had at the swap meet/ yard sales/ tiny thrift stores with weird hours, not everybody is going to have the time and energy resources to hunt those down-which is why it’s extra fucked up that the big chain prices seem to be rising the most rapidly
Exactly. I think for personal thrifting there is still plenty to choose from. At my thrift stores, they are overwhelmed by the amount of clothing and shoes they receive daily.
The corporations didn't start it though, the resellers did, much like house flippers who bought up all the cheap fixer-uppers, flipped them on the cheap and then jacked up the price so people with less money couldn't afford them anymore.
@@scarlettschwarz1331 I haven't noticed price hikes at Walmart though.
Exactly! Sometimes the personel just take the high end stuff for themselves. Sadly, I've seen that kind of selfish behaviour more than once.
Time to start buying Victorian and Edwardian pattern books
I actually have some that I'd love to use!
The funny thing is that nowadays I typically go to thrift stores to find linens and used retro and vintage patterns... I've found a lot of gems and have created a lot of gems because of so lol.
The only things I still look for at thrift stores are books CDs (found Voltaire's first album the last time I went) and vintage camera lenses
Sometimes the music section really does yield some great results!
❤Lucky lookin forward to his up n coming concert soon!
I no longer donate to thrift stores, which is sad. Now I donate to family/friends/neighbors first, then women's shelters/veterans groups. I am DONE w Goodwill. F them. It's criminal how they are treating ppl and charging.
I've also become so averse to purging my wardrobe, I refuse to donate cashmere sweaters to make thrift CEOs richer or a flipper vs someone who needs a sweater affordably that would really appreciate it.
If you look at their CEO pay, it's all you need to know about them.
Right! I only give my most expensive items to the low income charity in my town. To the people who NEED these items
That should always be your first bet, donating directly to the small charities, friends, etc, the thrift stores should be the last.
Thank you so much for posting this. Thrifting has become trendy now, which annoys me, and the prices are hiked so extremely high, it's ridiculous. I remember when tops were 3 dollars (Canadian), pants were maybe 10 at the most.... You could get a full outfit, a full cart even, for 30, maybe 40 dollars. Now you're leaving with the same amount, but spending 90 or more... 😢
It's gotten ridiculous! I remember when I was 17 and got my own apartment for the first time and needed everything. My budget? $300. That $300 got me a couch, chair, desk, three book shelves, a dresser and a bed minus the mattress and box spring as well as dinnerware, a 20" TV, toaster and a microwave.
I would regularly hit up the thrifts for clothing as well, and as a young person couldn't afford cable TV starting out so I would buy paperbacks to read which were usually 3 books for $1 or 50cents per book at other places.
Recently tried to jump back into thrifting to get some of the things I need and.... Wow, it should be illegal to call your store a thrift store. $150 for a used, scratched all to hell desk? Books are now $4-$7 each and found the perfect ottoman to match my furniture.... Except it was $175 USED. Hopped online and it retails brand new for $200.
I started noticing this about 8 years ago and it has only gotten worse. It's a virtual guarantee, as soon as something becomes a Millenial or Gen Z trend for social media It's going to quickly become expensive as hell.
I used to think that reselling was a nice idea for those who are a bit lost in finding their style, but now i know that it has just become another consequence of consumerism, people hoard second hand clothing too. The problem just got a lil more complicated.
I've read recently that consumerism could be linked to the "epidemic" of loneliness and tbh, it makes sense.
Some want the perfect outfits for pictures, but not so much to wear it at social events because the thrill of getting likes on social media has replaced the thrill of having an active social life.
Does anyone even HAVE a social life anymore the way we remember?
@@starscreamthecruel8026 there might be some, but i remember just being with my peers, wearing the most non aesthetic outfits possible hahaha and having a blast, we were allowed to be cringy teenagers without fearing social media's bullying.
@@starscreamthecruel8026 Yes. Not everyone's Faceplant account contains nothing but a steady stream of bathroom mirror selfies just because you've assumed that the few ways you've heard of social media being used are the only ways it can be used.
I agree with everything you have said here . As a 52 year old woman I remember shopping at thrift stores when it started becoming a big thing to help people in need. Now the prices are so high where I live and the employees all tell me the prices are higher because they donate money to homeless and pet shelters. Even if that’s true…the prices don’t have to be that high 😮
I think discussions like this is the reason why goth needs to continue having that social awareness that was derived from punk and to emphasize anti-consumerism, DIY, and communal economies (going to goth/spooky events where people sell their handmade stuff). I'm kind of tired of seeing some people hide behind certain social issues (classism, ableism, etc.) as a ruse to continue buying goth-in-a-box stuff from unethical brands and companies and to disassociate from DIY ethics (which was pretty much meant to accommodate marginalized people).
What lol. If you can't afford to thrift, that's not "hiding behind a ruse." And as a plus-size person, thrifting was never an option for me. And as a disabled person, I can't physically afford to spend all my energy (often non-existent) on trying to hopefully maybe find something that is suited to me. These aren't excuses, these are people's lived realities.
@@awkwardpawsomeyou can easily buy basic clothes from brands that cathers to plus size people and diy the hell out of it, some rips, stiching, slashing and patches makes all the magic
We started an event locally called a "Free Sale." Everyone brings the stuff they don't want/need and lay it out on tables. Anyone else can take whatever they want. It's a one-day a month event and so far, I've not seen any resellers, but it's probably only a matter of time.
The thrift stores in my area don't even put the good stuff people donate in the stores. The staff go through the items and put the better options online for sale at a high price. Can't even find anything decent in there anymore.
