Thrift & swap: Used back-to-school gear grows in popularity as parents look to cut costs
Theresa Henn snagged a two-piece outfit, a sweater and a shirt for her daughters, as well as some school supplies for all three of her kids — all for $25.
The married mother of three school-age children found the deals while back-to-school shopping at Society of St. Vincent de Paul Long Island’s thrift store in Huntington on Saturday.
Henn will buy most of her kids’ back-to-school clothes and supplies new at stores and online, but the Holbrook resident is increasingly looking for ways to save money, including purchasing used items.
"Everything is so expensive, [including] grocery shopping, everything you know. I’m always looking for a sale," said Henn, 42, a public school teacher who buys supplies for her classroom at a Savers thrift store in Holbrook.
Henn is among a growing number of consumers who are acquiring used back-to-school clothes and other items from thrift stores, consignment shops and resale websites, as well as social media sites where goods are swapped for free, as cheaper alternatives to buying new items after inflation spiked in recent years.
The prices of school supplies had been falling before 2020, so customers were used to getting more value for their dollars, said Michael Zdinak, director of the U.S. consumer markets service at S&P Global Market Intelligence, a Manhattan-based financial analysis provider.
But inflation on school supplies soared in the years after the pandemic, due in part to supply chain issues and strong demand, he said.
For example, compared to prices in June 2019, the average price of stationery products, including notebooks, was 21.8% higher in June 2022 and 33.5% higher in June 2023, according to S&P.
Inflation has slowed but some consumers are still feeling the sting.
"A lot of consumers are still recovering from that shock, which may help explain why even though prices aren’t going up anymore, many are still looking for new ways to save a few dollars," Zdinak said.
Also, environmental concerns are a factor since finding new owners for used clothes, shoes and bookbags that are still in good condition keeps them out of landfills, experts said.
Higher-income earners are playing a growing role in the resale market.
Among parents with household incomes of between $50,000 and $99,000, 44% plan to buy used back-to-school items this year if they are available, up from 39% last year, according to a Deloitte survey of 1,198 parents of school-age children. Among parents with household incomes of $100,000 or more, the percentage rose from 36% to 41%, according to the survey, results of which were released in July.
The resale market is changing partly because the reputation of used clothes is changing, according to one thrift store owner.
"It used to be [called] hand-me-downs. Now, it’s called vintage," said Brian Rawson, who co-owns with his wife a Lindenhurst store, All You Need Is Thrift, that opened in 2010. Teens are big drivers of sales at the store because they are looking for unique items, he said.
FourLeaf Thrift Store in Copiague opened in March 2023, so it has gone through only one full back-to-school shopping season, but sales during the period "skyrocketed," said owner Jayme White, who plans to open a second thrift store in Lindenhurst in September.
"If we get one backpack in, it usually sells in a day," she said.
Most of the back-to-school shopping in her store is done by treasure-seeking high school and college students, White said.
"Kids are becoming more self-aware about the environment and about saving money," she said.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul Long Island’s thrift store in Huntington has been expanding its children’s and adults’ clothing sections for the past few weeks due to more demand, said Brian Dilts, store manager.
The demand for back-to-school clothes has increased at the store in recent years, he said.
"Absolutely. People are finding cheaper means and alternatives to buying clothing. It’s tough times due to inflation. We have seen an influx of more people showing up to our store as a result of that," said Dilts, who also said that back-to-school furniture, such as desks and file cabinets, sell well at the thrift store.
Social media websites playing a larger role in the used-goods economy is also causing the use of pre-owned goods to gain more social acceptance for back-to-school items.
BuyNothing is an app and social media network in which users post about goods or services they would like to give away, share or loan in their communities, while people seeking items can receive those giveaways and make requests for other goods or services.
Founded in 2013, BuyNothing has grown to 11 million participants worldwide, and that is increasing by 1 million people annually, and there are more than 8,000 affiliated private Facebook groups, said Liesl Clark, the chief executive officer of the Bainbridge Island, Washington-based company.
The back-to-school season is BuyNothing’s second-busiest time of the year, with the winter holiday season ranking first, she said.
During the back-to-school season, BuyNothing community members post messages asking for and giving away everything from graphing calculators, to crayons, to bookbags, to toys and books for teachers’ classrooms, to kids’ clothes.
One of the reasons for the popularity of BuyNothing during the back-to-school season, and the growing number of people asking for items, is the public’s increasing comfortability with the "local gift economy," Clark said.
Since 2021, the gap between the overall number of posts giving away items versus the number asking for items on the BuyNothing app has narrowed — the number of giving posts used to be twice as high as the number of asking posts but now it is only 34% higher, she said.
"Giving is generally easier to do, as most participants feel more vulnerable when asking, whereas everyone loves to be generous. But as trust is gained while participating in a BuyNothing community, folks get more comfortable putting their asks out there," she said.
Theresa Henn snagged a two-piece outfit, a sweater and a shirt for her daughters, as well as some school supplies for all three of her kids — all for $25.
