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Most certainly looking for a payout. Has anyone been to a thrift store recently? About 30% of people are in need/want of inexpensive secondhand items, while the

Most certainly looking for a payout. Has anyone been to a thrift store recently? About 30% of people are in need/want of inexpensive secondhand items, while the rest of the crowd — smartphones in hand — are trying to see what can be resold for profit on EBay. This whole “side hustle” economy is killing the thrift store as an source for people in need to find inexpensive goods.

dhzhzjsbevs 4y ago
Pretty sure that's just the market getting efficient.
ajdude 4y ago
It’s pretty bad. I was at a community yard sale last week, and I was genuinely looking for interesting and useful things not to turn around and sell on eBay but to have an use. Unfortunately, I do a more than a few individuals who were running from table to table tossing around things looking for vintage items that they can turn a profit on and most interesting things were sold before I could even get to the table.
ejb999 4y ago
>>is killing the thrift store as an source for people in need to find inexpensive goods. thrift stores don't exist to help people find cheap stuff - they exist to raise or earn money, and many org's then use that money to fund the things they want to fund. It might not be a 'side hustle' for some of these people, it may be the only income they earn, and good for them for showing their entrepreneurial instincts - and doubt very many are getting rich at it (except perhaps a few lucky ones that find that needle in a haystack).
CPLX 4y ago
I see a variation on this comment all the time now and it makes me slightly crazy. It feels like the product of extremely online culture (or just Twitter) where people work up a hypothesis of outrage with no connection to reality at all and just run with it forever until it's fact. The thrift store has never been about getting the items on sale to needy people that's just literally not the philosophy behind the entire concept. The thrift store model has been about getting money from the people who shop there who are people who have money but not having to pay for the goods they sell because they are charitably donated to be sold and then using the money they make to advance the mission of the charity. It's a fundraising concept. The funds come from people who have funds. The goods come from people that have spare goods. And then THE MONEY THEY MAKE goes to actually do good in the world. The limiting factor on every thrift store model I've ever seen is having enough customers. There's always tons and tons of stuff to sell, many have to throw away half the donations they get because there's no room. The people who are in thrift stores buying things for Ebay and increasing the money that goes to the charity are HELPING the thrift store, not killing it. This mindless outrage is literally the opposite of the actual dynamic at work here.

dhzhzjsbevs 4y ago

Pretty sure that's just the market getting efficient.

ajdude 4y ago

It’s pretty bad. I was at a community yard sale last week, and I was genuinely looking for interesting and useful things not to turn around and sell on eBay but to have an use. Unfortunately, I do a more than a few individuals who were running from table to table tossing around things looking for vintage items that they can turn a profit on and most interesting things were sold before I could even get to the table.

ejb999 4y ago

>>is killing the thrift store as an source for people in need to find inexpensive goods. thrift stores don't exist to help people find cheap stuff - they exist to raise or earn money, and many org's then use that money to fund the things they want to fund. It might not be a 'side hustle' for some of these people, it may be the only income they earn, and good for them for showing their entrepreneurial instincts - and doubt very many are getting rich at it (except perhaps a few lucky ones that find that needle in a haystack).

CPLX 4y ago

I see a variation on this comment all the time now and it makes me slightly crazy. It feels like the product of extremely online culture (or just Twitter) where people work up a hypothesis of outrage with no connection to reality at all and just run with it forever until it's fact. The thrift store has never been about getting the items on sale to needy people that's just literally not the philosophy behind the entire concept. The thrift store model has been about getting money from the people who shop there who are people who have money but not having to pay for the goods they sell because they are charitably donated to be sold and then using the money they make to advance the mission of the charity. It's a fundraising concept. The funds come from people who have funds. The goods come from people that have spare goods. And then THE MONEY THEY MAKE goes to actually do good in the world. The limiting factor on every thrift store model I've ever seen is having enough customers. There's always tons and tons of stuff to sell, many have to throw away half the donations they get because there's no room. The people who are in thrift stores buying things for Ebay and increasing the money that goes to the charity are HELPING the thrift store, not killing it. This mindless outrage is literally the opposite of the actual dynamic at work here.