The Darkside of Thrift Shopping | Affordable Oversconsumption? (TikTok Teaches Us 5)

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]I have not been in the thrifting world for that long, but the more I'm around it and the more I've been watching and how people talk about it, the more I've noticed something pretty interesting. In the TikToks I watch, I feel like people joke about things that are not found to be as humorous in the regular retail or online shopping world. If the limit never approaches anything, the limit does not exist.

[00:00:23]>> [music] >> The limit does not exist. Monday like Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, even on Tuesdays. Like >> It's mostly because if those habits were kept in the big box or brick-and-mortar retail world or online, these habits would lead to poverty really quickly.

[00:00:42]Some people are very proud about their thrift habits. It's cheaper, it's better for the environment, it feels a lot more intentional than walking into a regular store and buying something brand new.

[00:00:51]And to be fair, some of this is true, but I think today we should talk about that other side. And that's really what I'm doing in these videos about thrifting. want to make sure that we understand that there is a dark side or at least there are negative consequences to every action that feels so good and any transaction which money is spent.

[00:01:14]When the price of something is cheap, it feels justified. It becomes easy to do it more and more often. And that's where thrift shopping starts to shift from being mindful to just shopping more just in a way that feels better. Spending more time, going more frequently, chasing that feeling of finding something good. At a certain point it stops being harmless. Not because thrifting is bad, but because of how easy it is to turn into a habit that actually costs you more than you realize. So, I want to look at thrift culture through that lens. By watching how people talk about it and what it might reveal about how we're actually shopping. So, let's watch some TikToks.

[00:01:50]The first group is talking about the time we spend thrifting. When people say they want to go thrifting with me, I low-key don't know how to tell them no cuz I'm like, girl, I will have you digging in the bins for 4 hours and then we'll go hit up six thrift stores after on nothing but a coffee. Like, baby, you don't want this. And actually, that's the attitude I had with regular shopping back in the day. We're going to go to the mall, it was like, don't ask to eat lunch, we're doing this. But this is a sentiment that's very common in thrift shopping I have found. I didn't select any of her comments because everybody was agreeing with what she said >> [laughter] >> and I love that. She's talking about 4 hours at one place and then going on to different places and that is intense and that is real and that's a lot of time.

[00:02:37]We want to see all the things and we want to see all the places. I just like that video cuz it's so real and I know she's serious. People are always like, you find so many good things at thrift store. I want to go with you. One, I don't really like to go with people, no offense. But two, you have to go like every single day.

[00:02:56]Like that's my issue is I'm addicted to thrifting, that's why I find so many good things. This creator reflects the sentiments of the first creator. This is something we do all the time and she's adding the fact that she goes every day.

[00:03:08]It's great to be hardcore about your hobbies. It's not great that your hobby is shopping. It's adding that layer of addiction. She understands that she's addicted and she's going every day and that's why she finds the great things and that's something that is inherent in thrifting and not in retail stores. It's that addiction to the hunt and that variable reward that we're getting when we find something we didn't expect or find something on our Pinterest board.

[00:03:32]But yeah, I think she's really funny.

[00:03:35]>> [laughter] >> And I really like that video and I like these short videos about this cuz it's really to the point. Addiction, going frequently, staying for a long time, that's how you get good at thrifting.

[00:03:47]All right, and the last one to round out this section about time and maybe futility.

[00:03:53]>> What's your least favorite part of the thrift store to go through? I'll go first. The women's top/blouse section. It's always the biggest section of the store, too. It just takes freaking forever to go through everything. It's full of And the odds of you finding something are slim, but if you do find something, it might be really good, so you have to go through it. But you potentially could be wasting all of your time.

[00:04:15]>> what she's saying because I think that even the few times that I've thrifted, you don't want to miss anything. You have to go through everything. Things that people find, they will put anywhere back and you have to know that even in the kids section, even in home goods section, you might find the perfect pair of shoes. You might find the jacket you've been looking for because people will just put it down as they are want to do in a thrift store. That huge time suck, the fact that it's almost like a job, it's work, right? And that can also make you feel like it justifies why you do it. You are searching, hunting and gathering, you're putting in work to get something that's great and that can kind of feel honorable in some way. And I think that a lot of people I've seen, there is an undercurrent of that. Just like it's honorable, you're spending your time, you're flexing your creativity. This was in another video.

