Thrift stores like Goodwill, which largely stocks and sells others’ second hand items, have always typically been seen as a way for those with a lower income to access a wide range of goods. However, with the rise of second-hand clothing apps like Depop and Vinted, the thrift store market has changed.
This is why TikToker Becca Jahn (@beccaboomm) remarked that “Goodwill have been tripping lately” in a video viewed 1 million times.
In the TikTok, Becca took us round her local Goodwill in order to show us first-hand the unusual prices on some of the items stocked by the thrift store. Her first example was a tank top which, according to its still-intact label, was originally sold for $2.98. Yet, despite this, Goodwill appeared to be pricing the item at $4.99.
“And they got it for free,” Becca added. “They got it donated, and they doubled it.”
But things took more of a turn as Becca approached the bin of scrapbook paper, as she challenged the viewer to guess how much Goodwill had priced it. The item, she revealed, was priced at fifty dollars. “And they got it donated for free!” she repeated. “I can’t deal.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Becca via Instagram and Goodwill via email. Neither immediately responded to our requests for comment.
Commenters were equally shocked at the scrapbook paper, with one user writing, “I GASPED at the scrapbook paper. I thought it was gonna be like $15.”
“I said in my head [the scrapbook paper would be] $10 and even in my head that was too much,” a second commenter remarked, following up with a cry-laugh emoji.
This isn’t the first time Goodwill has been called out for its pricing. One TikToker recently spotted a $9 Zara shirt being sold there for $20, while another viral TikTok noted how the retail outlet sold a Banana Republic dress priced at $49.99. Only thing is, the original label was priced at $29.99.
“Goodwill used to literally be where clothes were donated so they could be sold for cheap to low income and unhoused people as charity,” another TikTok commenter lamented under Becca’s video.