Here’s a funny story that’s been making the rounds this week: Urban Outfitters, the trendy clothing chain that caters to the young “hipster” audience, is now selling clothing that it hand-picks for you — from flea markets and yard sales! And, of course, the price of these clothing items is less thrift-store and more chain-store.
Urban Outfitters buys clothes at yard sales and flea markets and then sells them in stores as “vintage.” The retailer has done this for years, usually selling the used goods as promotions for about two weeks.
On Reddit, the post garnered thousands of comments. The general sentiment was that it’s dumb to pay a huge mark-up for something a shopper could get at a Goodwill or Salvation Army store for under $5.
“Urban Outfitters putting on some crazy markup and charging $50 for a shirt you could’ve gotten for $5,” one commenter noted. “They’re basically selling old clothes to people for a new clothes price, and calling it vintage.”
Hey, I have nothing against Urban Outfitters selling things people will buy..! (Urban Outfitters also made one of the most delightfully-themed election T-shirts that I was pleased to buy and wear earlier this year.) But as a moneysaver, if I were looking for vintage finds, I think I’d be better off going to yard sales and flea markets and looking myself. How do you feel about mall stores upselling “vintage” used clothes at not-so-low prices?
moredhead says
had a thing on the news about them pushing cloths
with the f word, along with others.
hwendt12 says
but NO THANKS. Talk about ‘bait and switch’…WOW! (Just sayin’)