[00:05:09]I'm thinking about this creator who was talking about how she's become 20 times more stylish, putting things together, really having to use your creativity with what you're finding cuz you might be able to use it in a way you didn't think you would. I think people have a lot of pride. I think pride is a word.

[00:05:23]Pride in being good thrifter, pride in the time that we're taking in these stores and of course pride in the find.

[00:05:30]And and then if anybody asks where it's from, you can tell them that you paid $5 for those cute jeans and they paid $500 for theirs. This next section of TikToks is about basically rules of thrifting. I feel like there's some rules and some interesting things. So, there's something that will come up about resellers and I don't know much about that world. The TikToks I usually try to find are people just buying for themselves because that psychology is different to me than reselling psychology. But I imagine the resellers, unless they're like dudes understanding the market and they don't wear women's clothes, it's completely different than a woman who might find something for herself and that she might want to put on sale or whatever. This section is the rules for thrifting.

[00:06:13]>> Some set-in-stone rules that I make myself follow if I'm going to spend the day thrifting. You can't just waltz in and expect to have a good haul. There's an art to it. The first and most important rule to becoming a thrift is getting started early. I really don't care if it's Saturday and you want to sleep in. [music] You have to want to find good things more. If you wait until the afternoon, Miss Pinterest girly 579 already took everything and has it listed on Depop by the time you're just walking in. Rule number two, do not rush. Thrifting is a trust the process game. If you're only going to quickly shop, that's why you aren't finding anything. You look at everything and yes, that means everything. It includes the men's section and the children's section. Some of the best vintage pieces I own, I actually found in the men's section. Rule number three, set your intentions before you get to the thrift store. I like to make a list of specific items [music] that I'm looking for and most times I'll even create a Pinterest board or a collage so I have a clear goal and picture of what I'm looking for. I'm going to pause because she said a few rules right now that are really time intensive. I mean, obviously, she's like, you got to get it there early, you got to wake up early, which I agree with. If I'm going to any store, I'm going to wake up early to get there or go at opening or before opening because I would prefer to be the only one in there. She could be in the first section as well with that advice that you have to go through everything, you have to see everything. The Pinterest board, she's talking about planning things before. How much time we're spending on Pinterest getting ideas and getting more desire for these things because we're seeing other thrift hauls, we're on Pinterest seeing how other people are styling things and we are really stoking the flames of our wanting when we are creating these boards. They might be helpful in the store, I can imagine, because I do understand now that you're trying to target your things towards looks that you want to create, but it doesn't matter cuz you're always just going to buy whatever you want if you see something great.

[00:07:54]>> [laughter] >> All right. I know a lot of people get really overwhelmed when they're at the thrift store cuz there's just so many options. Try to think of how you're going to style each individual piece before you even put it in your cart. If you already have an idea of what you're looking for, then it eliminates that decision [music] fatigue. Rule number four, keep an open mind cuz there will always be that one unexpected item you may not have been looking for, but the thrift [music] gods bless you with.

[00:08:13]Never take an opportunity like that for granted. You really don't have to have it all figured out while you're at the thrift. If you like something and you know that you're going to wear it, get it because there is no guarantee that you will find something like that again.

