Thrift stores are supposed to be about cost savings, charity support, and environmental positives, not sources of vitriol on Reddit, thanks to outrageous and inexplicable pricing.
Unfortunately, one shopper came across a ridiculously priced bottle of Scope mouthwash. As one Redditor in the r/ThriftGrift subreddit put it: "That pricing is shameful." In context, the single liter of $7.99 Scope, featured in the pic, is currently $7.69 for double the amount at Walmart.
The regular retail price of a one-liter bottle of Scope Outlast is generally between $4 and $5 on a bad day.
In most cases, the pricing could be chalked up to a mistake, if not for the overpriced Palmolive and Pert Plus containers flanking the Scope, all with clear tape over their breached caps.
There's a lot to love about thrift stores, but this isn't one of them, and it presents a lousy image of a wholesome industry, one that is currently in the midst of a boom. The secondhand apparel market is projected to hit $350 billion in a few years, according to thredUP.
The shady pricing mechanisms in secondhand stores are the exception to the rule, as the market clearly shows. But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be called out when it happens.
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However, there's no such thing as the perfect retail business, and it's often up to the consumers to expose errors and problematic valuations.
In a more positive light, everywhere potential customers look, secondhand offerings are growing, sometimes necessitating entire categories on otherwise traditional retailer websites and physical stores.
Amazon, Apple, Samsung, eBay, Backmarket, Dell, and more all have dedicated renewed marketplaces, taking a page out of the thrift store success book. As the secondhand market grows, fewer products are flooding into landfills, exacerbating an already challenging problem.
Sustainable fashion and consumerism, as problematic as the latter is and can be, generate a circular economy, extending lifecycles and reducing the overall environmental footprint.
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As for the outliers that engage in price gouging, consumers are holding their feet to the fire: "What store? Shame them and stop shopping there." The customer is always right.
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