Prices are seemingly going up everywhere and on everything. And as one Redditor found out, even thrift stores aren't immune to price hikes.
On the r/goodwill subreddit, a pregnant woman shared her story of trying to find winter clothes that would cover her baby bump during one of the coldest times of the year. She wrote that she took $20 to a local Goodwill, in a low-income area, hoping to walk out of the store with at least five items.
Instead, she was stunned to find "basic" zip-ups starting at $6.99 and most cold-weather apparel starting at $8.99. What really set her off, however, was finding what she thought was a perfect puffer coat, only to see it was made by the inexpensive brand Shein — and still cost $10.
"I almost had a stroke trying to comprehend who in their right mind priced an article of clothing produced from one of the cheapest, fast fashion, most garbage quality brands out there right now, for $10," the OP wrote, adding that she was "struggling to process this."
Many other social media users have shared similar findings from their local thrift stores, with one finding Shein apparel that looked like it could be brand new.
Shein is one of the biggest players in the fast fashion industry, which pumps out new, inexpensive clothes as quickly as possible to capitalize on current fashion trends. Shein can get a new piece of clothing through its supply chain — from design to purchase — in only 10 days, according to Earth.org.
This type of production has become wildly popular, but it comes at a huge environmental cost.
Business Insider notes that the fashion industry accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions, or the same amount produced by the entire European Union. It is also one of the biggest polluters of waterways, and 85% of textiles produced each year end up in dumps and landfills.
Even if prices are higher than expected, clothes ending up in thrift stores is much better than landfills, especially in a time where the average piece of clothing is worn less than 10 times before being discarded. In fact, avoiding fast fashion and shopping at thrift stores are two of the smartest moves you can take to save money and lower your carbon footprint.
In this example, many commenters also had noticed prices rising at their local thrift stores. But others cautioned that blaming employees may not be the right approach.
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Cheaper clothes 🤑 "Workers don't know brands. For instance, I picked up a reversible Supreme puffer coat at my Goodwill yesterday for $12. It was directly in front of a $14 Shien jacket," one wrote. "Know that many processors at Goodwill have barriers — it's not Goodwill trying to inflate costs."
"Inflation of goods," said another commenter.
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