[00:08:22]Thrifting isn't hard, it just takes time and patience. Let me know if this helped and happy thrift day. Does it help? Does it? I just like how talking about that careful planning so that you're not going to thrift store without an idea of what you want, but the very next idea is, hey, keep your mind open because you're going to find that one thing and probably it's not just one thing you're finding that's amazing or that you didn't plan on. So, you're definitely going to keep an open mind >> [laughter] >> cuz it's a thrift store. This is another reason to me why these Pinterest boards are such a gift and a curse because I totally understand and see, you know, I had envisioned these jeans, I wanted jeans really badly. I thought it was impossible to thrift jeans and then yesterday I found the exact pair of jeans that I have been envisioning for as long as I've needed jeans, which is for a while. It feels pretty divine when that happens. In the back of my mind, the reason why I maybe I'm still going to the thrift stores is because I wanted to find jeans and I had this in my mind and now that I found them, kind of want more. So, yeah, I feel like there's always a reason to go in, you're always have something in mind, you can pin it to your board and even make it more solidified in your mind that you want it and it will just reinforce your desire to go to the thrift store. And then you're not buying from that Pinterest board if you find something that's amazing, you're going to buy that, too. This next creator really makes me think.

[00:09:40]>> Where do you draw the line for what you will or won't thrift for your own personal use?

[00:09:46]Because over the years, and I'm talking 15 plus years, my line has slowly but continuously moved further and further away from me reaching it. Like there was a time I wouldn't thrift shoes for my own personal use. I was like, no, that's not for me. And then there was a time where I wasn't thrifting bathing suits, and then I realized I could get five for the price of one I would buy for retail.

[00:10:01]And then there was the time where I thought I could never thrift bras.

[00:10:04]This is Skims, by the way.

[00:10:06]Guys, I thrift underwear. If it's washable, if I can put it in my washing machine, if I can bleach it, if I can disinfect it in any way, I'm buying it.

[00:10:10]I bought shower gel last week. So, I need to understand where's your thrifting line in comparison to my thrifting line, cuz like I already know that I'm a little bit maybe extreme thrifter if there's a show for that. Um so, yeah, I'd love to hear. I love this because in my mind, it's like how much do I trust other people? And I've treated a lot of people for lice, for bed bugs, for all these things, which doesn't stop me from trying on things in the thrift store. My head's too big to try on hats or anything like that, but I was thinking about a line, and I was looking at her comments. I'm not going to put any of her comments up there because people's lines are crazy.

[00:10:38]>> he would step across the line.

[00:10:40]Habitually, he's a habitual line stepper.

[00:10:44]>> [laughter] >> And there was the idea of thrifting shoes might not be optimal because you could get plantar's warts from somebody's shoes, and it's I think it's probably kind of hard to clean shoes or really think that you need to. The other things that were in there were like mattresses, which I agree I would just never I don't I just can't imagine thrifting these things. If you clean things on hot, you get things done, you can get those louses out of them. It makes sense. If you can wash it, you should be able to thrift it. We're talking about clothes and whatnot, but underwear, in theory, you should be able to wash it and wear it. But yeah, I I don't think I could do that.

[00:11:23]>> [laughter] >> Where's your line? What are things that you wouldn't thrift? And I think underwear, bathing suits, I never would.

[00:11:29]Shoes, I probably would, honestly.

[00:11:33]I don't know. I guess I'm just a little hardcore, even though I know how these things are spread. I don't know. But yeah, my foot is so big, I doubt I'd ever find shoes. I did say that about jeans, and now I'm wearing the jeans that I thrifted yesterday. Mm. Anyway, yeah, let me know Let me know if there's anything that you are hard stop on that maybe other people would find surprising, cuz people thrift it a lot.

[00:11:57]>> Things I just do not care about as an avid thrifter. Number one, resellers. I just [music] I don't get it. I don't get why people are mad about resellers. We can literally see mountains of textiles from space now. I'm sorry, resellers are just not a problem for me. I just Can they be annoying? Probably. But I'm saying on an environmental level, do I care? Even on a shopping level, has do I feel like resellers have ever stopped me from buying something? No. I feel like for most thrifters, this would be pretty obvious, but I do see people on here who get like mad when things are stained, or like won't buy something if something's stained. Now, if it looks stained extra heavily where I feel like I can't get it out, or if the stain looks like ultra suspicious, oh okay. But like generally, if it's just like a shirt, or especially if it's a clothes that just has like the most minor amount of staining that I can get out, and if the price is right, I don't really care if there's a stain.

[00:12:33]I can get it out.

