Woman Flabbergasted At Thrift Store’s Prices, Calls Them Out By Sharing 14 Examples
In the last decade, thrift hunting has become a hobby, if not a lifestyle, for many secondhand and vintage aficionados with a sharp eye for budget-friendly treasure. But people have noticed that prices for secondhand goods are getting higher than ever, and this TikToker who goes by the handle @Mrsniceguyy has had enough of it.
Captioned “I just can’t deal anymore,” the author shared a video stating that “Value Village just needs to be called out,” since they’re “getting out of control.” Mrsniceguyy then proceeds to share a couple of examples on the green screen behind her. She shows just what a ripoff their prices are for used, worn, dirty and defunct items that, according to her, don’t even cost that much brand new.
The author also created a petition “Boycott Value Village” that already has 111 signatures out of the objective 200. The petition says that pricing items higher than what they cost brand new shows the company is lazy and cares more about making a buck than offering consumers a way to shop secondhand instead of buying new.”
Scroll down to see what Mrsniceguyy had to say about Value Village below and let us know if you have noticed price increases in thrift stores!
One TikToker has had enough of Value Village thrift store pricing worn out, defunct, old and dirty items more than what they cost brand new so she called them out
Image credits: Jason F. Voll
Image credits: mrsniceguyy
Image credits: mrsniceguyy
Image credits: mrsniceguyy
Image credits: mrsniceguyy
Image credits: mrsniceguyy
Image credits: mrsniceguyy
Image credits: mrsniceguyy
It’s no secret that the secondhand market is rising faster than ever before. In 2020, the global market value of secondhand and resale apparel was estimated to be worth 27 billion U.S. dollars. This value is not just stopping there but is projected to rise rapidly in the coming years, almost doubling in size from 2020 to 2023, before reaching a value of 77 billion dollars in 2025.
Image credits: mrsniceguyy
Image credits: mrsniceguyy
Image credits: mrsniceguyy
Image credits: mrsniceguyy
Moreover, this rapid growth is not limited to the U.S.: in 2020, The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) conducted a study in 6 countries (the U.S., France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the U.K.) for Vestiaire Collective – the online platform for luxury secondhand fashion items – and estimated that the global secondhand market should grow by 15-20% per year in the next 5 years.
Image credits: mrsniceguyy
Image credits: mrsniceguyy
Image credits: mrsniceguyy
Image credits: mrsniceguyy
So what are the reasons for the secondhand renaissance? Well, first of all, consumers are prioritizing sustainability and retailers are embracing reselling. Experts say that at this point, we are in the early stages of a radical transformation in retail.
This newly surged secondhand demand is driven by resale platforms. These digital resale marketplaces like Depop, Vinted, Vestiaire Collective, ThredUP or RealReal connect consumers with no intermediary. They are expected to go from $15 billion in 2021 to $47 billion in 2025 in the U.S. Fashion brands are joining the trend by selling their own approved secondhand pieces on their websites.
Image credits: mrsniceguyy
Image credits: mrsniceguyy
Bored Panda reached out to Sean Fowlow, the professional thrift hunter and creator of “Ridiculous Thrifter” to talk about rising prices in thrift stores. Sean said that just about everything has gone up in price. We previously wrote about his entertaining page that features “the wonderful, bizarre and insanely overpriced items” found at secondhand points from Facebook marketplace to secondhand stores and charity shops. You can check out the article right here.
“Partly because of inflation, but I would have to argue it’s mostly because of the explosion in popularity of re-selling used items on the internet for extra income. The thrift shop owners have caught on to this and are now researching the current market values of items before pricing them for sale.”
Sean explained that “for instance, several years ago a particular thrift shop would have a set price for all video games…say $3.99 each or so. Now, at most shops, you will find the more valuable games priced separately and locked in a glass showcase with a price tag of whatever it sells for currently on eBay.” The professional thrifter said that it’s the same for retro toys, collectibles, and cookware now as well. “The days of finding a treasure for cheap at a thrift store are unfortunately almost behind us,” he told us.
