In the past it may have seemed gauche to gift your mother a gently used sweater or a pair of pants from a local thrift store, but seemingly not so amid all of the economic uncertainty and rising prices, according to Placer.ai.
Through the second half of 2025, thrift stores have seen at least a 10% increases in traffic compared with last year. That suggests that environmental concerns as well as economic issues are luring more Americans to second-hand stores, Placer.ai said. Visits to thrift stores generally do not take off during the holidays, yet in the most recent Black Friday weekend, sales jumped 5.5%, Placer.ai. reported.
In November, as customer traffic in traditional apparel stores fell more than 3%, traffic in thrift stores soared 12.7%, according to Placer.ai.
The thrift migration has altered the demographics of second-hand stores. The average household income of thrift customers hit $75,000 during October and November of this year, a slight uptick from $74,900 last year, $74,600 in 2023 well above the average income of 74,100 in 2022, based on demographic data from STI:PopStats combined with Placer.ai data.
It’s nice to see things getting an extended lifespan but I do worry about those who used to rely on their lower prices.
I do worry about those who used to rely on their lower prices.
That’s all of us now.
But many are still priced out.
If you need necessities then there’s ‘buy nothing’ groups where people will gift you stuff. Like if you need a new toaster or coffee maker or whatever someone will give you one. Thrift stores have gotten massively greedy in the past few years with prices close to what a new one would cost.
Don’t forget that the supply side is not tapped out. Plenty people are not aware of the existence of thrift stores for donations or sales of their used clothes.
But new clothing articles and they are stiff - used clothes are soft. Wash some new clothes and they might shrink or get all wrinkly - with used clothes you can see how they will behave after washings before you buy them.