[00:12:34]>> So, I'm going to start with the stains because if something is stained, I will not buy it. I think because I assume the reason why it's in the thrift store is because the person tried to get the stain out and couldn't. Maybe I'm thinking too highly of people. Maybe they're like, "It's stained, I'm out."

[00:12:52]But I did buy a tuxedo a $1 tuxedo shirt that had a little stain, but I knew it would come out, and I'm not a stain guru, but it was clearly that somebody wore a tuxedo shirt for one night, and then got rid of it, I think, and it washed out really easily and nice, and it's a great shirt. But yeah, there's been a lot of sweaters and things that I'm just like, "No, I'm not trying to do that." I think stains are prohibitive for me, but I'd really have to like something, and have to be really cheap. Again, a dollar for a tuxedo shirt, it's like, "Why not try to get it out?" I got all the stains, but had like kind of sweat skin stains on the collar as that happens.

[00:13:30]Everything was taken out by one wash, and that was so easy. People make me paranoid. Like when she says that she would Oh, the other when the other creator said that she thrifted shower gel or whatever, I'm just paranoid. You never know what people will do. I guess if you're going to take the time and take to the thrift store, you're probably not the kind of person who's going to like tamper with anything, but you know, stranger things have happened, so I don't trust anyone. Anyway, about the reselling thing, I put that in there because I really am interested. It seems like a a kind of a big deal in the thrift space. Let me know if I'm wrong, but I've definitely seen what I think are resellers, and it's the only way I can identify them if it's like a man getting women's clothes and really looking at things. But I mean, he could be with somebody who wears women's clothes, I don't know. And to me, it feels like everything is just like fair game. If it's meant to be for me, I'm going to find it. But the comments were a little interesting. So, the first one, or the one that I selected, it was that I think people get frustrated with resellers taking all the name brand good finds from the thrift and marking it up and making it unattainable for people who can only afford the thrift store. I think bins are fair game, though. And honestly, Goodwill has been worse than resellers taking stock that's worth something and auctioning it online. Ooh.

[00:14:47]And got some likes for that. And then somebody said they don't get special shopping privileges. You shop during store hours same as retailers. It's a weird take that they are getting all the good stuff. The stores replenish all day long. You have the same exact chance to buy name brands as they do. People got opinions. The creator really liked that comment. I guess she's probably a reseller, I assume. The next one, I assume resellers' main job is reselling.

[00:15:16]Question mark? I don't have the same chance as I can't go every day. Question mark?

[00:15:22]I feel that's pretty standard for most people. I don't have anything against resellers. I just don't go thrifting anymore because there's nothing good, and prices have gone up. I'm just giving a perspective on why people don't like them. He or she sounds a little glass half empty. The person after that says, "But also, why do we only care about finding name brand rather than just things we enjoy? Growing up, I was someone who could only get from thrift stores, and learned that brands don't matter. Finding and curating a style that you appreciate, regardless of whose name is embroidered on the shirt, is what matters." All right, this is not really teaching me more about why people hate resellers so much other than yeah, maybe if you feel like you're not getting the things that you would get otherwise, which is kind of flawed thinking, but whatever.

[00:16:10]Oh, the rest of this comment, "Especially with the rapidly declining quality of a majority of name brands."

[00:16:15]And the creator liked that one, too.

[00:16:17]And the commenter said, "I personally don't care about brands, but sometimes there are brands that fit and feel nice.

[00:16:25]It's also quite a rush to find a nice piece of clothing you otherwise couldn't afford." And there is that rush, that dopamine rush. The commenter kind of feels that resellers might be taking from people. I don't have an opinion on that. I don't think it matters, cuz, you know, somebody else might snap it up before you, or you still weren't meant to have it.

[00:16:47]>> [laughter] >> All right. Other things in this creator's comments, "The clothing racks are so jam-packed, you can hardly move the hangers to easily look through. They can calm down about resellers, lol.

[00:16:57]There's plenty."

