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This is a hot take but it must be said, if your "small business" relies on goodwill, value village, or any kind of thrift store, it's not a small business, it's robbery. Please read and share.
Maybe you didn't grow up poor but those stores are where many low income families go to shop, they can't afford anything else. There's no "upcycling", "flipping", "side hustles", "projects", no "vintage". That's all they have. You are literally stealing from these families.
It boils my blood to see people treating thrift stores as an in between, a supply shop. These people reselling "vintage" clothes from thirft stores or making candle from glassware on depop for profit are causing thrift stores to raise their prices.
And people using thrift stores for fabric are also problematic. When a skinny girl buys an XL shirt to turn into a two piece set that she'll sell on depop for $70, the selection of clothes for larger bodies, like mine, is reduced. There's nothing of my size left.
Leave thrift stores alone I am begging you. This need for a "side hustle" is capitalistic, ruining thrift stores, and harming low income communities. Upcycling and shopping sustainably for yourself is a good thing, but anything beyond that is wrong.
You have access to the internet, there are other places where you can buy scrap/recycled fabric or glassware. I suggest going there instead of robbing the community of a much needed resource.
Not to mention the fact that this community in particular shames people for not shopping sustainably. How are poor people supposed to shop sustainably if you're clearing out thrift stores? They have no choice but to shop fast fashion.
And another point, personally it's incredibly insulting that "thrifting" is trendy now when it was a source of great shame and bullying for me growing up.
