Goodwill, Once Upon a Child, Plato’s Closet. Growing up, thrift and consignment shops like these were all I knew. As a middle-class family with only a one parent income at some points, my family did not have the means to buy name-brand, expensive clothes for us, so we turned to thrifting. I still remember our weekly trips to Once Upon a Child and Goodwill where my mom would donate or trade- in our old clothes while we shopped for “new” clothes. Even now, as an eighteen-year-old college kid, I still shop primarily at stores like Goodwill, and why not? You get cheap clothes that are still pretty good quality all while shopping effectively and avoiding fast fashion. Even as a kid I never saw an issue with how I shopped. I was able to get so many new clothes despite my family’s low income and I was simply oblivious to the fact that these clothes weren’t new. Thrift and consignment stores were a saving grace for my family when I was a kid. Without them, I wouldn’t have had too many clothing options and I wouldn’t have been able to develop the style I have now which has boosted my self confidence and given me a sense of identity. Sadly, my story may be one of the last like this as thrift stores are slowly falling out of reach for families like mine. Why you may ask? Many factors point to online sellers, the most well known being Depop. Depop is a shopping app where people become sellers and post clothes they want to sell. Many compare it to a cross between eBay and Instagram. So why is this app leading to the gentrification of thrift stores? In many cases, Depop sellers gain most of their inventory from thrift stores, where they buy items for cheap and sell them for much higher prices on their Depop page. Such actions have been likened to the concept of gentrification, the process of renovating and improving a district so that it conforms to middle-class taste. This may not seem like a bad thing and although gentrification is great for upper class families, it severely hurts middle- and lower-class families, displacing them from the area that has been gentrified. Thrift stores then see that they are gaining more upper-class consumers and thus raise their prices to make more money. These higher prices make it almost impossible for low income families to afford thrifted clothes and they now have no where to turn for affordable fashion. Now, if you are from the upper class, you do not need to stop shopping at thrift stores completely. Instead, be more conscientious of what you are buying. Only buy clothes you know you are going to wear and make sure to donate your own clothes when you are done with them. Thrifting is an amazing way to shop. It helps to avoid fashion fast as well as the excessive waste created by the manufacturing of new clothing. Thrifting is a great help to our environment and society, but when used in the wrong way, it can be detrimental. For those who use thrifting and Depop in the wrong way, think about those low-income families. The kids and teens who are only able to shop at Goodwill. That one piece of clothing on the rack that is actually in style and could quite possibly give those kids the boost of confidence they need after the shame they might feel for buying second-hand clothes. Instead, it ends up on a Depop page somewhere and a privileged upper-class teen buys it for hundreds of dollars. Be an informed consumer and know the effect your buying and selling has on others. I want more kids to grow up like I did and for more parents to not have to worry about being able to afford clothes for their children. Don’t let my story be the last of its kind.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Indy chapter.