The author also created a petition that asks people to boycott Value Village and it already has 111 signatures
Image credits: mrsniceguyy
And here are the viral TikTok videos Mrsniceguyy shared
@mrsniceguyy I just can’t deal anymore #boycottvaluevillage #thrifting #vancouver ♬ original sound – Mrs Nice Guy
@mrsniceguyy Reply to @gracebrinkly glad to hear so many of you have already long stopped shopping there! #greenscreen #boycottvaluevillage ♬ original sound – Mrs Nice Guy
When asked if it’s common for thrift stores to sell items for a price that is even higher than what you’d pay for a brand new item, Sean confirmed that’s the case. “I’ve noticed this is happening more frequently in the past 2-3 years. Especially with the larger franchise thrift shops like “Goodwill” or “Savers/Value Village.” The professional thrifter added that his “Ridiculous Thrifter” Instagram and Facebook accounts were created to shed light on and make fun of this very thing.
“You will often find brand new or good-used conditioned items priced higher than the original retail price. Many times, they get caught being lazy by failing to remove the original price tag. For instance a pair of pants with the original store price tag of $8.99 along with the thrift store’s new price tag of $14.99. This is both frustrating and laughable at the same time.”
Moreover, Sean said that these same stores are also infamous for pricing dollar store items for more than what they were originally sold for. “For example a $1.99 “Dollar Tree” cheese grater priced for $4.99 at “Value Village” with the original “Dollar Tree” price still attached to the item haha. I have many examples of this on my account,” he said and added that “I personally call this greedy, but it makes for good content which people enjoy seeing.”
Many people agreed that prices at Value Village are indeed getting out of control
The increase at the thrift stores is approaching insanity (here's looking at you GOODWILL). These thrift places were originally for people that are poor that could not afford to go buy new. Now I believe they have raised their price point to edge out people that are poor because those that are more fortunate have realized you can get some great deals there thanks to social media - so they are pandering to them. At least that is how it feels where I live.
Yesss exactly when the bosses realized that people were looking for a bargain instead of this is all I can afford they jacked up prices because they realized they would still sell the stuff not caring about target demograph instead looking for $$$ Edit: this is not all thrift stores though we have a rescue ministry that runs them around here that's non-profit so the what you are paying is really a donation not the price of the item
Salvation army is ridiculous on their prices.
Exactly! And contrary to popular belief the Salvation Army does not help people. They are a for profit company.
Not at the one I go to on the regular, but I'm in a small town area, I bet it is in bigger places
They always have been in my experience
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You DO know that the salvation army uses the revenue from sales to HELP people, right? So by paying more you are HELPING people. Maybe you despise helping people. Maybe you think people should just fend for themselves so you can get stuff for practically free. Selfish if you ask me.
You're an idiot.
I love yard sales that churches have (not the thrift stores). They always have cool stuff for really good prices
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I'm sorry to have to say it, but your reply would be easier to understand if you edited in some punctuation. Please.
What didn't you understand?
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Boooooooo Leslie
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Honestly? I just stop reading when there's comments like that. If they can't use simple punctuation, and better grammar, there is no reason to attempt to follow along & guess.
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Boo hoo! You can't get a bargain and resell it on eBay for 10 times the amount you paid. Boo wah hoo! Bawl. Cry. Sniffle. Boo hoo
And whats even worse high end items and video games they now sell in ebay or there own goodwill auction site.. Good will had dozens of CEO's across the country all making 6 figures a year.. Non profits shouldnt be making so much money off of free donations that the community cant use
And we no longer have Good Will in Canada...at least not in Ontario anymore. There may be a few stragglers in other provinces, but I doubt it. And if Value Village doesn't make a change, they may end up going the same way, engaging in this kind of thievery.
Yes we do. I live in Niagara and there are 6 donation centres and stores. They also have a local website for some items.