[00:17:00]I think that's probably a better attitude to have about things. "I don't care about thrift resellers because I probably wouldn't have noticed it in the store anyway. I go looking for very specific things in most of times, and if I don't find it, I leave. Let the resellers live." All right, we're going to let them live. Let me know what you feel about resellers, if you have any thrift seller stories where this maybe division or rift between thrifters and resellers might have been born. Be very interesting to hear. I've said this before, and I'm sure I'll say it a million more times. When you are at the thrift store, it is so easy to fall under overconsumption just because something is inexpensive. You should be living by the rule of if it's not a hell yes, it's a no. For instance, if you pick something up, and you're like, "Oh, I could use this. It's cool. It's cute."

[00:17:46]But you're not super thrilled about it, you need to leave that item behind. Keep that space in your closet or your home for something that really like sets your heart on fire. That's it. You know why I put that in there? That's my favorite thrift rule of all time. It really needs to be a hell yes. Yeah, and that's going to round out the thrift rule section, but I really think that's important. I think maybe another source of dopamine is that I bought things that I love, and I am going to use, and I know that, and it really makes me happy in a way that the retail shopping that I used to do, where you're just buying things for no good reason, probably another reason why thrift shopping feels so intentional and amazing. But yeah, making sure things are a hell yes, you'll have less clutter, you'll be happier about the things you buy, and yes, you might want to go more because you're so happy with the things you buy, not just spending little amounts of money here and there all the time just because it's so cheap.

[00:18:41]Do it because you love it is really important, I think. This next section is about the fact that real money is being spent, even if it is small amounts. I have made a few videos about even coffee.

[00:18:53]Coffee can be a few dollars, it can be $10, but if gotten daily, chronically, and habitually, it can cause problems.

[00:19:01]And the same thing is is true for thrift shopping. Like things might be cheap, but if we don't need the things, we are just spending money, and it's the same problem as my problem with Starbucks, basically. You can just be buying frequently when that money could be used for better things. Real money is being spent. This is the next section.

[00:19:22]>> Let's go thrifting. We are finally back [music] at the thrift store. I was really trying to budget myself on this trip, but I'm going to let you guys know that that didn't happen. They were doing 25% off everything today, and also 50% off green [music] tags.

[00:19:32]>> Well, I'm going to stop right there just because this thing that I've noticed that thrift stores do, I don't think I mean, what I go to the Goodwill, and there's no tags on the items at my Goodwill, cuz I guess everything is classified by the type of clothes or object that it is, and it gets a price in that section. They're not looking at labels, but I've seen a lot of this on Tik Tok about having it's a green tag sale, it's 50% off my thrift store, it's whatever, and that is another powerful way to get you to keep going, right? If it's 50% off days, you're going to go those days 100%, but then also 25% on coats would get me in every Thursday if that's what my thrift store were doing.

[00:20:14]They are also complicit in creating your habit of going frequently because you get rewarded for it. Just don't let that escape you.

[00:20:22]>> So now I have a really exciting trip coming up. I'm going to London and Paris, and I'm actually in here looking for clothes to wear on that trip. So seeing those two things immediately [music] really made me feel like this is going to be a good trip. They finally started putting out their spring and summer clothes. I was getting a little nervous cuz a lot of these tops were giving 2012, but I kept digging and digging and I found some really cool pieces. For example, I love this navy blue Ralph Lauren tank top. Since I haven't been to the thrift store in a minute, I was really allowing myself to go through every single rack and item.

[00:20:45]Plus I have my headphones on, I'm listening to a podcast, so I find this very therapeutic. Plus I love the rush of not knowing what I'm going to find.

[00:20:51]Usually find some amazing gems in the dress section, but today I didn't really find any. After looking at the kids section, I stumbled across a rack full of go backs. I'm so happy that I saw this because I actually took two things from this rack. And here we go, it's time to go through everything in my cart. I don't have any kids, but I love looking at the kids wear. My budget was only $40. After scanning everything and then those discounts that I was talking about earlier, I got 17 items for $77.53. I just wanted to put this in there because her budget was 40, she spent 77. That's real money, and of course I can say that she loves everything she got, it's all interesting to her, it's great quality, but every time you go, there is the chance that you're going to blow the budget, and of course blowing the budget doesn't feel like you're blowing the budget, just feels like you're spending a little more, but you like the things, and they're so much cheaper than they otherwise would be.

