Why Thrifting Is Better Than Retail Even If It Is Getting Gentrified

Chilling at the aviation museum and caught a moment in front of this old military plane. Didn’t expect it to match the fit but it worked out.

Thrifting has always been one of my favorite things to do. I do not walk into a thrift store expecting perfection. I walk in expecting a show. For real, it feels like stepping into a vaudeville performance. You never know what you are going to see. There are random characters all around you, wild outfits from different decades, colors and textures you do not see in regular stores, and racks full of items that look like they have lived entire lives before you. Retail stores cannot compete with that kind of energy. Walking into a mall feels like walking into a DMV compared to the creative chaos of a thrift shop.

That is what makes it fun. You go in with zero expectations and walk out with something that feels like a personal victory. Sometimes you leave with a bag full of heat. Sometimes you leave with nothing except the feeling that you almost found something great. That is the thrill of it. Thrifting is for collectors and curious people. People who like clothes that tell stories. People who want something unique, something that is not trending online and is not being worn by two hundred strangers at the same time.

One of my favorite pieces I ever found was a vintage Miami Dolphins sweater for sixty five dollars. Heavy knit, super comfortable, great colors, and built to last. If I went to Dick’s Sporting Goods or shopped for an official NFL sweater online, they would probably want at least a hundred dollars for something that does not even look as good. And honestly, a lot of the new stuff feels thin or cheap. That old Dolphins sweater feels like it survived decades just to get to me.

That is thrifting. You find real quality, weirdness, personality. You find things that are impossible to buy new. Just wash your clothes when you get home. That is step one and it will always be step one.

But the truth is this. Thrifting is changing. Anyone who has been doing it for a minute can feel the shift.

The Good Stuff Is Getting Harder To Find

Blue Collar Red Lipstick breaks this down by saying that a lot of thrift stores right now are kind of garbage because the inventory is nowhere near what it used to be. The good stuff gets snatched immediately. The racks feel picked over. And what is left does not always hit the same way. Prices keep inching up too. Stores know thrifting is popular now, which means they start changing what they put on the racks. (Blue Collar Red Lipstick, 2024)

Some stores even pull the better items to sell separately at higher prices. You can literally feel the shift when you walk in. What used to be random treasure hunts now sometimes feel curated, but not in a good way. More like they hid everything cool in the back.

Toni On Thrifting explains that thrifting has changed because a lot more people are doing it, but not for the same reasons. Some do it for resale, some do it for TikTok aesthetic videos, and some are doing it because inflation is hitting everyone hard. When the demand grows that fast, the supply becomes inconsistent. The racks that used to be full of vintage gems get replaced with fast fashion items from brands that were created probably month ago. (Toni On Thrifting, 2025)

Thrifting Is Exploding Because Everything Else Got Expensive

CBS News reported that thrifting interest exploded because people are stressed about rising clothing prices and also worried about clothing waste. That combination made the secondhand market blow up. (CBS News, 2024)

This means the thrift aisles now have everyone. People who need low prices. People who want vintage pieces. People who resell for profit. People who just want something for social media. All these groups are fighting over the same racks, the same piles, the same bins.

It changes the whole ecosystem. Ten years ago you might be one of a few people digging through sweaters on a random Tuesday. Now you are shoulder to shoulder with people scanning items with their phones, trying to check resale value before you can even take a good look at the tag.

Prices Are Going Up And The Original Purpose of Thrift Stores Is Getting Lost

Key to Fashion breaks down something important. Thrift stores are raising prices. Some of it has to do with the economy, some of it has to do with fewer donations, and some of it has to do with the rise of secondhand shopping being seen as the new wave now. Once something becomes trendy, businesses start treating it like a cash opportunity. That means boutique style pricing inside what used to be affordable stores. (Key to Fashion, 2024)

When secondhand stores start pricing things like they are new, you lose the whole point of thrifting. You lose accessibility. You lose the community purpose behind the stores. What used to be a place where anyone could afford decent clothing turns into a place where the racks get emptier and the price tags get bolder.

This is where gentrification starts creeping in.

Gentrification Is Real And It Is Affecting Thrift Culture

Elexyfy talks about why people who can afford full price retail should reconsider thrifting casually. Their point is that thrift stores were built for people who rely on them. People who need affordable clothing options. If people with higher incomes clear out thrift stores for the thrill or the look, then the people who actually depend on those clothes get pushed out or priced out. (Elexyfy, 2024)

The thing is, it is not wrong for people of all incomes to thrift. But when large groups of trend focused shoppers enter the space at once, the market reacts. Prices rise. Quality drops. Stores shift their business model. And the people most affected are the ones who relied on thrifting before it was branded as a cool aesthetic.

Some thrift stores are even switching into curated vintage boutiques inside the same building. They take anything that looks older or more stylish and mark it up, sometimes ridiculously. You end up looking at a simple sweatshirt from 1999 that they priced at forty dollars even though it was tossed in a donation box for free.

How I Thrift Now And Why I Still Love It

I still thrift because there is nothing like it. I gravitate toward natural fibers, older pieces, and anything that looks like it survived time with personality intact. Sometimes I pick something up and realize it is not even on the internet. That is part of the thrill. You feel like you found a lost treasure that only you get to own.

Image shown is an illustration layered over a thrift store scene for reference and aesthetic purposes. (Hustler Multimedia/Lexie Perez)

But now more than ever you have to inspect what you are buying. Try things on if you can. Look for damage. Look for actual quality instead of just a trendy look. A lot of stores are not curated. They are chaotic and crowded. You have to train your eyes to see potential and ignore everything else.

I thrift because I like collecting cool stuff. I like building my wardrobe based on my own taste instead of whatever fast fashion wants to push this season. I like clothing that feels lived in. I like knowing that nobody else is wearing the same piece. And maybe that is why I am protective of thrift culture.

Thrifting used to be a lifestyle. A way to stand out. A way to express yourself without following trends. And we can still keep that alive if we stay aware of how things are shifting.

More people thrifting is not a bad thing. But when the entire system changes just to match popularity, the soul of it gets lost. So while prices rise and racks get crowded, I am still going to dig. I am still going to hunt. I am still going to look for the pieces that feel like they were waiting for me.

Because as long as the thrill of thrifting is real, there will always be treasure left to find. :)

References

Blue Collar Red Lipstick. (2024). Why thrift stores are kinda garbage right now. https://bluecollarredlipstick.com/2024/04/why-thrift-stores-are-kinda-garbage-right-now/

CBS News. (2024). Thrifting interest explodes for Americans worried about rising clothing prices and waste. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/thrifting-interest-explodes-for-americans-worried-rising-clothing-prices-waste/

Elexyfy. (2024). Thrifting: Should people who can afford retail prices thrift. https://elexyfy.com/blog/thrifting-should-people-who-can-afford-retail-prices-thrift/

Key to Fashion. (2024). The real reason why thrift store prices are increasing. https://www.keytofashion.com/articles/resale-fashion/the-real-reason-why-thrift-store-prices-increasing/

Toni On Thrifting. (2025). How thrift shopping is changing in 2025. https://tonionthrifting.com/2025/05/04/how-thrift-shopping-is-changing-in-2025/