Unfortunately, there's still lots of Goodwills in Alberta.
Kitchener has some... Google before you claim stuff. Saves embarrassment
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Thievery? You open a thrift store and show us how to run it "right". We are waiting..... whats the hold up? Where is your non-thievery thrift store? That's what we thought, you are incapable.
CEOs* No apostrophe in plurals.
Goodwill is pillaging the poor and low income. The very people that they are marketing their business model towards are the people they're exploiting. Poor people can only buy the color coded special discount of the week. Which is usually 50% off through the week and 75% off on Sunday, but it's also usually off season clothing with stains, rips, or hideously out of style items such as polyester wear from the 70's that no one would wear anymore. They have a set pricing schedule for all the stores over a huge area but if you live in a heavily populated poverty level area, these people will have difficulty shopping. The pricing schedule doesn't cover some of the shoes, purses, furniture, and items like that, so they're even more difficult to buy. They're also stocked with less popular donations. Before I became disabled and had a strong upper middle class income, prices were fine but it was acutely obvious afterwards. They need to make changes but would likely never feel motivated by us.
At my local Goodwill, they only do the one color 50% off and then they start pulling the colors off the shelves and racks on Fridays before the sale is even close to be over to “make more room”. They even got rid of their .99 cent price point.
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Lol. Lies. The stuff in thrift stores all around here are super cheap. 5 bucks for VCRs that are going for hundreds on eBay. Clothes a fraction of the cost of CLEARANCE items at other stores, including Walmart!
The problem is that charities have been overtaken by avaricious CEOs retiring from Fortune 500 companies. They all insist on having a business model and spend a LOT of money made from donations paying obscene CEO high 6 figure salaries. It's ridiculous. These sleazy jerks have taken over a resource that supported my and other poor families for decades. My mom could not afford to buy us clothes at Godwill now. The Rich get richer by squeezing every dime possible out of the poor. They can amuse themselves at length lecturing the indolent lower classes. I find the prices at my local Goodwill are higher than Ikea's, Target's, or B, B&B's. It kills me how much they suck out of the organization for executive compensation- recently52+ MILLION paid to the managers and board while they paid subminimum wage to disabled workers and minimum wage to able workers. And now they have pushed prices out of reach for the people they are supposed to serve. They are not a charity, they are parasites.
You are so right..
If I had a way, and any crime was legal for 12 hours I would drain all their CEO's 6 figure bank accounts keep some for me because funds are tight and then start handing out some of the rest in cash here and there or biy things to help others. We could finally help the fam afford to fix pops bathroom. The floor fell in. like a good 58% of it from the sounds of it.
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No one is stopping you from opening a store, working for free, and giving everything away. So... hop to it!
Agreed. I used to get great deals at Goodwill, but recently it's been like, "Okay, I can pay X amount for a used item with a hole, or for $5, buy a brand new one without a hole. HMM."
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Stuff with holes are MORE expensive at all stores everywhere!
I agree, everything they get is donated and their prices are ridiculously high. Salvation Army is the same way. Donated items are marked up to an inflated price that is truly no more affordable than buying new.
I do not know about the Salvation Army in your area, but at least in my area yes the prices are high-ish but they have sales every day of the week with 3 out of their 5 colors on sale. 2 colors are 50% off and one color is 99 cents. It is where I do most of my shopping because it knocks the price down to a reasonable level. Also pretty much all of money goes directly to helping people and the CEO doesn't make much money. Also it has been my experience too that Goodwill is even super inflated past that of Salvation Army.
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So they shouldn't pay people to sort through all the C**P that is donated? No overhead running a store? Rent and utilities are free? It's disgusting how ungrateful people in this thread are.
Another thing that caused the increase was thrift stores realizing that people were buying and reselling items at higher prices on sites like Ebay.
So what, it's none of their business what someone does with it after it's bought, right? I'm so tired of these greedy a*s thrift stores.