It's a problem even over here in the UK right now too. Everything is marked up and a lot of the good items are going to resellers, there's so many people who actually need thrift store clothes as well, I need to thrift a lot as I'm neurodivergent and can't work. It's so sad what's happening right now.
Not the charity shops! It's like nothing is sacred anymore.
uk charity shops are putting the prices up a lot (which in part is due to the rent they have to pay) but also greed. they won’t even have scrap bins any more for ripped or stained items that they could sell for a £1 and people could diy.
Our thrift stores (Purley) are useless. (They've all but disappeared in Croydon.It's just TJ Max now) If you aren't a size 6 or want to look like someone in their 90s, you're gonna be out of luck. (Im in the UK too)
@@starscreamthecruel8026 I use to love rummaging around a charity shop or 5 (I live in a Kent seaside town) to see what bargains I could get, but I hardly bother going in now as between the prices and the resellers it slim pickings.
Yup yup join the club it's bad here too in the states. Semi Nerodivergent here.
eBay might have cheaper pieces because people are sometimes getting rid of their old clothes. However, sometimes you end up paying more for the shipping than you do for the item itself.
Yeah, The shipping is the thing that can often take things out of budget.
Postal service is at a record breaking high right now.
Ebay also has some wish and aliexpress resellers now I've noticed. I'll find a cheap shirt that's listed on wish for like 5 dollars on ebay for like 20. So even ebay is a hit and miss now. I'm not great at weeding that stuff out and it makes me nervous.
It's the same for vinted there's low prices but postage and additional fees such as the "buyer protection fee" which costs a certain percentage of the item listing price quickly adds up and can work out much more than the item listing.
"It's cheaper to buy from fast fashion....."
That is why I shop at Temu. I am 37. I have bought my clothes at the Thrift Store all of my life and over the past eight years I have watched, as you said, the same people who mocked us mercilessly as kids for wearing clothes from Thrift Stores start shopping at those same stores spending hundreds of dollars just to re-sale the stuff. I know how this sounds but I would never buy from a place like Poshmark because chances are high that I would be buying from the same people who priced us out of Thrift Stores. The prices at Thrift Stores will never go down so long as these people get the money they are looking for out of the items we can no longer afford at the Thrift Store. I know many people on those sites are just selling their own stuff but you don't know where the seller got the stuff. 🤷🏻♀️
And for anyone who donates their clothes to thrift stores, I would advise donating to battered women's shelters or local homeless shelters instead if you want people who need the stuff to actually get it.
At least buy from Walmart, the clothes will be lead free and not cheap knockoffs. Also not using Uygher slave labor.
@@lainiwakura1776 You realize most of the stuff at Temu is a fraction of the price of Walmart.
Also, anything from Walmart that comes from China absolutely comes from the same factories. Nothing at Walmart is any less fast fashion than what you will get from Temu.....it just costs way more so people believe it's better.
@@lainiwakura1776and fabrics riddled with lead 💀
@lainiwakura1776 where do you think a good chunk of walmart's products are from/made in
can't wait to come back to this when i have time later. this is something that frustrates me so much and i feel like nobody talks about it!
Let me know what you think!
@@angelabenedict finally had a chance to watch it in full, and i have to say, you hit the nail on the head with every. single. point.
as a college student working part time on minimum wage (in the bay area where prices for everything are insane btw), i don't often have a choice but to shop fast fashion, and it's largely because of the downfall of thrift shops. i used to go all the time in high school, and i swear i was able to find whatever i needed at relatively decent prices. to this day, i have most of my thrifted clothes, and i don't plan on getting rid of them anytime soon. that being said, I've had to switch back over to fast fashion for a lot of things in recent years as I'd rather spend 20 bucks on a brand new poor quality shirt instead of 15 bucks on the same, poor quality shirt that already has holes and stains in it. it sucks, but that's just what makes more sense for my financial situation at the moment.
i never think about looking at sites like poshmark, but i might have to look into it as an alternative because i am SICK of paying full price for clothes that i know are going to fall apart in a year or two.
something to consider is looking for local garage sales for clothes rather than thrifting! they won't always be available of course, but oftentimes you can find clothes for much better prices as people are just trying to get rid of whatever they can. this is definitely something i want to start doing more often as i really do miss the experience of shopping second-hand. great video, as always 🖤🥀
I have gotten some great industrial music comps for a buck or less.
I've shared my agreement of your frustration with resellers in the comments before. My family had very little income to spend on school clothes after (and even before) my dad passed in my early teens. My mom was one of the best bargain hunters I have ever known, and we got many things from thrift stores. My grandmother lived through the depression and held onto everything, so I loved sifting through her storage for beautiful things as well. The cruel comments from other kids about my second-hand clothes were commonplace well before being labeled the "freak" and "witch" in high school. Even though I can now afford all the beautiful things I would have died to have in high school, I still love diy and thrifting. It's sad that younger goths aren't getting to enjoy thrift shopping for treasures with friends like we did.
I made goth bell-bottoms in the 90s from thrifted black pants,jeans, scarves, lace and satin from vintage nightgowns. Everyone asked me where I got them.
