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THRIFTING 
INFO TIPS AND TRICKS
It’s important to read the information I’m presenting before going on to the tips. To anyone who grew up in low-income lifestyles/areas, this information won’t be new. There are tons of pro’s to thrift shopping but everyone needs to understand the cons as well.
THRIFTING IS A GENTRIFIED BUSINESS!! In the next year, its market will double from a 24 bil market to a 50 bil market (based on a study from thredUP). This is because white suburban folks (predominantly) are now venturing into thrift shopping to participate in the surging trend.
They do this for a couple reasons, one is because thrift shopping is an environmentally conscious business - it reduces waste in landfills and allows perfectly good products to be rehomed and repurposed. More people are moving out of fast fashion and single purpose purchasing.
Unfortunately, the flip side of this is that this same demographic also sees this as a profitable business. Things like thrift flipping and personal Depop pages (as examples) are deeply explored “business opportunities” that are not innovative and exploit low-cost spending.
I want to be clear, there’s nothing wrong with flipping clothes and items for personal use! Sprucing up old items to integrate into your own style and home decor is totally fine! But don’t purchase a $20 furniture item, flip it, and inflate the cost by 500% for your own gain.
It’s this exact profiteering that is gentrifying this market. It’s this surge of purchasing from middle-class buyers for the sake of flipping for a profit that is causing thrift stores to increase their prices.
When you NEED to shop thrift stores rather than WANT to shop thrift stores, any small increase makes a difference. If price goes from $4 to $7, buying five shirts goes from $20 to $35. So it’s important to be both environmentally conscious AND socially conscious.
The best way to be socially conscious about thrifting is to be selective with where you shop. If you live in and thrift in a middle-class income area, that’s probably better than venturing into thrift stores that are built to service lower income areas.
Also, with the rise of for-profit consignments and thrift stores, those items typically run at a higher cost and are probably better to shop at than purging low-income thrift stores. Essentially, if you can afford to shop at the mall, shop at these thrift/consignments -
- that offer higher base prices. Remember, thrifting isn’t JUST about affordability, it’s about environmental consciousness as well. So the long and short of it is; stop purging NFP thrift stores if you can afford to shop at higher-cost, for-profit businesses.
Another way to shop socially conscious is to STOP buying clothing items from plus sized sections in order to cut them down to a size 6/8. It’s fatphobic. It takes viable options away from plus size shoppers. It’s selfish. There’s no need to shop outside your size, no excuses.
WITH THAT BEING SAIDI have been hitting thrift stores since high school. I’ve been thrifting clothing for myself for a long time, and I’ve used the things I’ve learned to grow and change my shopping habits. I’ll offer the best tips I can to make the best of thrifting.
RULE 1 - Don’t go thrifting with the intention of flipping items and turning them into a business. We covered why.
RULE 2 - Don’t buy more than 1 size bigger than what you need. Again, I’ve already covered why.
RULE 3 - WASH EVERYTHING. Wash your fabrics, hot soap and water your glassware, do a surface wipe on other, harder to wash items before you place/use them. Lots of people touch those items and you’re bringing those germs into your home.
RULE 4 - Go with a purpose! It’s just as easy to lose your spending as it is in the mall. Build a mood board or a Pinterest board with the styles you’re on the hunt for, or the inspiration that you’re shopping for.
RULE 5 - Do research! Don’t hesitate to do a quick google search of what you want to buy. It’s helped me on more than one occasion make sure I’m not overspending, considering the recent inflation of prices.
RULE 6 - Try not to spend more than $5 - $10 (pushing it) on fast fashion clothes at the thrift store. You can spend the same amount in clearance at those stores. (Obviously this depends on what you NEED and what you can afford)
RULE 7 - ALWAYS give back. I’ve recently gotten into the habit of giving back exactly what I buy. Bought three shirts and two pants? Donate three shirts and two pants from your existing wardrobe if you don’t need them anymore. Thrifting really is a give and take business.
A few other tips - don’t shy away from anything with minor damage, if you can repair it it’s worth the $. Also be careful buying online; I prefer shopping on places like thredUP in comparison to personal DePop pages, the items are usually better inspected and come from-
- external donations rather than a single person choosing what’s good enough quality and selling upwards of a hundred items. When it comes to buying online, I encourage it! But definitely be cautious of where you choose to buy from.
I’ll leave the thread open to answer any questions that come through, I hope y’all found this helpful!
I forgot to cite my sources: https://www.hercampus.com/school/ga-tech/gentrification-thrifting