Problem with that is those reselling on eBay, Facebook, etc are PROFESSIONAL RESELLERS and go "thrifting" daily to find bargains to resell on those platforms for insane profits. These same folks also comb retail store "clearance" shelves/aisles for the best markdowns to "flip" on said platforms at or just below full retail prices. And, surprisingly, get these prices. IMO, people are stupid! Especially if you paste the word "bargain" on something you want to sell.
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Yeah it is! Who the hell made you CEO of thrift stores? WTF is your malfunction? There isn't a law that says they need to charge what YOU think is "fair".
Goodwill is an awful company. I’m not surprised they rip people off.
I always felt Goodwill prices were higher than Unique (Savers stores in Chicago).
I agree, I've noticed Goodwill is getting absurd too.
Goodwill went from being a nonprofit to being a for-profit company. This is why I will no longer support them Salvation Army is not my favorite but I know they are active in my community helping people so they get the greenlight for all my donations
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No one cares if you never support ANYONE ever again. Bye!
Yes, these "professional thrifters" that make a living, are effectively making it harder for poor people to buy second hand, because it's "trendy" to thrift shop now. Yet they don't seem to see the irony of complaining about thrift store prices....
I always look in the Goodwill book area. Books I used to pick up for $1.49 - $1.99 are now $3.39 - $4.99. Considering that GW gets almost everything they sell as donations and doesn't cost them a penny, the doubling of prices makes no sense. Pretty certain their labor costs haven't increased that much. Still find a deal now and then.
Nope. The labor costs haven't increased. Used to work for them. They're supposed to be a "non profit", yet even in the training one of the guiding principles or whatever the hell they were was "profit".
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You don't know what non profit means, do you? So inflation has skyrocketed but you feel employees at Goodwill shouldn't get raises so you can keep buying super cheap c**p. Beautiful. Such a caring person. I can't believe how selfish and greedy thrift store customers are. It's repulsive.
Dude, is your d**k really that small? Because being a huge one online won't make it bigger, nor will it make you a good person. Go play in traffic.
@Elora Danan. "We might not be "obligated," but we should care and should try to help people feel better. That's our purpose." Recognise this comment? You made it literally today. I have never seen a hypocrite as complete as you.
Why? Because she called out a lame that has way to much free time on their hands and nothing better to do with it then make offensive comments engineered to do nothing more then make people who are either simply venting about past experiences with being taken advantage of or people making well thought out and researched opinions feel like they are less then him? He obviously has to get all his built up resentment toward people who weren't handed everything on a silver platter out behind the safe anonymity of a computer because he knows if he ever tried saying these things to someone's face they would simply ensure he woke up in a hospital bed with a whole new world perspective. I know i would. So no Becky Samuel... Elora danan is not a hypocrite for standing up for people that have had to stand back up and keep moving forward after life ran them over. So take your better then thou b******t and shut the f**k up
Forgot to add that those price increases happened over the past 3-4 years or so.
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Lol, the donations sort and price themselves? You must think the employees are all volunteers. It makes PERFECT sense. What doesn't make sense is how greedy and selfish YOU are
Goodwill has been outrageous in their pricing for years. You can go and find and buy new at Walmart or hell, even Target. I bought some cheap plastic bowls at Walmart for $0.50 each. Happened into Goodwill a couple months later and found them selling the exact bowls for $1. It's ridiculous. I used to go there for fun to see what I could find but I've stopped. The only reason I was in there when I saw the bowls was because I needed to putz around before needing to go somewhere in that area at a specific time.
In addition to that, people have made a business out of buying second hand goods i.e. clothes, shoes, home items etc..and reselling them at higher prices online. This is huge, and surely the Thrift stores have caught on to this and they're not happy about it. That's what I think has attributed to them hiking up their prices..
No, it's just plain and simple greed.
I 100% agree! And it is infuriating.
hah, I was gonna comment on GoodWill's prices. Like "This shop makes even GoodWill's prices look cheap".