The married mother of three school-age children found the deals while back-to-school shopping at Society of St. Vincent de Paul Long Island’s thrift store in Huntington on Saturday.
Henn will buy most of her kids’ back-to-school clothes and supplies new at stores and online, but the Holbrook resident is increasingly looking for ways to save money, including purchasing used items.
"Everything is so expensive, [including] grocery shopping, everything you know. I’m always looking for a sale," said Henn, 42, a public school teacher who buys supplies for her classroom at a Savers thrift store in Holbrook.
WHAT TO KNOW
- More consumers are acquiring used back-to-school clothes and other items from thrift stores.
- Among parents with household incomes of between $50,000 and $99,000, 44% plan to buy used back-to-school items this year.
- Among parents with household incomes of $100,000 or more, the percentage rose from 36% to 41%.
Henn is among a growing number of consumers who are acquiring used back-to-school clothes and other items from thrift stores, consignment shops and resale websites, as well as social media sites where goods are swapped for free, as cheaper alternatives to buying new items after inflation spiked in recent years.
The prices of school supplies had been falling before 2020, so customers were used to getting more value for their dollars, said Michael Zdinak, director of the U.S. consumer markets service at S&P Global Market Intelligence, a Manhattan-based financial analysis provider.
But inflation on school supplies soared in the years after the pandemic, due in part to supply chain issues and strong demand, he said.
For example, compared to prices in June 2019, the average price of stationery products, including notebooks, was 21.8% higher in June 2022 and 33.5% higher in June 2023, according to S&P.
Inflation has slowed but some consumers are still feeling the sting.
"A lot of consumers are still recovering from that shock, which may help explain why even though prices aren’t going up anymore, many are still looking for new ways to save a few dollars," Zdinak said.
Also, environmental concerns are a factor since finding new owners for used clothes, shoes and bookbags that are still in good condition keeps them out of landfills, experts said.
Higher-income earners are playing a growing role in the resale market.
Among parents with household incomes of between $50,000 and $99,000, 44% plan to buy used back-to-school items this year if they are available, up from 39% last year, according to a Deloitte survey of 1,198 parents of school-age children. Among parents with household incomes of $100,000 or more, the percentage rose from 36% to 41%, according to the survey, results of which were released in July.
From hand-me-downs to vintage
The resale market is changing partly because the reputation of used clothes is changing, according to one thrift store owner.
"It used to be [called] hand-me-downs. Now, it’s called vintage," said Brian Rawson, who co-owns with his wife a Lindenhurst store, All You Need Is Thrift, that opened in 2010. Teens are big drivers of sales at the store because they are looking for unique items, he said.
FourLeaf Thrift Store in Copiague opened in March 2023, so it has gone through only one full back-to-school shopping season, but sales during the period "skyrocketed," said owner Jayme White, who plans to open a second thrift store in Lindenhurst in September.
"If we get one backpack in, it usually sells in a day," she said.
Most of the back-to-school shopping in her store is done by treasure-seeking high school and college students, White said.
"Kids are becoming more self-aware about the environment and about saving money," she said.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul Long Island’s thrift store in Huntington has been expanding its children’s and adults’ clothing sections for the past few weeks due to more demand, said Brian Dilts, store manager.
The demand for back-to-school clothes has increased at the store in recent years, he said.
"Absolutely. People are finding cheaper means and alternatives to buying clothing. It’s tough times due to inflation. We have seen an influx of more people showing up to our store as a result of that," said Dilts, who also said that back-to-school furniture, such as desks and file cabinets, sell well at the thrift store.
Social giving
Social media websites playing a larger role in the used-goods economy is also causing the use of pre-owned goods to gain more social acceptance for back-to-school items.
BuyNothing is an app and social media network in which users post about goods or services they would like to give away, share or loan in their communities, while people seeking items can receive those giveaways and make requests for other goods or services.
Founded in 2013, BuyNothing has grown to 11 million participants worldwide, and that is increasing by 1 million people annually, and there are more than 8,000 affiliated private Facebook groups, said Liesl Clark, the chief executive officer of the Bainbridge Island, Washington-based company.
The back-to-school season is BuyNothing’s second-busiest time of the year, with the winter holiday season ranking first, she said.
During the back-to-school season, BuyNothing community members post messages asking for and giving away everything from graphing calculators, to crayons, to bookbags, to toys and books for teachers’ classrooms, to kids’ clothes.
One of the reasons for the popularity of BuyNothing during the back-to-school season, and the growing number of people asking for items, is the public’s increasing comfortability with the "local gift economy," Clark said.
Since 2021, the gap between the overall number of posts giving away items versus the number asking for items on the BuyNothing app has narrowed — the number of giving posts used to be twice as high as the number of asking posts but now it is only 34% higher, she said.
"Giving is generally easier to do, as most participants feel more vulnerable when asking, whereas everyone loves to be generous. But as trust is gained while participating in a BuyNothing community, folks get more comfortable putting their asks out there," she said.
Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.
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