One reason people enjoy shopping at thrift stores is the low prices found there. You can get everything from cookware to clothing for a fraction of the retail price.
Every once in a while, though, people come across truly absurd prices in thrift stores. One shopper shared an example to the r/ThriftGrift subreddit.


The original poster shared photos of three items — drinking glasses, a Buddha statue, and a decorative egg — featuring prices ranging from $27 to $133. "This is getting out of hand," the caption read.
Other Redditors shared the OP's outrage. One pointed out, "I have this exact Buddha that I bought at a thrift store for $2."
"This [Buddha] makes me sad," said another.
A few people recommended shopping at local thrift stores instead of larger chains. Unfortunately, corporate greed has bled into the world of thrifting, resulting in higher prices in some stores.
One Redditor asked, "This is just a money laundering scheme at this point, right?"
More unfortunate is that negative thrifting experiences — such as finding expensive items when you expect affordable ones — can turn people off from the idea of secondhand shopping.
The good news, though, is that negative experiences with thrifting are outliers. Overall, shopping at thrift stores is a simple and fun way to save up to $1,700 a year on clothing, shoes, and more.
Plus, giving up thrifting because of a single bad experience means missing out on the opportunity to chance upon luxury items or vintage ones for far less than you would typically pay.
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It also means losing out on a chance to benefit the environment. Since secondhand stores rely on donations, textiles and more stay out of landfills, reducing the amount of heat-trapping gases that such items normally release into the atmosphere as they decompose. However, high prices at thrift stores mean more products stay on the shelves.
As one user commented, "And when they don't sell in a month they'll go in a landfill."
"Absurd," another wrote.
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