I've been an avid thrifter for a few years now, not just for work clothes, but also for repurposing to make dyi cosplays for myself and my daughter for Halloween and conventions/events we'd go to, and I agree that they've gotten out of hand with their pricing. And while I do think that resellers contribute to the problem, I think it boils down to greed. Goodwill and 2nd Ave Thrift are supposed to be charity but they make profits. and with everything from food to housing to basic necessities being overpriced these days, the thrift stores are upping their prices too like everything else. So the last couple of times I've gone to the thrift stores in the last month, I try to be mindful and go for specific things/items. and try to just pay with cash so I'm less inclined to buy/spend too much. I was in need of a good jewelry box and had my eye on one. I went back and got it and picked up another one, I spent a total of $13 for both which isn't bad. I have been thinking about some of the amazing finds I've found in thrift stores over the years and thought about doing a video or a blog about it. One of them is a vintage Winding Brook Reversible jacket I bought for $6 in Goodwill back in 2017 because it was just too weird not to. I did a reverse image search just recently, and the same jacket is being sold on Poshmark for $150, another listing for $70! It's also on ebay for $23. it's crazy. I'm thinking I want to go through my closet and whatever doesn't fit, my old work/professional clothes I'm going to donate to a local "store" at our county job center. It's actually a free store for county residents and primarily for people going to the job program so they can get interview/work clothes, and also the local recovery programs send people there too. They used to have kids stuff there too but last time I was there they didn't have kids stuff. So I have to call and see what they're doing now, though my daughter's stuff I tend to hold for her cousins because they're still young yet. Whatever I can't donate to the county "store" or give to my sisters' kids , I'm going to try to resell on ebay/mercari/vinted/poshmark, but at reasonable prices. not crazy overprices, if anything just to recoup the $5 or $10 I originally spent on the items. or I might just have a yard sale or sign up to vend at a flea market or something. but overall yes I agree that thrifting isn't being thrifty anymore and it sucks.
1st thing to say: I'm a german, living in South Germany. Every time you or other youtubers said, that you shop in thrift stores for a few bugs, I thought that would never work in Germany. People are too asocial / narcisstic, too greedy and too money-hungry. We even don't have many thrift stores. But in this few stores you need a social ID card from the social welfare office to be allowed (!) to buy stuff! I'm not sure if they have to take the bills for proofing that they are not illegal resellers, but it totally would make sense. And that is why I, teenagers etc never go thrifting. We are not allowed too 🤷🏻♀️ I think our system would be great for America, England etc too! ^^
I get quite fired up when it comes to resellers and how people that actually need the thrift stores are no longer able to afford to shop in them anymore. I was in high school in the 90s and I remember being able to go to VV and my mom gave me and my brother $100 each to purchase clothes for the new school year. The cart would be full of cool stuff that no one else was wearing can't do that now. I still have some of the pieces I wore in high school still. When my son was growing up I would also thrift a lot of his clothes because he would grow so quickly. I noticed prices going on a bit in early 2000s and they have keep getting more expensive. I have been extremely frustrated because I am now a larger size (due to health issues) and trying to find clothes for a decent price is not possible thrifting anymore. I can find stuff on clearance at a retail brand store than what I can find in thrift store. I am currently on a fixed income so I am struggling to get clothes for myself because I struggle to find things in my size because if the resellers aren't snapping it up to sell at jacked up prices, the DIY "girlies" that are size 0 will grab all the 1-2 XL clothing to "thrift flip" for content because there is more fabric in the plus sized to flip. Then see them destroy a perfectly good item that someone like me, that already has a difficult time finding decent plus sized clothing within budget (since most plus sized clothes are more expensive than standard sizing), could have worn to work. Making things that are held together with glue gun glue because they don't know how to sew and just want something that can last for a bit till they get bored and change it out for something else. I understand thrift flipping and don't have an issue with it for the most part but when I see people that aren't the size taking clothes from a person that already struggles to find clothes because they have like a 4 foot section to choose from instead of the rows and rows of straight sizing, it really irritates me. Larger people exist and we need clothing too. Honestly I think social media has ruined thrifting for good. All the videos of "how I bought something for $2 and sold it for $100 and "don't buy fabric, just go to the thrift store and buy bigger clothing so you have more fabric to work with and all you need is a glue gun to make something cute". I have had to switch my clothing to natural fibres (thanks to health issues and being unable to wear plastic polyester clothing anymore) so it is even more difficult. I used to be able to sometimes find cute 100% cotton pieces at thrift stores for not too bad of a price but now it is too pricey. It hurts my heart, thrifting was the only way I could afford to decorate my home and cloth myself within a tight budget. I am in Canada so not sure we have Vinted and such up here, even if we did shipping in Canada is stupid and I need to be able to feel the fabric before I buy something (sensory issues) so many retail stores have put all the plus sized online only so you can't even get them in stores. I have given up and decided I am going to put my sewing skills to use and start making myself some stuff with clearance bedsheets (still can find 100% cotton ones on occasion). You are right about the ones reselling seem to be the people that would have been bullying and treating the kids that could only afford to thrift like crap and now they are keeping those people that need thrift stores to just clothe themselves out. I once saw a severely stained Columbia jacket at VV and it was listed as $69.99 CAD. I managed to get a fall jacket, winter jacket and spring jack for less than that one jacket on clearance/end of season sales. They weren't stained.
I noticed the change within weeks of Macklemore's Thrift Shop song being released. A song about creating a look while being poor.
Immediately, thrift shopping became insanely trendy. St. Vinny's and Goodwill jacked up their prices. The latter in particular. The song is largely forgotten, but it's effect upon thrift shopping is visible everywhere to this day.
Thrift stores rule,cool things found there. Yes it all changed. More people more problems,humans eventually ruin everything
My mom always found me beautiful dresses and skirts at the thrift store and I loved when she'd bring them home before the school semester started.
When I worked at a thrift store, the customers were always complaining about the prices while my managers were always telling me to price stuff higher.