[00:21:39]So yeah, if you're going frequently and doing that frequently, yeah, $77 is real money. That's a nice little grocery haul. That's That's a bill. That's somebody's energy bill maybe in the winter. It's real money, and it really doesn't feel like it when you're getting so many things. I thought $77 was bad.

[00:21:58]Watch this one.

[00:22:00]Girl.

[00:22:01]Girl.

[00:22:03]>> [music] >> Girl.

[00:22:06]Girl.

[00:22:07]Dude.

[00:22:08]If you know me, you know why I included this.

[00:22:11]>> [laughter] >> Or if you watch any of my videos, you don't have to know me to know I love The Row. But that was a fat cart, and there's no Savers in my area, but it's just funny that I know about Savers now, and I really want to go to one. The amount on her receipt is 500 Gosh, I'm getting old. Sorry. 500 and Oh my gosh, I can't see it. Five Let's say it's 560. Some Somebody can see it, and they're like, "Really?"

[00:22:37]>> [laughter] [gasps] >> Bro, that's real money. That is crazy money. And even though these labels are nice and amazing, it's almost like in a way, I mean, not The Row sample sale, but it's almost like a sample sale type of mentality. I assume she's buying a lot of designer items in that cart or nice things, but they're unnecessary, and it's almost like we're buying them in that quantity because they're at the thrift, and got to snap them up because somebody else is definitely going to. I can't imagine that she needed all those items. That's a That's a very long receipt. I understand it completely. I would feel compelled to do the same thing, but spending that much money, that real money, and I checked her Tik Tok, and she did not do a haul, or she has not yet done a follow-up on that one. Her comments, people are asking for a haul, but there is no haul on her channel, so hopefully she's going to put it up there. That is a little crazy to me, but Row with tags is also wild.

[00:23:38]Yeah, I'd be hard-pressed not to buy it if it were in my size, 100%. I admit that. I admit that. This next section is about the deals that keep us addicted, and it's half the reason that I love thrifting because I've gotten so many great deals. I just committed theft at the thrift store. Okay, I'm in a town that I've never been in before simply because I had to get a Facebook Marketplace item, and I drove like really far away to pick it up, and I'm making a whole day of it. And so I was like, "Okay, let me find some vintage stores and thrift stores on the way back." And what do I see but a Here, I'll read you the tag. Hold on. Strawbridge and Clothier.

[00:24:15]But that's not even the best part because this internal tag says 100% imported super fine cashmere.

[00:24:23]What I can only assume is probably real fur. Sorry. At least I'm thrifting it and not actually spending like real money on anybody who does this new, but when I tell you how much I spent on this, you will lose your effing minds. Hold on. Okay.

[00:24:41]Fits like an absolute glove.

[00:24:43]I look like a freaking Hollywood starlet. This gorgeous cashmere, the gorgeous fur hood, all women's coats were listed for 10 dollars.

[00:25:00]I just got a 100% cashmere coat and probably real fur. Sorry again. For $10.

[00:25:08]I love thrifting.

[00:25:09]She said, "I love thrifting."

[00:25:11]>> [laughter] >> It's pretty amazing. I think that label, it's like I think it was the precursor to Macy's, actually, made by a couple of Quaker dudes, and later in the last century, late last century when I was in high school, I think it sold and then became Macy's, but some cool-looking label, having that internal thing say that it's cashmere and everything, real fur, real great materials. She's hitting the important characteristics that everybody looks at for thrifting, label, materials, and what is it? And a nice coat for $10, and then it's a great price. Hitting on all cylinders right there. That's pretty amazing.

[00:25:51]>> [music] [music] [laughter] >> Are you actually kidding right now? Oh my god, Sam, that's an entire like it fits you perfectly.

[00:26:15]This one I just put in because I feel like that coat was made for her. It's Cavalli, which is wild. Basically worked with everything she was already wearing.

