For savvy shoppers seeking high-quality items at affordable prices, thrifting is an excellent option. Most of the time, at least.
Sometimes, though, those stores just don't hold up their end of the bargain when it comes to pricing or quality.
What's happening?
On r/ThriftGrift, Redditors share instances of secondhand shopping gone awry.
An Australian Redditor shared images of fast fashion shoes on sale for $40 AUD ($25.50 USD), with the sarcastic caption:
"$40 AUD for secondhand fast fashion shoes the store got for free — what a steal!"
The comments were full of scorn, not just for the price but for the questionable quality.
"I love thrift stores, but I wouldn't wear those shoes to a dog fight!" was one of the cattier responses.
Another added, "They're also cheaply made, so you can bet your feet will hurt after like five minutes."
Why is overcharging at thrift stores concerning?
Snark aside, the discussion highlighted an important point about a couple of key problems with lower-quality secondhand stores: overcharging, and fast fashion companies using them to offload unsold goods.Â
As one of the comments pointed out: "My local Salvation Army gets stuff from Zara with the tags still on and they want retail for it, which is stupid. … It just sits and takes up space. They have a whole aisle long rack full of Zara stuff now."
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What's your primary motivation in shopping at thrift stores?
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Cheaper clothes 🤑 The waste generated by the fast fashion industry is immense and incredibly harmful to the environment. Cheaply made clothes that don't last are destined for landfills, which contribute to habitat destruction, as detailed by the University of Colorado Boulder's Environmental Center, and the release of harmful air pollution.
Even worse is the export of unsold goods to be carelessly discarded. For example, the Atacama Desert in Chile has mountains of textile waste from all over the world.
What can be done about bad store practices?
Shopping secondhand can be an excellent way to mitigate the harm caused by fast fashion, but as this discussion showed, that depends on the stores doing their part too.Â
It's important to be aware of companies using greenwashing to hide their shoddy practices. Ultimately, it's up to consumers to make informed choices and not support deceptive brands or stores.
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