Shopper sparks outrage with photo of unbelievable sighting at local thrift store: 'Shocked and flabbergasted'

A thrifty shopper had some serious sticker shock at their local store when they saw the asking price for a secondhand jacket.

In the r/ThriftGrift subreddit, the original poster shared a photo of a dark brown Carhartt brand jacket with a price tag of $99.99. 

"Shocked and flabbergasted!" they wrote in their caption.

A new Carhartt can cost around $119 as a base price, and a commenter noted they recently paid just $69 for a brand-new jacket from the brand, making the markup on the used jacket pretty egregious. 

This kind of price gouging really undermines the many benefits of shopping secondhand, but it's thankfully more of an anomaly than the norm.

More often, you can find all sorts of high-end or designer items at thrift stores, like a Polo Ralph Lauren jacket for a mere $6, or a KitchenAid mixer for just $4.50. Some people have even made lucky finds of extra cash hidden in pockets or crevices of items they've thrifted. 

Thrift stores and secondhand shops have become increasingly popular with shoppers in the past few years as people strive to save money with increased costs and inflation. 

According to ThredUp, the market has grown from $28 billion in 2019 to $49 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach $56 billion by the end of 2025. 

While those are big numbers for business, people are able to save money while shopping secondhand, at least $100 a year on average. 

Buying secondhand also helps keep perfectly usable items from ending up in landfills, which is an all-too-common problem. 

Would you buy formal clothes from a thrift store? Yes 💯 I already have 😎 Depends on the event 🤔 Nope 🙅 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

According to Earth.org, of the 100 billion clothing items produced each year, 101 million tons wind up in landfills, and the average American throws away 81.5 pounds of clothes per year. 

Extending the life of clothes by thrifting and shopping secondhand makes a dent in those numbers and helps reduce the overall issue of overconsumption.

Redditors in the comments of the OP's post about the overpriced Carhartt were just as shocked by the price.

"Flabbers are fully aghast," one person quipped.

Another noted, "It's a trendy brand that they put a larger price on to attain the most they can out of a trending piece of apparel."

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