[00:26:26]So it's like the thrift gods smiled upon her, and that coat was I think $24.

[00:26:31]Cavalli, $24, and fit her perfectly, matched her style, and that is the magic of the thrift store. Let no one tell you that you should not thrift, but just don't let it get out of control.

[00:26:44]>> [laughter] >> That's my point. All right. This is a creator who frequently finds her way into my videos because I don't know. She finds great things. I like the way she speaks and her enthusiasm for thrifting.

[00:26:56]This is the thrifting find of all finds.

[00:26:58]Like when I tell you I literally bit my lip so I did not scream in the store.

[00:27:04]It's unbelievable. I could not have got this up. Ready?

[00:27:10]Mhm.

[00:27:11]Mhm.

[00:27:14]She's vintage. She's in gorgeous condition. Let me show you the inside.

[00:27:18]There's the code.

[00:27:20]Stitching is perfect. I posted this on Facebook cuz I was like, "Hey, you guys, I need your verses." I immediately took photos and posted photos while I was in the store, and every person that commented said it looks real to them.

[00:27:27]Look at this.

[00:27:28]It's $39.99.

[00:27:30]$39.99. When I got in my car, I was on the phone with my mom in the parking lot, and I was like, "No, what if they come out and tell me I owe them money?"

[00:27:34]And then I drove away like in a post office. This is the find of all finds.

[00:27:37]The price point would bother me, but if I were a Louis Vuitton lover, and I found that, the structure of the bag itself, love. Love it. And then I can imagine her excitement, and I can also imagine that you're going back to that thrift store a lot if that is the kind of thing that you can find there, and that you can get for $40. That's pretty amazing. It's pretty great. You got to love thrifting. This section is about the amount of things that we can accumulate from thrifting. So much stuff. What are we going to do with it?

[00:28:10]Why do we feel the drive to have it if we don't need it?

[00:28:14]And yeah, we might not even have room for it.

[00:28:17]>> outside the thrift store before it opens, 8:52 in the morning, and it opens at 9:00. Before I went out of town, I went thrifting, and I found the prettiest, from what I remember, ottoman, gorgeous, on wheels, $40. I wasn't willing to pay that. Immediately regretted it the second I left the thrift store, but I couldn't go back cuz I didn't have time. Now I am here, back in town, and waiting for the doors to open because today my thrift store 50% off storewide. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. I DON'T KNOW. I WHY DO I do this to myself? Thrifting is so fun until it's not.

[00:28:44]>> to pause right there cuz I just love the gamut of emotions she's going through because I think what she's feeling right now is paranoia that the thing that she's wanted, that she's been thinking about since she was out of town, coming back in the town, waiting for this store to open, is possibly not there cuz she wants it so badly. How emotional she was. Like, she I don't know. Why do I do this to myself? I love thrifting until I hate it. But I really think that is all fear that the thing that she's coveting is going to be gone. any room in my house for this thing. I don't even know where I'm going to put it. I have to pause again. She says that she doesn't know where she's going to put it. She doesn't have any room in her house for it, but this is what she really wants.

[00:29:29]Thank you.

[00:29:30]Oh my gosh, I think I see it.

[00:29:33]It's here. She's here.

[00:29:37]Okay, I'm taking this to the front right now.

[00:29:39]All right, she got it for $20, an acceptable price to her. She doesn't know where she's going to put it, but she has to have it. It's the last thing she said that I interrupted that scene at the wrong time, but she got her coveted item and I bet you she likes thrifting even more now with all that emotion about maybe having not been able to get it, finding it, getting it, getting it for half the price you would have paid if she had bought it before she left town. So, thrifter for life. This last one is just interesting. There's no words in it, but I want to read the comments, too.

[00:30:23]All right, it's short and sweet. I'll have it playing. Maybe editing Chrissy will have it around here.

[00:30:29]The writing says, "I wonder what's at the thrift right now." And the camera is showing a very packed closet, lot of shoes, lot of boots, lot of shirts piled on top of each other, folded up neatly, or not neatly, I'm sorry.

