As fast fashion prices rise, budget-conscious shoppers are turning to local thrift stores in search of better deals.
Online fast fashion’s price hikes are driving shoppers to thrift stores—and operators should take notes.
The shift: Rising costs push shoppers offline
Call it the SHEIN exodus. After years of vacuuming up Gen Z’s festival budgets, fast fashion giants like SHEIN and Temu just hit customers with price hikes, blaming rising operating costs and global trade headwinds. (CBS8)
Translation: That $8 neon crop top is now $12—and shoppers are fed up.
The result? More consumers are pivoting from ultra-cheap online hauls to local second-hand stores. Flashbacks manager Sara Roberts reports a steady surge in foot traffic over the past two months, with 45–50 extra people per day coming in to hunt for deals.
“A lot of people who would generally be shopping on those sites for those festival fun pieces are coming here instead,” Roberts told CBS 8. “They’re finding just as cool pieces for way more affordable prices.”
Why it matters: Thrift demand = opportunity + friction
Here’s the operator POV: this isn’t just a feel-good sustainability trend—it’s a raw price reaction. Inflation, import tariffs, and global supply chain drama have pushed apparel costs up. In 2023, a staggering 97% of U.S. apparel and footwear were imported, per the American Apparel & Footwear Association.
When your customer’s wallet is squeezed, they’ll follow the lowest price tag. Right now, that’s leading them out of ecommerce carts and into brick-and-mortar thrifts.
But it’s not all sunshine in the second-hand aisles. Even thrift stores are feeling the inflation creep. “You go to a thrift shop now and everything is high-priced as well,” shopper McKenna Sanchez noted. “They definitely have people come in and price the things up because there’s a bigger market for it.”
The catch: Even thrift has price ceilings
Don’t get it twisted—resale isn’t immune to market forces. As demand for second-hand heats up, so do prices. That creates a potential squeeze where thrifting starts looking less like a bargain and more like a premium hunt.
For ecommerce operators in fashion: watch this space. The resale and recommerce boom means price-conscious shoppers are exploring every channel. But once thrifting feels overpriced, expect some churn right back to discount ecommerce—or even direct-from-manufacturer dropshipping that undercuts retail.
Operator POV: Fast fashion’s race to the bottom is cracking
This surge toward second-hand isn’t just about nostalgia for vintage Levi’s. It’s a direct signal that price parity between fast fashion and thrifting is narrowing. If SHEIN and Temu can’t keep costs low while facing tariffs and regulatory hurdles, shoppers will chase the next cheapest supply chain.
✅ Opportunity: If you’re in resale, lean into it now. Stock curation, storytelling, and localized pricing could pull in customers who’d never thrifted before.
⚠️ Risk: If you’re relying solely on cheap imported goods, watch your margins. Regulatory shifts like the U.S. de minimis crackdown could make the current price hikes just the beginning.
At the end of the day? Customers don’t care about your cost structure—they care about value per dollar. The ecommerce race to the bottom is colliding with new tariffs, rising costs, and offline alternatives.
And guess what? The thrifters are winning—for now.