Ooh, I worked at a one hour photo mat too. We had some “swingers” who loved to take photos in their hot tub!
ugh people that can afford to buy 2 carts full of stuff at the thrift store are the reason I cant take just 20.00 dollars and leave with a bag full of goodies anymore, SIGH!
Your corporate goth look is fab! 22:14
I have seen decore from dollar tree ($1.25) at goodwill for five dollars 🤦🏻♀️ It is so greedy to sell stuff for way higher of a price that they get for free 😬
Goodwill has no goodwill left for people.... they were the first thrift store I noticed raising prices after ebay started, and then the larger cities started warehouses for online sales quickly when they realized there was a market
Growing up in an European country, I didn't know the concept of a thrift store. But me and my siblings would get hand me downs all the time. Most of my clothes and shoes were second hand. Now, that I can thrift, I do it not for necessity, fortunately, but because I want quality garments, and you cannot find natural fibers or nicely tailored clothes in regular stores any longer. I started going to second hand stores to find wool skirts. Ended up finding some linen, cotton, wool, leather. Tailored skirts, dresses and coats. I got some nice treasures in thrift stores. Most of their stock was genuine vintage from the 80s and 90s. Now, 90% of the stuff I see is fast fashion. Shein and the likes. Rayon, polyester, nylon and faux leather.. shit that doesn't last 2 washes and priced like raw silk.
I remember people used to talk so much trash to my friends and I who loved to thrift because it was more affordable and we could find lots of cool vintage items. This is kind of how goth, nerdy, emo, scene kid, etc are all of a sudden trendy bc of TikTok instead of the shitstorm I endured in school for being into those things.
I see thrifting as a "sport" but I never resell anything, I just like to hunt for weird/rare things for myself
It's like a treasure hunt. It's so much fun 🖤
In the UK, it felt like right after Lock down, as soon as they reopened, all the charity shops had put up their prices. Many have eBay sites too, where they list their best items and the staff look up the worth before pricing in the shop. Many of the charity shops I choose to visit, have “well off” volunteers so I also believe they are pricing higher because that cost is actually nothing to them.
It’s starting to become cheaper buying new clothes on sale or using afterpay or Klarna if you want the quality stuff lol
Exactly. At this point it's just cheaper to buy things brand new.
Here in my end of Denmark thrifting became the 'hip' thing to do some years ago, prices went up (and they weren't necesarrily low to begin with, though I have on rare occasion gotten lucky) - to the point that (like you describe) thrifting a plain tshirt costs the same as buying a new (fast fashion) one, if not more. I haven't seen a lot of thrift-flipping here (but at the same time I haven't paid attention, the one website I did see people resell on were selling them to the same price as the new item).
Another thing is also that as a goth who is (by danish standard) on the slightly larger end of things (by US standard I'd probably be mid-size/small+), finding stuff that actually looks good or is reasonably moddable thrifting is not as easy as some makes it seem because a lot of clothes above a certain size is just not nice to look at.
I'm someone who will wear my clothes (regardless whether it' fast fashion, brandname etc), til they fall apart or under no circumstance can fit but it still bugs me that thrifting has become so expensive because I miss it
That's terrible, because now where does that leave the people who genuinely need it?
@@angelabenedict i know right?
Another problem is the stuff that people donate, sometimes it'll be holed, broken and stained (or in a bag with a lot of other stuff, including items that would be rather sus to donate) or dropped off after hours to stand out in the weather overnight (because not all stores have containers we can pop it in), and sometimes those bags will have been looked through when the thrift store employees come find them on their doorstep.
Nice thing is fixing sizing and upcycling. Bought myself a serger this year♥️♥️♥️😀😀😀😀
Those are great! I love using it to give things a contrast, serged trim.
I'm lucky. Here in Toronto (Canada), I've found Doc Martens for around $25 and I also have a few lacy dresses, slips and a black dress from Killstar all at Value Village. But sometimes the prices make me upset. This is at Value Village. I'll rarely pay more than $16 for a dress, but a lot of prices really are ridiculous. We do however have a cool store called Black Market on Queen where you can get vintage and alt stuff for like $10, but those kinds of businesses are rare.
you know the part about the goth club it's what saddens me the most. before the goth clubs were fashion shows, everyone wore such unique outfits out of literally anything you found that was black and you could put together, now if someone dresses up usually it's in branded stuff (loooots of killstar) and not really that original, and it sucks because i think originality, diy and thrifting it's a vital part of the goth community. great video as allways!!!!!!
2017 - my first job was a thrift store chain. It being a chain, the prices could be kind of gnarly sometimes but for the most part were respectable (especially since you could really get into the grit of it with coupons and color tag discounts). 2 years there I noticed prices steadily rising and noticed people who came in and skimmed to find the trendiest things they could, but nothing too crazy. I hadn't gone back to that chain until a few months ago and the prices made my JAW drop!! They were outrageous even when the piece had stains or holes!
There’s still some pretty good thrift stores here in California but I definitely see re sellers every time I go also
Time to hit church and garage sales.
Because of this, I tend to go to local goth events and if there's a goth clothing swaps, I always donate. I've even had the pleasure of hosting a couple. They're really cool, everything is free and you can really find some nice things, you can bring things to swap out. Meaning if you have some old pieces you can swap them out for something on display, you can simply donate, or you can come and just get things that are on display. So many people supported these goth clothing swaps that I had to pack thing away to bring back for the next clothing swap the following year. So if you every see an event that has goth clothing swaps please support or if you are a promoter of goth events, this may be something that you'd want to add to your event, A gothic clothing swap parlour. 🦇⚰🧛🏾
I have done this with goth and steampunk groups. Always fun. There is always a “free” table at TeslaCon and the Chicago Expo also had a lady there making outfits for people without a steampunk look and making them great outfits of free stuff.
those events sound fun! wish we had stuff like that there, sadly i live in a bible belt 😅
@@morbidhime What state are you in? There are a lot of steampunk events everywhere.
