Thrift stores and resale shops often have their own pricing systems for different kinds of merchandise, typically going by category and the condition of the item.
Sometimes, donated goods have price stickers from previous sellers or still have their original tags, letting thrifters know what kind of deal they are getting—or in some cases, the deal they are not getting.
One Value Village shopper (@glitterhurricane) has shared such an experience on TikTok, showing a book for sale at their location of the thrift chain going for $5.99. Once they flip open the cover, they find a sticker from the original seller of the book stating that it can be purchased for $2. The poster, artist, and content creator said she was surprised to see the store selling it for three times that price.
@glitterhurricane I know they price all their hard cover books the same. I know generally how their pricing works. But come ON! 3x as much as it was bought for originalky lmao #valuevillage #valuevillageprices #valuevillageisexpensive #valuevillagethrift #valuevillagetoronto #valuevillagecanada ♬ Makeba – Jain
“I know they price all their hard cover books the same,” the poster captioned their video. “I know generally how their pricing works. But come ON! 3x as much as it was bought for originally lmao.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @glitterhurricane via Instagram direct message, as well as to Value Village via email regarding the video.
Multiple viewers who claimed to work for Value Village shared that the store’s prices are based on the publisher’s price, not any previous seller’s price.
“Value village employee here, who only works in books,” one commenter wrote. “we price based on the price printed on the books, not any added sticker price listed.”
“They base price on original price of the book and sometimes that doesn’t work out,” another said. “I went there expecting $2 books and saw like $8.”
Others shared that they had stopped shopping at the thrift chain because they were unsatisfied with the pricing.
“Value village is a straight rip – pots and pans cost more than brand new ones at Walmart,” one commented.
“I’m saying, vinyl records are now priced like a record shop would but without the quality control,” a further user claimed.
