Thrifting for many people offers a cheap alternative to shopping new and is both accessible and of good quality. With the recent introduction of the internet, much of that has changed. Presently thrifting has become a hobby. Influencers will record themselves shopping and flipping the pieces they find, while others show themselves finding money in books or in coat pockets they bought. Everyone seems to be advertising the hidden gems they are finding and people are flocking to the once niche places.
This viral advertising has had a perplexing effect on thrifting culture and has caused an overall decrease in the product quality of markets. As more people take up the hobby, the more picked through the shelves become leaving those who rely on thrifting as a source of clothing without the quality they could once reliably find. Those who can go out and buy the same things new, who repaint and “flip” at these places, often end up taking items for their videos before letting the clothes sit in a closet for the rest of their life. Of course anyone can thrift regardless of financial status but influencers often take more than they need to and fall too far into consumerism.
Another change in thrifting has been brought on by influencers who feel the need to refurbish everything. Many of these people will find beautiful antique pieces and paint over their artfully crafted wood or sand off their age old paint only to make them white or beige. Then they record themselves putting these things on their kitchen counters and that becomes the end of it. More often than not, these pieces come out hideous compared to their original forms. It’s something parents of generations past have been saying but the simple fact is that they just don’t make things like they used to. Hand crafted kitchen wear, decor, and clothing are becoming harder to find making it all the more important that these relics should be preserved, not ruined for the sake of a few followers.
On top of that, the rise in fast fashion has slowly been eating thrift stores inside out. Now almost everywhere a shopper goes the racks will be lined with products from brands like Shein which are both cheap quality and made unethically. Finding real leather and brand name purses are no longer as simple as walking in, instead people now have to sort through mounds of trashy pieces that people bought in their TikTok hauls. Those who overconsume clothes often donate them, only having bought them for a two minute clip. They buy poor quality and then simply pawn it off to buy more. Obviously giving unwanted things to these stores is better than throwing them away and further polluting the earth but these things are not being bought. A thrift store should be a place to leave unwanted treasures, not something the population agrees is unethical, uncomfortable, and unwanted.
Thrifting has become a practice of overconsumption and is glorified by an internet only telling half truths. That being said, there still are stores out there that only accept good quality and some influencers who let the beauty of the discarded shine. Hidden gems still exist among the rubble, only now they tend to be a bit harder to find. Thrifting has never been a perfect practice– it was always full of dirty clothing and dingy decor– but with the rising glorification of the hobby it raises the question of whether the quality will continue to decrease.
