YouTube: Thrift with Me Vlog & The Current State of Shopping Secondhand in 2022
Gulfstream Goodwill recently opened a new location in Palm Beach County and it was only right for me to be there for the grand opening. What I wasn’t prepared for was the crowd. I guess I wasn’t the only one curious about the treasures this store may hold…
My mom introduced me to secondhand shopping when I was around 13 years old. She would take me along with her to Goodwill where she would spend what felt like hours rummaging through homewares and the women’s clothing section. Embarrassed was an understatement. I would beg her to let me stay home but she insisted she needed a shopping buddy.
Why did I feel ashamed? Well, this was before social media existed so shopping secondhand and even discount stores like TJMaxx and Marshall’s weren’t deemed “cool.” We also lived in a small town so I was afraid one of my friends would see our car in Goodwill’s parking lot or worse see my mom and I walking in/out the store.
Fast forward seven years later and imagine me as a broke college student who loved expressing herself through clothing and make-up. There was a consignment store across the street from my apartment that had the best designer items for a fraction of the cost. For some reason I didn’t equate the store with “thrifting” and I’m glad at the time I didn’t because I would have missed out on some amazing pieces.
So what exactly shifted my thoughts on thrifting and transformed me into a Goodwill GoodFriend Gold Member? YouTube. More specifically The Fashion Citizen’s channel. The Arizona sister duo started their channel in 2011 (I was two years post college at this time) and their take on transforming someone else’s hand-me-downs into high fashion runway looks was all the inspiration I needed.
It was because of their channel that I was able to make the connection with what my mom saw over a decade ago when she would take me shopping at Goodwill. Shopping secondhand gives me the opportunity to be creative AF and see the beauty in things others no longer wanted. I only regret not understanding or enjoying those shopping trips before my mom passed away in 2007.
Postgraduate and now living back in my small hometown, I spent many days in that same Goodwill but this time round with my younger sister. The gems we would find during that era! Thrift with Me videos were beginning to gain traction on YouTube but it was still such a small niche for more so of the quirky and nerdy YouTube community. So that left all the good finds waiting for people like my sister and I to snatch them up. I can vividly remember this black and gold tiger sweater and this Céline Spring 2014 skirt dupe that I wish I still owned today.
Looking back, 2011 to 2014 was the peak of thrifting for me. I first noticed a change when I moved to Jacksonville in 2014. That part of Florida isn’t the most fashion forward so the donations were always lacking. When I moved back to Palm Beach County in 2016, my thrifting rhythm returned because if it’s two things South Florida is going to do right is have a good time and look good doing so. I frequented Salvation Army, Plato’s Closet and American Thrift to get my fashion fix.
But then around 2019 I noticed yet another shift. Online consignment platforms like ThredUp and Poshmark were shaking up the secondhand industry. Buying gently used clothing was no longer taboo and people were looking to earn extra money as “side hustle culture” became the norm. Instead of most people donating their closets to Goodwill and Salvation Army, they are now selling their items for less than retail but more than thrift store prices online. I’m guilty of this myself as I am a Poshmark seller of vintage clothing and accessories.
Then March 2020 hit and the world was turned upside down. For the next two years we were going out less due to fears related to Covid-19 and a large portion of the workforce shifted to working remotely. With everyone, there was less shopping and therefore less to donate.
Now in the later half of 2022 and we’re outside again, the economy is now in shambles. Corporate layoffs, mounting student loan debt and inflation rearing its ugly head, I still feel like most thrift stores are not the treasure coves they used to be. And for good reason of course. I, too, have been affected by the economic aftermath of the pandemic being that I’m a single mother on a teacher salary here in expensive Palm Beach County Florida.
Do I think that thrift stores will ever return to what they used to be pre-pandemic days? Honestly, I’m weary due to the influx of fast fashion brands like SheIn which after one or two laundry cycles aren’t worth even donating. But I hope I’m wrong. Only time will tell.