[00:30:45]Folded up in a way that you probably can't even see the amount of things that are in this closet. It's pretty intense, but we're still wondering what's at the thrift. And this is the one of those things that to me feels like this is what I'm doing, too. Finding things for the winter, squirreling them away, >> [laughter] >> cuz that's my favorite thing to find coats and jackets and sweaters and things and I've bought a couple and then I am putting them away and then every Wednesday I'm going to my local Goodwill to just see what's available, what's there. And it's just Yeah, feels like I'm a squirrel storing things and then I'll wear them in the winter time. And this is the compulsion here, the compulsion to keep going back to the thrift store even though we don't need anything, even though we have too much.

[00:31:27]Similarly, people are monthly getting rid of things and let's see the comments cuz I think that's what's going to detail. First comment, "The best way to give back is to donate all the thrift finds you don't wear anymore." Thanks, Daniel.

[00:31:42]Damn, Daniel. And the creator says, "Every month I donate."

[00:31:46]>> [laughter] >> Okay, mansplain. "I need to go thrifting. I went yesterday." is the next one which the creator liked. And then the bar in my closet, if you can see this image, the bar in my closet is bending right now. Oh, no. FR, I don't know what that is. Is bending right now.

[00:32:03]For real? Did I do it? Xennial?

[00:32:06]But it won't stop me from going back.

[00:32:08]All right, people are with her. It is not prohibitive to have a bunch of stuff. You're still going back to the thrift store. The next comment, "Oh, you think that's bad? I found my people. I'm shameful. So, we're still going to the thrift, right?"

[00:32:22]>> [laughter] >> I get FOMO if I don't hit the thrift.

[00:32:25]Well, I made that up. I get FOMO if I don't thrift at least twice a week.

[00:32:30]"This is nothing compared to my closet.

[00:32:32]You are fine. You are so fine." Not just you are fine, you are so fine.

[00:32:37]Eek. We do not need to be comparing ourselves to that. The last comments that I just wanted to talk about, "But today was half off everything. So, >> [laughter] >> just donated half my closet so I can go with."

[00:32:52]And then smiley crying emojis, one of my favorites. "At least you're not buying from Shein."

[00:32:58]"Nothing wrong with thrifting. You're helping the Earth."

[00:33:02]I think that's flawed in thinking, y'all. Like honestly, "I had to have a 3K custom 9-ft long closet built to hold it all and it still doesn't." This is >> [laughter] >> This is getting kind of bleak.

[00:33:17]>> [gasps] >> And then the last comment is, "I've accepted this as my vice." And again, this is real deep. The addiction, the maybe emotional disregu like, you know, what are we masking with all this thrifting, with all the things? What emotions are we kind of running from with all this? Yeah, I don't know. I don't think thrifting is bad, but I really do think we need to engage with it differently or at least be more present, be more mindful of the things that we joke about and think are actually good aspects of thrifting that may really not be. Because, you know, for a lot of us thrifting feels cheap cheap. I mean, it's inexpensive, it feels like stress relief, it feels harmless, and we just stop questioning it. You know, the comments are like, "Hey, this is my vice. I do this. It's better than doing cocaine." It feels like an excusable obsession, habit, hobby. But I mean, really, I think a lot of people realize it, but it's really how these habits and hobbies form without us really realizing it. If you're thrifting occasionally with intention and it fits within your financial priorities, that's one thing, but it's also very hard to do. If it's becoming more of a routine and a hobby, a source of a reliable or consistent dopamine, it might be worth asking, "Am I actually saving money?" Cuz likely or not, or am I just spending in a way that feels better? At the end of the day, financial progress isn't about how little each item costs. It's more about how often you're buying in the first place. So, that is just food for thoughts. You know I like to watch in TikToks with you. And if you have comments, leave them down below. I am going to respond to everything. If you have thoughts about your thrifting or anybody's thrifting or resellers or anything that we've covered today, I would love to hear about it cuz I'm learning more about the thrift world and it fascinates me. Anyway, please watch this video next. YouTube thinks it would be perfect for you. And have a great day.