Well I scored a vintage W.A.S.P. tee on eBay....some were priced really high even on there..even Goodwill it's $6 for a top or bottoms. I got a cute lace skirt there & some animal print pants & some pleather pants....at least most things in there as far as clothes are one price. I remember though when I could go in there with $20 & get 2 tops, 2 bottoms and a pair of boots or shoes ..not now...I like making things & I might try to do more of that....fast fashion still calls my name sometimes. ..but the prices are better than Goodwill ..other thrift stores sell for more. I do try to match things up more than one way & try to wear things year round. I've seen the types you are talking about, their videos are all over TH-cam .
Vintage band shirts are outrageous nowadays, but at least the W.A.S.P shirt's heart is no longer in exile. ☺️
I always felt that if you don't need to shop thrift you don't because it was there for people that needed to, which I have needed it before. I think these days a lot of these places sell for higher prices and take a portion of the money they make to give to charity organizations. The problem with that is it doesn't get to the people that needed the thrift stores. People don't want to go to charity. The "hobby" people I think have screwed it up for the people that needed the thrift stores.
This has been my gripe for the last 10 years and it has only become worse with each year. I'm in New Zealand and it's the same problem. There are also pieces from fast fashion such as Shein/PLT/BooHoo that are sold in secondhand stores here for around the same price (or sometimes more) than what they are sold for on the website, and any decent quality clothing/shoes/bags are not around any more because they are snapped up immediately by resellers. If I do buy clothing, I still choose to buy vintage/secondhand from someone because clothes from over 30 years ago are infinitely more durable and better quality of garment, but I do get irritated that someone is making money off me because I won't be able to find it otherwise.
Kind of unrelated but a while ago on Depop I saw a "handmade" top that was selling for $20. It was most certainly a fast fashion black tank top, and the "handmade" bits were a few rips that the seller had done and safety pins across the rips for decoration. $20.... and judging by the amount of favorites it had, it probably sold for that price. 😐
The goodwill in my area has set prices for everything regardless of condition and brand (womens tops shorts $5 formal dresses $30 kids clothes $3 for example)
I am 61 and have been shopping at thrift stores since I was a kid, I love thrift stores it's so sad to see this happening.
I was just venting to my sister about this a couple days ago. I grew up reliant on thrift stores and just second-hand things in general. And any time my siblings and I were able to go to a non-thrift store, my dad would always, always, ALWAYS tell us that whatever we got, it had to come from the sale/clearance rack and even that was no guarantee that we could get it. As an adult, I work in a school which means I get paid next to nothing and am still reliant on thrift stores. But the prices are getting ridiculous and certain locations in my area have even moved to more affluent parts of town! It all just feels like a form of gentrification.
Do you have any photos of back when you put grandma’s tights and velvet blazers, safety pins, slips and things in an outfit to wear to the club? I would live to see some of the outfits you pulled together. I bet they are amazing. Thank you for sharing your concerns.
I live in the UK and I used to work in a charity shop. I left there late last year and people would sometimes complain about the prices. The one I worked was not really overpriced but sometimes want something for nearly nothing.
I saw a glass spaghetti sauce jar with no lid tagged at $2.99
And now the op shops (Australian word for 'thrift shop') having a growing number of clothes from places like Shein. It's such terrible clothing that is clogging up everything.
Oh man, I would’ve liked to get into thrifting. Get individual pieces and give them a new life. Now that you bring up the up-sale issue, I don’t know if I want to.
Try church thrift stores. They're less prone to price gouging.
@@angelabenedict Okay, I’ll give that a go. Thanks
You can still find good thrift stores! They're kinda like the clothes tho now , usually hidden gems that you gotta look for
It is sad that thrift stores have gotten so expensive. Social Media influencers and resellers have ruined it for everyone. While my local thrift store is cheaper than new, it is much more expensive than it was even just a couple years ago. One of my local Goodwill stores have these two guys who are there every day grabbing stuff as soon as it comes out of the back, checking the value on their phones and then putting it in their carts if they think they can get money for it. I've also seen them grabbing items from other people's carts when they aren't looking. Once one of those guys actually grabbed something out of a woman's hand, ripped the box, then handed it back to her...sadly the manager witnessed the entire thing and did nothing, so they are in on it which is a disgrace.
As a baby bat I love thrifting so much but now I find I can’t really afford more than 2 pieces when I go
That's crazy to me because thrifting meant you go in with a $20 bill and you're coming out with a bag full of clothing.
@@angelabenedict That sounds so crazy to me because I’ve literally gotten a shirt for 11 dollars and a skirt for 8 and that was all I could do
I grew up in a middle class family, but my parent's are thrifty so I got a lot of my clothes from thrift stores as a child. I very much remember when admitting you got your clothing from the thrift store or god forbid Wally World or Kmart would get you mocked. Even still I have a lot of good childhood memories thrifting with my mother, sister, cousins, aunt and grandmother. I'm either upper lower class or lower middle class now. I can afford mall clothes to a point, but I still like going to thrift stores to find weird quirky stuff.
But the last few years, Ive notice the prices at thrift store have sky rocket. Throwing down $100 at the thrift store is so doable nowadays. Thats very strange to me.
