Nate
Thrift stores are a valuable resource for people in need. Sometimes, it’s the best place to go to find something in your price range. Thrifting is also a popular hobby for people to find something that’s normally a higher price but extremely marked down.
It seems that some of these stores have caught on and are charging “normal prices” for used goods but simply aren’t worth the asking price. In this case, it’s a Value Villiage in Vancouver and one TikToker is calling them out for their ridiculous prices.
This TikToker has had it with the prices at Value Village thrift store. They’re pricing old and worn out (sometimes dirty) items at basically what they’d cost if they were brand new.
“I seriously can’t believe that no one’s talking about this. Value Village just needs to be called out. They’re getting out of control.”
“You say you are ‘objectively committed to making secondhand second nature’ then you want $5 for a dirty old used garbage can.”
“Or how about $25 each for these pumpkin art pieces”
“$9.99 for a fan that I guarantee you will not work, look at it.”
“The average photo album: $7”
“Oh, you actually want to find a nice brand name stand-up mixer? No, they’re keeping it in the back and it’s $200.”
“There are thousands and thousands of these basic square glass jars. $5 for this is not okay.”
“Am I missing something here?”
“I wasn’t really shopping for clothes today, but I just stopped in one tiny section to show you that almost every price was $9.99”
“Used dirty old Bobs. Not even TOMS. $12”
“Do you want a cool little stone knickknack? It’s $9.99.”
“Do you want a little 25 cent picture frame? How about $7?”
“It’s like they forgot that the dollar store exists and that a lot of these things are from the dollar store.”
“There are immigrant families new to Canada that need to furnish their home. And you really want $30 for a toaster?”
“I genuinely came in today looking to buy a used coffee pot for me and my roomies. And it’s like, I can’t pay $30 for an old coffee pot.”
“I have shopped at Valley Village for years and years and years. And yes, I have recently moved to Vancouver and it’s going to be more expensive here, but it’s getting too much and I think that more people should be calling them out.”
They’ve also started a petition asking people to boycott Value Village and it’s garnered more than 100 signatures.
“Okay, the Boycott Value Village petition is live. I mentioned significant price increases over the last few years and I do acknowledge that Value Village is a for-profit company.
However, 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.
The most power that we have in this situation is to just stop donating here, stop shopping, and just shop at our local not-for-profit thrift stores. And the more they hear about this, the better.
Honestly, if you guys really want to keep millions of reusable items out of landfills, stop pricing them ridiculously.”
Here are the full viral videos shared by @mrniceguyy
https://www.tiktok.com/@mrsniceguyy/video/7067656458460073221
https://www.tiktok.com/@mrsniceguyy/video/7068781730211089669
h/t: BoredPanda