@creativecrisis wrote:Did you have a right to buy what you bought? Sure. It was for sale, and you paid for it. But I think maybe the missing point is that thrift stores are one of the few places where people like your $8/hour cashier can afford to shop.
When we source at thrifts, we reduce the options for people with limited means who rely on those stores. I think when shopping for resale, it's a good idea to be mindful of how our purchasing can affect others. Recognize that something we want (so we can make money on it) could be a need for someone else.
I thought about this a lot for several weeks... and then I read an article that the US has a used clothing problem. Basically, we throw out way more than thrift stores can sell. In fact, if the article was properly researched, it sounded like they bundle and export more clothing than they sell on the floor! Which means there is NO END of supply for those thrift stores... whatever sells today is probably just a portion of what was received today. And you cannot receive more than you sell forever - eventually that excess has to go somewhere else - either out the front door as sold goods, or out the back door as bundles sold for fabric reprocessing.
I used to feel the same way about the stock on our retail floor -- we generally resell at 25-30% off retail, so we get a lot of traffic and move a lot of stuff, especially food. And I used to feel bad about being able to just pick up what I wanted before it ever made it to the floor... but then I began noticing that there were a number of other stores in the area that had basically the same product mix as we did. We all had discounted food products, discounted paper and toiletry products, discounted baby and feminine hygiene products. What I was purchasing wasn't creating an issue for anyone because there were a lot of options if we were sold out.
I personally have never gone into a thrift store and seen empty shelves or clothing racks. Never. So either nobody is shopping there, or they have a supply-in-excess-of-sales situation, which may be why some items are priced so low (get them free, process quickly, sell for a very low but still profitable price so you can keep up with payroll and utilities, and do it all over again tomorrow) -- there's simply more coming in than going out.
If you want to feel better, check out the cars some of these complainers arrive in -- bet they're better than what you're driving! Our outlet store ALWAYS has several top-end vehicles in the lot... Cadillac, Lexus, Infinity, Jaguar, Lincoln, and 4WD trucks that likely cost more than we paid for our house. These folks are NOT hurting for disposable income... they're just bargain hunting like all the rest.
And unless the store manager is extremely distrusting and OCD, you can almost guarantee that the folks processing the incoming products know the sizes and preferences of several of the other employees and will 'set aside' items of interest until said employee can get a chance to check it out. If it's desired, it will be priced and then set aside yet again, so that the said employee can pick it up after they clock out and pay for it thru the register just like everyone else. In fact, allowing employees to purchase a certain dollar amount each week/month before it hits the floor, and probably at a lower-than-floor price, may be one of the few things that make working at that $8/hr job bearable. I know it does for me.
I say -- purchase what you want and enjoy the experience. The staff will be OK, they have folks looking out for them in back. The customers will be OK - the ones who complain the loudest are likely reselling as well, just with more brass. When you start seeing lots of empty shelves - then maybe cut back on the bulk purchases. But until that happens, don't be rude, but don't be ashamed either.
-Bob.
