The conflicting ethics of reselling
By Joshua Dominguez
With apps like Depop as popular as ever among gen z, the conversation surrounding the ethics of selling thrift clothes for a premium has become a hot-button topic. The argument from one side is that these sellers are unjustly and unnecessarily taking from those who rely on thrift store items as their only source of affordable clothing. From the seller’s perspective, their argument is that despite being able to flip certain thrift items for profit the sheer amount of clothing being produced year after year outweighs this.
During the pandemic, thrift stores were overwhelmed with more donations than they could handle, another reason why the debate regarding the implications of selling thrift clothing is far from one-dimensional. When we start to take a look into the fashion industry itself, specifically overproduction, we can start to see what’s at the heart of the real problem.
The vast issues regarding fast fashion companies like Shein and their rate of production influencing waste aren't always at the top of mind among average consumers, understandably causing many to target depop sellers online accusing them of “gentrifying thrift stores.” As outlined in a Vox article from Terry Ngyuen this became too much for one seller Alli Vera. Vera stepped away from her 83,000 followers on Depop citing the problematic nature of thrift haulers clearing out stores for a profit as one of her main reasons for stepping away. She’s of course right that buying out all of a thrift shop solely for profit is wrong and harms those in the community who depend on those stores, but a majority of the time there’s always going to be enough clothing to go around.
As someone who’s dabbled in reselling myself, I’m aware firsthand of the impact I can have and be sure to shop selectively. If I find myself in a Goodwill during peak winter and there’s only one jacket left, I’ll be sure to leave it for someone who actually needs it. The reality however is that thrift stores are rarely ever so scarce and picked over with there being plenty to go around for all, if not an excess of clothing that will never be fully gone through.
Depop reseller Jacklyn Wells went viral for showing off her vintage finds (TikTok/Jacklyn Wells)
Depop seller Jacklyn Wells recently found herself the subject of such backlash after posting a thrift haul to Tik Tok of her pickups from the latest trip to the thrift. From fur-trimmed leather coats to embellished denim maxi skirts it was a Y2K enthusiast's wet dream. She went viral racking up almost 6 million views on tik- tok leaving comments praising her and shocked with how many gems she found in a single trip. This was until users found Well’s depop account and saw clothes from the original video marked up for a profit. She was bombarded with nasty hateful comments calling her “lazy,” and “greedy” for her reselling efforts accused of thrift store gentrification, an increasingly debated issue across social media.
At first glance yes it can seem odd for a leather coat that was purchased for $20 to be marked up five times that but there are so many more layers to understand. $100 for a vintage 100% leather coat no matter where it was originally purchased is an incredible deal given the cost of materials, longevity, and design. The reason so many people love and seek out vintage is that so much of today's clothing is made like garbage. They’re made to feed into the increasingly quick impossible to keep up with trend cycle and do not need to last its wearer more than a couple of years since by then it’ll be out of style anyways. A fully lined trench coat from the 1970s made of quality leather with considered construction and draping was made to last a lifetime and is worth its $100 price tag if not more. Brands like Shien and H&M have completely skewed how much we think clothes should cost. A jacket for $15 sounds great on paper but when you understand how they’re able to get it so cheap it’s incredibly troubling. The workers constructing it are undoubtedly underpaid, the materials are made to last one season before being ruined in the wash, and their designs will become purposely dated the time the next trend cycle comes around. It’s here in which the appeal of second-hand vintage lies and why so many are willing to pay a markup for clothing they know is made well of quality materials built to last
CC: New York Times
As is any controversial topic, one's lived experience influences how one perceives it and isn’t necessarily right or wrong. For someone growing up in a low-income area, it makes sense to become upset seeing someone from outside of the community come in and seemingly exploit the low prices for their own personal gain. Oftentimes with thrift stores having to raise prices in order to combat resellers they effectively price out the very people they’re meant to serve. This is yet a symptom of a larger issue with the US alone producing 16 million tons of textile waste a year, there’s certainly not a shortage of clothing. Brands like Shein as mentioned and Forever 21 have accelerated the trend cycles to such a point where the life cycle of a garment has shrunk dramatically trend-wise, only leading to an influx of donations thrift stores aren’t able to handle.
As for resellers, it becomes their own responsibility to be respectful and empathetic when sourcing for products, never take more than needed, and most importantly prioritize the good of the community over a profit margin. Valuable items shouldn’t end up at a thrift store, to begin with, and it's on us to buy better and buy less to extend the life cycle of our own clothing leaving the affordable items at thrift stores for those who wouldn’t be able to survive without them.
@joshdominguezz
@the.cultmag
Let Us Know Your Thought Below!
