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Unfortunately that's not necessarily the case. People run full on dropshipping businesses on Depop under the guise of handmade/second hand clothing. There is al

Unfortunately that's not necessarily the case. People run full on dropshipping businesses on Depop under the guise of handmade/second hand clothing. There is also widespread "thrift hauls" on Depop where 20 something rich people ransack thrift stores which are staples in low-income communities and sell on Depop for 10x. Depop doesn't do anything to counter the hypercapitalist and wasteful fashion industry - its just another component to it. https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22396051/thrift-store-hauls-ethics-depop https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22396051/thrift-store-hauls-et...

CPLX 5y ago
This comment is pretty reactionary and maybe doesn't deserve a reply but I've seen variations on this criticism before and as someone that's worked in this space it doesn't make any sense: > There is also widespread "thrift hauls" on Depop where 20 something rich people ransack thrift stores which are staples in low-income communities This complaint seems to be based on a profound delusion, which is that the social mission of thrift stores is to provide cheap clothing for people who don't have much money. The charity aspect of thrift stores, at least historically, has been the money that you give them when you buy stuff there. So in fact the whole point of the enterprise is to have people who have stuff they don't need donate it to a worthy cause, who sell it to people with money who want it, and then they take the money that they make this way and give it to people who need money or use it to provide needed services etc. Nobody is "ransacking" a charity by doing the exact thing the charity is hoping people will do, which is giving the charity money that can be used to further charitable activities.
- subpixel 5y ago
  > The charity aspect of thrift stores, at least historically, has been the money that you give them when you buy stuff there. That's actually completely backwards. The public good that a thrift store provides is to make cheap, essential things accessible to people who can't afford anything else. Goodwill is a nonprofit because there is no profit in making cheap, essential things accessible to people who can't afford to anything else.
  - azornathogron 5y ago
    I don't know anything about Goodwill, but in the UK there are several charities that run shops and their purpose is as the parent describes - the shops generate revenue for the charity to carry out its work. The first sentence on the wikipedia page on Charity shop [1] (and "Thrift shop" redirects to the same page) says: > A charity shop (UK), thrift shop or thrift store (USA) or opportunity shop (others) is a retail establishment run by a charitable organization to raise money. The Goodwill.org page About Us > Our Vision for Transformation [2] has a section "HOW LOCAL GOODWILLS DELIVER IMPACT" the third item of which starts: > Goodwill retail operations generate revenue that supports our mission work. [...] So, it's possible these things are dual-purpose and intended to meet both goals, or that some thrift stores have the goal of raising revenue and some have the goal of making recycled items available cheaply. But certainly parent's point is not backward - at least many thrift stores explicitly operate in order to generate revenue as a form of funding for charitable ventures. People with money buying things from charity shops helps the charities. It's what they want. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charity_shop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charity_shop [2] https://www.goodwill.org/about-us/our-vision-for-transformation/ https://www.goodwill.org/about-us/our-vision-for-transformat...
    - subpixel 5y ago
      If I could edit I would say "this overlooks the impact that thrift stores have on their communities" or something similar.
  - bruceb 5y ago
    The difference between Thrift store prices and new garments in many cases is less than it used to be. Look at uncool stores, JC Penny, Walmart, and a few others, and you can get clothing for very little.

CPLX 5y ago

This comment is pretty reactionary and maybe doesn't deserve a reply but I've seen variations on this criticism before and as someone that's worked in this space it doesn't make any sense: > There is also widespread "thrift hauls" on Depop where 20 something rich people ransack thrift stores which are staples in low-income communities This complaint seems to be based on a profound delusion, which is that the social mission of thrift stores is to provide cheap clothing for people who don't have much money. The charity aspect of thrift stores, at least historically, has been the money that you give them when you buy stuff there. So in fact the whole point of the enterprise is to have people who have stuff they don't need donate it to a worthy cause, who sell it to people with money who want it, and then they take the money that they make this way and give it to people who need money or use it to provide needed services etc. Nobody is "ransacking" a charity by doing the exact thing the charity is hoping people will do, which is giving the charity money that can be used to further charitable activities.

subpixel 5y ago
> The charity aspect of thrift stores, at least historically, has been the money that you give them when you buy stuff there. That's actually completely backwards. The public good that a thrift store provides is to make cheap, essential things accessible to people who can't afford anything else. Goodwill is a nonprofit because there is no profit in making cheap, essential things accessible to people who can't afford to anything else.
- azornathogron 5y ago
  I don't know anything about Goodwill, but in the UK there are several charities that run shops and their purpose is as the parent describes - the shops generate revenue for the charity to carry out its work. The first sentence on the wikipedia page on Charity shop [1] (and "Thrift shop" redirects to the same page) says: > A charity shop (UK), thrift shop or thrift store (USA) or opportunity shop (others) is a retail establishment run by a charitable organization to raise money. The Goodwill.org page About Us > Our Vision for Transformation [2] has a section "HOW LOCAL GOODWILLS DELIVER IMPACT" the third item of which starts: > Goodwill retail operations generate revenue that supports our mission work. [...] So, it's possible these things are dual-purpose and intended to meet both goals, or that some thrift stores have the goal of raising revenue and some have the goal of making recycled items available cheaply. But certainly parent's point is not backward - at least many thrift stores explicitly operate in order to generate revenue as a form of funding for charitable ventures. People with money buying things from charity shops helps the charities. It's what they want. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charity_shop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charity_shop [2] https://www.goodwill.org/about-us/our-vision-for-transformation/ https://www.goodwill.org/about-us/our-vision-for-transformat...
  - subpixel 5y ago
    If I could edit I would say "this overlooks the impact that thrift stores have on their communities" or something similar.
- bruceb 5y ago
  The difference between Thrift store prices and new garments in many cases is less than it used to be. Look at uncool stores, JC Penny, Walmart, and a few others, and you can get clothing for very little.