Yes! Ours too! I loathe our local Goodwill. When we came here, a shirt was fifty cents. Now it's twenty dollars. Oh hail no.
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Awww can't get free shirts anymore?
Goodwill I used to go to almost daily. They moved it from a great location to a hard to reach location and then jacked up the prices. No longer is it fun to go there. Whereas I used to buy on every visit, I now might buy once in a blue moon. They’re overpriced and not worth it anymore.
Uhhh Goodwil is a non profit
Do you remember when goodwill would have 50% off a different color stringed group of items like yellow tagged on Wednesday then the following Wednesday it would be red and so on but they done away with that long ago-and on one Sunday a month they would do specialty priced items that were in display case one time they had men's ostrich skin cowboy boots like for 275$ I was glued to the front door that morning got them for 140$
It's unfortunate really but it is the result of our value system. Making money, having money, worshipping those who have it as if by some magic it makes them virtuous, is and has always been the very root of our value system. Leave the country for any other western nation then pay attention to the things they value through the mesages in media, then come back here and pay attention to ours. The longer you are away, the more perspective you allow yourself and it can be jarring. Nothing irretates me more than commercials that tell me to go out and buy something because I deserve it! The stupidity behind that message is that none of us deserve some product just because some company is telling us this just to sell us something. I have found the overt commecialization of our culture almost intolerable. So much so, that I got rid of television twenty years ago and haven't missed it all.
Same here goodwill used to be super cheap and i did get good stuff now i cant get jack from anywhere here and we have 3 of them
I noticed that Goodwill, in my city, didn't start jacking up their prices until Value Village opened here. Now when I thrift I seek out stores associated with other not for profit organization, otherwise I by off of Facebook and Kijiji.
i dunno about that,goodwill is pretty good for my nerf arsenal.
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Doesn't matter what they were originally intended for. They are now how many charities raise money for their cause. So not only do they want to maximize the profits that help their cause, the prices are being set by volunteers and or people that don't have experience in pricing merchandise. Go to a garage sale if you're looking for bargains.
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The prices started to go up when a ton of people especially during the pandemic decide to buy good stuff from Goodwill and then turn around and sell it for a lot more and make tons of money. I just left Goodwill and I myself do not think that people should make a ton of money off Goodwill. Sorry but they are a nonprofit organization that provides job training and other resources to help people. And since the people profiting know this blame them. It is called business. If you don't like it shop else where. Problem solved
I don't see where they're helping anybody, and their prices shouldn't be dependent on whether items are resold or not. This c**p is GIVEN to them. They're a bunch of greedy b#**ards.
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No you are the greedy selfish one. Your logic about their pricing is ludicrous. Get some help and fast.
Goodwill is FOR profit, the opposite of nonprofit. It is NOT A CHARITY.
Are thrift stores in the USA not for charity? In the UK almost all (but not all) are run by a charity and staffed by volunteers. Apart from overheads all the money goes to charity. Is it not the same in the US?
Hello SS, I have no idea why you are getting downvoted. I am originally from the UK and moved to the United States for work, family, and school. I believe that some thrift shops are run by charities or religious organizations like the Salvation Army, however, it is no way near as prevalent. Most thrift stores in the United States appear to run on donations from the public and hire people to work there.
While this is true, the charity and religious stores are just as guilty if not more so. Salvation army for example:. Last time I went there? Plain, white, porcelain plate ($1 at $ tree) was marked at $2.99. worn out, threadbare jeans with holes on them were $12 each. Old, worn out couch, $299.00. six drawer bureau dresser with mirror, $399+. Basic lazy boy recliner/rocking chair, fabric worn thin and ready to tear, $200......
And seldom do they clean the stuff that is donated and put out. I've noticed the price differential where I live as well. I'll be damned to hell before I pay three times more for someone's filthy "anything" at the thrift store that can be had new somewhere else. Because at this point, it isn't about helping the poor any longer, its about sustaining a high profit to beable to pay the mulit-million dollar salries of these charity's CEO's. There are numerous online chariy review sites that track that information and make it public so you can decide whether they really are about the cause they claim to be, or just in it for cash to live the good life off other's good intentions. A for profit company, yes you expect that heinous behavior... but it's even more dispicable when its done off the backs of the poor, the handicapped, children, and animals.