An affordable option for people who've been priced out of thrift stores could try are clothing swaps. Those are usually free, or require a fee only to those that didn't bring a bag of clothes. Its also something that could easily be organized amongst friends.
I love the idea of clothing swaps, I wish they were more heavily advertised. I've been having a little trouble finding them myself. There are goth ones but unfortunately not in my area.
THAAANK YOU so much, for making this video. Thrift store prices, nowadays, is so ridiculous. Especially, living in a mid to small town.
Cheekbone Angela...watching as always...absorbing.
Last time i went to a thrift store was a year ago when i needed some baby clothes because i was 7 months pregnant and didn't have anything for her at the time due to budget issues. I went to goodwill first since it was closest to me and the prices were stupid expensive from the last time i was there to get clothes for work (2019). I ended up checking out another store that was farther down the road called Castaways and sadly there wasn't much for babies because a majority of the residents/donations were eldery people that retired to be by the beach, but i was able to find a few things for the baby under 5$ because they were having a clearance sale. Unfortunately i missed out on a vintage bassinet that i wanted to get but i didn't have 25$ available at the time. by the time i could afford it, it was gone 😔. Anymore i just scavenge the clearance rack at walmart because im able to find new pieces of clothing between 1-5$ and make them last for a good few years.
My wardrobe in the 90-ies was mostly thrifted and home made...loved it.
Exept my working clothes (my employer provide those), some basics like cotton leggings and underwear, most of my wardrobe is thrifted and home made.
My body type isn't made for most ready to wear clothing anyways (I'm tall and muscular).
In my little town, there is only one thrift store and it's allright price wise (a pair of jeans for $8 and all skirts for $4/piece (translated from Swedish currency) and so on)
But I sometimes go to thrifting in the closest big town and there the prices really are being jacked up, like 3-4 times as much as I can get stuff for here.
The clientel is also very different.
In my home town it's mostly low income people, immigrants and older folks.
In the "big town" a lot of "influenser"-looking girls going around looking for pieces to "buy cheep and sell expensive" (yep I hear a lot of conversations about stuff like that).
Not because they need the money, but because the can...sort of situations.
Note: I allways donate good pieces from my and the daughters wardrobe if we "weed out" stuff, to our lokal thrift store.
They loved me when the kids where small because I donated a lot of high quality, home made kids clothing 😉.
I allso buy a lot of wierd fabrics (fabrics that isn't supernice material or just plain ugly early 2000:s curtains, that nobody else wants to buy) from them because I use it to make mock ups for my sewing.
I'm by no means a Saint or dick head...if I find an item I or my baby bat kid can't use I allways leave it for somebody that really needs it to buy.
I've not had a good interesting charity shop find for a very long time , I used to often find weird and wonderful curios , old medical devices , creepy old dolls etc , not seen anything like that for ages , I do feel lucky to find the occasional Item of clothing now , and still buy balls of wool for making wool dreads etc . I hope things improve again but it seems unlikely, also a lot of very dirty smelly clothes on the racks I've noticed now , a couple of times recently there was the sharp sour stench of vomit in the air , that was either on clothing or bedding etc , I left rather quickly! . It seems the quality standard as to what's going on the shelves has gone down, better quality items going elsewhere or snapped up by resellers. I find these days old army surplus things such as black tunics, peaked caps , and greatcoats and customising them in a dark goth style is how I can afford to make some affordable clothes, a lot depending on the fabric you can dye black too, not as cheap as the heyday of thrift clothes though.
Yeah, those days appear to be gone, never to return
✌️☮️🖤
I really hope not.
It makes you wonder what happened to it all. Because I can understand the mass quantities of clothing and bits and pieces people would probably try to flip for more - but the curiosities. Where did those go?
@@angelabenedict I don't know , but a friend of mine collects creepy antique/vintage dolls and she goes to car boot sale's as soon as they open at like 7am on the dot as the sellers are still setting their stalls up, she said that's the only good way to get stuff these days, but she said the resellers are there even then which shows the scale of the problem.
@@angelabenedict i think it's part of people trying to cash in on popular aesthetics, like alternative ones, goth - which have grown since the pandemic, i feel.
What really annoys me about the whole thrift stores being online is the fact that you can't try stuff on😭 I remember growing up my mom always made sure I walked around the store with the shoes on for a few minutes to see if they would fit, same thing with every item, I would be doing all kinds of poses bc my parents did not have money to buy a bunch of clothes and these ones needed to last all the way to my little brother as well... Nowadays I just get depressed looking at a lot of the thrift store prices, thank good I have enough where I don't need anything new, and I can fix up everything old
Thrifting in the 90s was something else! My fave in high school was a little church run place where I could get freaking awesome vintage dresses and swimsuits for like 50 cents. The most I spent there was $2.50 on a grandpa cardigan that looked identical to Kurt Cobain's Unplugged sweater. I wore that thing until it literally fell apart.
*_Same problem in Norway._*
I'm really sorry to hear that.
Ja, det er veldig dyrt å handle på Fretex.. Jeg bruker de samme klærne år etter år, så slipper jeg å kjøpe mer.
@@christie_exist *_Det er merkelig Fretex skal være dyrt, det er jo Frelsesarmeen, skal ikke di hjelpe di som har lite å rutte med?_*
Greed brings on disgust in me. Always has. It’s so weird to see thrift stores not be thrifty. (I was lower class as well.)
