An Examination of the Effects on Low-Income Communities by the “Takeover” of Thrift Store Clothing by Resellers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v10i2.1784Keywords:
thrift, thrift resale, low income, los angelesAbstract
Thrift reselling refers to when individuals purchase large quantities of clothing from thrift shops to resell at a higher price in order to make profit. As this new form of making income becomes more popular, so does a concern about how thrift reselling may affect low income communities who rely on local thrift stores for clothing. This study proposes to find a correlation between low income communities and thrift resellers and seeks to find how and if thrift resellers may negatively affect the accessibility of clothing for low income individuals. By distributing a survey across Los Angeles County residents who qualify as low income, this study concludes that thrift resellers affect low income communities negatively due to their overconsumption of clothing at thrift shops, leading to not enough clothing left over for low income individuals. The implications of this study serve to provide research on how to improve the lives of those residing in low income communities.
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