ARE there some companies not ad charitable ad others? Sure. But the main large non-profit charities (barring a unscrupulous person) are in it to make the largest amount of money possible to help as many people as possible. NOTHING wrong with paying the CEOs a high salary. It takes someone with knowledge, abilities to run huge charities with lots of stores! As for filthy items, charities ask/beg for clean items. They don't have the manpower to clean everything. A LOT of donors donate rather than go to the DUMP. Or they're donating just for the tax write off and don't care enough to donate CLEAN and USABLE items! You need to do some research before slamming people/organizations who are trying to help There are also unscrupulous volunteers and paid workers at charities, because they recruit from the HUMAN RACE!
Do YOU have any idea of all the community programs the Salvation Army funds?! The more money they MAKE, the more people they can help! And they have to pay for the buildings, trucks if they have them, for the paid employees! There are organizations, people who will collect items and distribute them to really needy people for free. If you've destitute, look for them. Go to garage sales...
Free donations but sell for more then brand new items at walmart or dollar store. 6.99 value village sticker. Look at the bottom and see dollarama sticker for 1.50. Old blue jeans 15 to 20 bucks. 5 bucks more buy same brand brand new. Used pots and pans with destroyed teflon and no lids for exact same price as brand new at walmart. And yet all these items donated for free. I hear they have to pay rent and employees. Yes and so does walmart plus walmart has to buy the brand new items they sell and yet walmart still cheaper or same price. Wont pay rent if people stop buying over priced crap
Actually, Walmart usually owns the land and buildings they build on unless in those rare occaisions they're in a shopping center. Considering how Walmart purposely underpays, and underschedules their employee's then directs them to local social services for Food Stamps and Medicaid, I no longer shop there. In some of the southern States, they even have someone on staff in their store who specializes in directing their employees to these services. Services, that we pay for in tax for the needy. In effect, Walmart is using the social service system as their own benefits package and that I find heinous. Especially since the six Walmart heirs are usually amongst the top weathy Americans list every year or so. I won't go into how they force companies to have thier products made in China inorder to sell them in their stores.
Not just that, Wal Mart used to take out life insurance policies on employees calling it a dead peasants tax, absolutely insane. They're one of the scummiest most flagrantly greedy and morally bankrupt companies out there haha
I think they're getting downvoted because didn't the post say it was in Canada?
The salvation army is ridiculous on their prices as well..
Kim, then they're able to help even MORE people!
Even the Salvation Army pays its employees, there are some volunteers but most of the staff is paid, though the wage is very low. Had a friend who worked there.
Salvation Army does fundraisers all the time because it's a church
They do TREMENDOUS work to help in their communities!
Thrift stores here in the states are not charity based. People think they are, but they are not. They are businesses that receive free goods from donations and make pure profit. I have never seen any good/service or community outreach from the only non profit Goodwill in my state. The rest of the thrift stores near me are for profits.
Actually, some are, if you know where to look! Don't go to those that are chain stores (Goodwill, Value Village, Salvation Army, etc); DO go to those that are independent, that are affiliated with a single entity (church, hospital, etc). My experience was about five years ago, I was moving from a house to a single room. I had a small coffee maker (and still do) that was given to me by a former co-worker when she was cleaning out her late parents' home. When I picked it up, I dropped the carafe that came with it and it shattered on the floor. (At the time, Keurig was becoming a thing but it was expensive.) Went to Walmart to find a 2-4 cup carafe, they wanted $10 for it. Went to a local thrift store that was run by a church, found a slightly used one for ONE DOLLAR!! (Bought a couple of other items from there totaling at $6.)
Actually MOST are in job training programs, recent paroled individuals and people doing community service