The Sentinel

Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: Culture

As a confessed shopaholic and an admitted materialist, I love spending money that I don't have in order to acquire new things. I have no shame, I am a quantity over quality shopper and my self control is obsolete when confronted by shoe sales and amazon.com clearance. I own a ridiculous amount of apparel and in order to make my dollar stretch farther, I frequent stores like H&M and Old Navy on a weekly basis due to their unpredictable price drops and ridiculously advantageous sales. Since some of the stores I frequent regularly are prominent brands at Rag-O-Rama, I have been able to accurately keep track of exorbitantly priced items. A used t-shirt from Forever 21 was priced above $9.00 at the thrift store, even though I literally had purchased the same shirt at $7.99. Likewise, a bag was priced, used, at $19.99, even though the same bag had recently been reduced in-store at H&M from $24.99 to $17.99.

Obviously, since I have neither the time nor motivation to compare prices on all of the items in Rag-O-Rama, I can't dismiss the store as a complete waste. Perhaps it's my inner cheap-skate that causes me to grimace at the thought of actually giving the store any of my money, but I just don't understand the logic behind their business operation. Assuming that consumers would use rational thinking in order to discern whether or not an item was worth purchasing, it would seem as though many of Rag-O-Rama's items would go untouched due to the company's inability to accurately price their products. I suppose this is where social fads and convenience come in, propelling busy, trend-seeking hipsters to grab the first thing off the rack that fits their needs.

Although Rag-O-Rama has been voted best thrift store in Columbus Alive! over five times, I am still a bit skeptical. As trendy and easy as it may be to shop there, I would much rather scour racks at Goodwill and The Salvation Army for dollar t-shirts and give them my old clothing for free. Maybe my newly discovered inner conscience is what's driving me here, but I would much rather donate my stuff than let some mini corporation bank profit off my worn, faded and pilled sweaters. Don't get me wrong, if people are oblivious enough to pay high prices for crappy pap, let 'em at it. It's not my responsibility, nor Rag-O-Rama's to protect the ignorant consumer.

Come to think of it, I was wrong about my inner conscience. I believe my sudden charitable interest finds its roots in my stubborn, child-like temper: if I can't bank off of it, nobody is going to. The clothes I paid for are not going to make someone else a profit, unless I get paid (comparably) first. All hypotheticals aside, what I would prefer to do is buy new clothing at low prices. It may not be the environmental or humanitarian choice, but at least I can take comfort in the fact that I am getting the same product minus dead skin and pit stains.

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