I actually used to work at good will back in 2014 and firstly all the workers steal the good stuff and they are encouraged by management to overprice , I am a firestarter and I literally got a aspect of goodwill closed in Bakersfield they used to have a worker , put in a metal shipping box accepting donations all day with no bathroom, was expected to walk three or four miles at lunch to nearest bathroom if local school was closed on weekends on weekdays we literally had to go use a elementary schools bathroom we had to of course go to the office tell them we were the goodwill worker and they would let us use the nurses bathroom. Very messed up situation so I complained to h.r and a month later that position was shut down , sorry for the off topic rant but a lot of thrift stores especially good will are corrupt 💯
I've Heard so many horror stories from former employees of Goodwill. That's terrible!
@@angelabenedict indeed , I go in there still , cause it's like another haunted house
This reseller passed up a designer sweater that I grabbed after she walked away. It was the softest high end wool I’ve ever felt. Play by Com de Garçon. The entire right side from wrist to hem was unsewn. $10. Guess what me and my new serger did? Soft warm natural fabric. Grey with black heart (rare when I was trying to look up original). Mine for my “forever wardrobe” which I have been slowly working on. I’m 63. I love the hunt
And I did once have someone give me flack thinking I was an upseller, because I was a little to "excited" to find a bunch of silk black and white blouses. I actually had to argue with her a bit because she started telling me how many garments I could take and I legit had to explain to her I just get excited. She explained people would come in and pile their carts with shit and clear out whole sections and leave the "crappy stuff" blew my mind.
Exactly it’s hard to thrift it’s $20 for a used t shirt. I agree thank you for posting. It’s nothing to be ashamed about it’s called survival and it teaches you so much about finances.
To me it’s sad that they pick up the cute, or quality clothes/brands, because then they leave the fast fashion brand like Shien, which is where poor consumers are probably trying to avoid in the first place due to the terrible quality. They can’t use those clothes for work or just to wear around, because they’ll probably fall apart or are already falling apart.
I'm deaf and widowed and reselling (strictly on Poshmark) has helped me provide for my children. I never worked before my husband died and, while we do receive survivor's benefits, that won't be forever and it's not even close to what we were used to. There is more than enough at the bins where I shop, which also happens to be the last place they stop before the landfill. 11.3 million tons of textiles end up in the landfill annually. Thrift stores are also businesses who are, obviously reselling themselves, and they are not there to help poor people; they're there to make a profit.
Yes, there is a difference between thrift stores that are for non profit and the ones that are for profit.
"Treasure" is the feeling exactly...but now most opshops here in Sydney are also sadly overpriced...ill drive hours just to find the hidden jem 🖤🦇🖤
Sydney opshops are insane. I was in one a couple of weeks back and they were trying to sell a black Zara cardigan with a button missing for $30! And they knew the button was missing because there was a bit of red tape highlighting the fact.
Vinnies is jacking up the prices on low-tier designer that is in worse condition than something from Kmart in the next row. It's mind-boggling. A threadbare jumper with holes is not worth being 3 or 4 times the price just because of the flipping tag.
I'm gonna check some tags, only got $20 in my pocket...
I am in the UK Channel Islands and the thrift stores are obscenely expensive and heavily picked over. It makes me sad because there are a lot of poor people on this island. The people cleaning out the stores suck and I hope it ends of biting them in the arse.
Omg, it's happening everywhere! That really is terrible.
If I saw some pretty clearly well dressed person, acting like they were gonna pick everything usable for their shop - to the dismay of a family in there or someone with children, I'd probably start a fight lol
As someone who comes from a culture of donor clothes.. I never had to buy used clothes, there was donation drives or someone who just donate clothes and you'll do the same I didn't understand thrifting. When I lived in Cape Town I noticed that indeed thrift stores were way expensive than normal retail stores but thrift stores seemed like a fashion choice than a necessity
Please please please a video about the photo lab 🙏🙏🙏
I've been looking for slips here in Sydney and they seem impossible to find or they're $30+ because they're vintage. It's hectic. I would lose it if I found that black/purple one you showed, it's bloody gorgeous.
I used to work at a goodwill in Colorado. Resellers would come in and spend more money in one shot than any of were making in a month. Those resellers would usually be there at least 3 times a week. Meanwhile the undocumented single dad who works for Pennies on a horse farm was coming in every single day just on the off chance he could find something he needed for his children or himself.
I quit shopping at the goodwill and salvation Army stores, because they're too expensive now a days.
Most of the mum n pop thrift shops are better now a days. My favorite type in Orlando is the kind that have two discount tags per day, it helps to bargain hunt better and stay within budget. I just recently found some white linen dress pants go to the craft store n dye the fabric.
7:27 I also agree they are the same ones to say your not cool for shopping at SHEIN or whoever but going to the thrift and re selling a $5 t-shirt for $55 cause it’s gives y2k 💀💀💀
Thrift stores here (NZ) can have some amazing deals! But it pays to look around, as I've noticed the prices slowly going up. There's items in some of them that they're selling for well over $100, and they aren't worth that. I've even seen well-known big box store shoes going for MORE than they cost brand new. Thrift stores here also don't pay for anything. It's all donated goods. I'm happy to donate where I can.
I would buy some clothes @ the thrift store in HS and I remember my mom telling me that the neighbors daughter asked her where I would get my clothes because she loved my looks. My mom not knowing what thrifted diy was just said “ I have no idea, she makes them” lol 😭
ik this is an unpopular opinion, but i am not completely against resellers. when i worked at a thrift store, a lot of the resellers i got to know were older people who couldnt afford to retire but also could no longer work a traditional job due to physical constraints, and broke college students. theres more than enough stuff at thrift stores for everyone, including resellers j in textile items alone. these chain thrift stores should not be raising their prices even if a portion of their shoppers flip items for money online, especially the ones like goodwill that get all their stock for free anyway. its purely greed on their end. this economy is not kind to anyone. theres a false dichotemy that is created of resellers vs low-income everyday people, but in my experience, these categories are not mutually exclusive. a lot of resellers ARE low income people trying to supplement their wages.
Reselling isn't necessarily a bad thing when somebody is using it as a means for survival. Nowadays it's being used by people who are using it for a hobby.
then this video is not about those people. it seems to target people who could choose other forms of income and price gouge their items and won't share where they thrift because they're only in it to make the most money. reselling isn't a valid hobby when you can do something else. it is however valid if you are low income. there really isn't that much stuff everywhere, actually not only bc of resellers, but also because of fast fashion beginning to dominate the thrift market. true, it's also the greed of the shops, raising their prices because folks resell - it doesn't make sense, but i definitely don't trust most resellers on the internet these days
Sadly like a lot of industries today initially created to supplement lower-income people or to get around over-priced accommodations has been totally usurped (e.g. AirBnB, college book rentals, etc.). Now reselling is up there too.
i completely agree with this, i was sad to see this video pop up because the hate for all resellers is all too common now, especially on tiktok. it seems like angela has taken a more nuanced stance which is good. i can understand the initial hate on resellers, i too had to thrift growing up and i understand wanting prices to stay low, but at the end of the day the responsibility lies on the corporation who are getting their items for free. most resellers are too poor to worry about the hate we get online
There's a story I read about an NSWGR driver who bore the handle of "Mean Mike McGann" (not sure how much of that name is accurate or made up by the storytellers to hide the source...) He didn't get to be the best dressed driver in the railways by spending a lot: back then, the dead were buried in winding sheets a lot more than now. This allows removing any salvageable clothing, laundering it and selling it off dirt cheap by the funeral home.
This is a guy who kept eating the eggs his chooks were producing, even though he was allergic to eggs.
Used to work for a chain thrift store I wont name. They absolutely marked up prices for a number of reasons, all of which made me furious
Idgaf if we're a location who gets luxury and designer goods sometimes! I get we have to make money to keep the store afloat, but a most of the everyday, poor and working class people dont have $45 for a purse , let alone a set of plates and teacups with the kettle!
They would purposely up-charge and customers would understandably be upset because they now couldn't afford thrift stores!
Where a I live the issue is that the actual thrift stores now pull all of the better stuff and sell it online themselves. SVDP and Goodwill have their own websites now.
You may he pleased to know that thrift prices have stayed pretty low in my rural area. I guess because we straight up will not pay top dollar here. A lot of them are ran by churches though. They'll have $50 bibles behind a glass counter and a judgmental little mamaw in a denim skirt is going to judge you while ringing up your items, but the hauls are epic.
Same where I live.
I only buy certain things at thrift now. Even actual garbage like torn up 3 ring binders are more than a new one at target. I've found certain things are more accessible at consignment places sometimes. I really needed more silverware and found a giant bag of nice stainless for 10 dollars at consignment. Clothing especially is one of the worst things for this issue. Thrift adventures with friends are really amazing and we haven't done it in so long because it's not worth it now.
I'm loving your editing style as of late Angela. Lovely video as always and keep up the fantastic work 💜
Thank you! I tried to not go over the top with the stickers in the graphics. I can go a little over the top lol
@@angelabenedict Sometimes a little over the top can be good and they bring a certain charm to your videos. They also support the points you make throughout the videos, love it!
I can never watch your videos early because i live on the other side of the world, but at least i have something to watch when i get ready in the morning
I am a person who has an overconsumption issue but I also thrift out of necessity. I’m not rich, I’m actually below the poverty line and I sell stuff that no longer fits me. I often feel bad about doing this but I really need the money back if the clothing doesn’t fit me (due to depression and being postpartum). I try to be reasonable in my prices but resell sites take so much from each sale. I don’t think there’s any good way to resell but I do try my very best to be fair.
I find another problem with thrift. People who are smaller buying up plus size clothes to “upcycle” when I want the dress just to wear. It makes me go to Walmart to buy summer dresses or Old Navy because their sales are less price-wise than thrift stores.
Crazy thing is it happens in my city in Denmark. Since I was little I got teased for wearing thrift clothes. Back then I was lucky to buy h&m... And that used to be really cheap. So it's weird seeing really well off people at my school buy thirft clothes cause it's "trendy". Ofcourse the fact they're being less wasteful is great. But the thrift stores have raised their prices double the price. There's still one slavation army thirft where the prices are still low, I think it's also about the employees being selfish beavause the ones at the salvation army always keep prices low and help families who maybe can't afford. I remember two weeks ago an employee let a father and son come to look at toys even though they just closed. Sweetest employees at that thrift since I was little, they would always let my sister pick a toy for less than 1 euro.
I worked for a the franchise chain American thrift stores, it's gotten ridiculous. I am cautious since no longer working for a thrift store, I can see diy your own clothing and shoes even seek out a mennonite or amish community for clothing. I would definitely hit up joanns fabric, my wife attends there alot. I've even gone there for knock off leather, vinyl and suede fabric for upholstery for boats I build to even making my own shoes cause I'm cheap to buy minimalist shoes and thirt expensive I diy my own moccasins for cheap since I get yards of it for bulk prices.
Used to love the op shops over here in aus then I went in and a used dirty pair of heels were $25au. I was like what 😅 then it was alllll downhill. $10 for a shirt that costs $10 brand new.