While browsing the goods at a Value Village store in Toronto, Evan Boyce spotted something he didn’t expect: A used vase for sale with a Value Village price tag of $8.99. Then he realized the original price tag was still on — and to buy it at a Dollarama store would have cost only $3.
“Three times what it would have cost brand new …It’s pretty ridiculous, right? Just kind of feels like a rip off to be honest,” said Boyce, a 30-year-old who works for a renewable energy company.
For years, many Canadians have relied on Value Village to buy used goods for cheaper than other retailers. It’s one of the biggest and most popular thrift store chains in the country. Now some customers are accusing the company of massive markups on their items.
The examples of questionable pricing at Value Village have been piling up for months. In Courtenay, B.C., one shopper found kids shoes priced at $6.49, while the original tag said $3. A used book at a store in Winnipeg was being sold for double what it would have cost at its previous retailer.
I refuse to donate to, or purchase from, Value Village. Why should some for-profit rich people make money off my old stuff?
Better to send it to Sally Ann or Goodwill where profits are actually used to help poor people.
There’s a locally run thrift store in my small town that I donate everything to. I get shirts and pants for a couple bucks and rarely pay more than 50 cents for a book.
This has been an issue for a long time. We stopped shopping le village almost ten years ago for this very reason.
I noticed it about 20 yrs ago. I have always been relatively poor so when Value Village first opened it was awesome to be able to buy t-shirts for $1-2 and jeans for $4-5. Then wealthier people, who could afford new prices, started shopping there and prices rose out of my range.
Goodwill and Sally Ann at least seem to try to keep them lower for people like me.
Same, except I was at a Goodwill recently and they’re going the same route. I will say the quality of what they had was better than expected, at least. I was expecting not to want anything, but there were a few good items in each section I checked. Just too bad it was like $15+ for some of the skirts. I found dresses for the person I was shopping for in good condition under $10 (I think ranging $7-$10?) though, lol.
Every Value Village I’ve been to is either over priced or just picked over junk. There’s never anything worth buying. The overpriced stuff is all originally from Walmart or one of the Dollar stores and always priced well over the new retail price.
The same thing happens at Once Upon a Child. Kids clothes are all George (Walmart brand) and price at least 2x new.
Since they were acquired, its been like this for a while. Vote with your wallet.
Yeah, I’ve noticed this lately. It’s often cheaper to buy NEW clothes from Walmart than at VV.
I will say, however, that I scored some pretty nice cycling jerseys from VV for under $10 each. I can’t complain too much.
This seems to happen most often with newish stuff whose original source was a dollar store or similar really low-end retailer. But, yeah, while you may stumble across the occasional 20th century item being sold for less than it’s worth, there are many better places to buy cheap used stuff. Caveat emptor.
(You’d think they’d at least have the brains to remove or black out the old price tags.)
I think it’s because pricing is fixed by the owners so those actually putting a price on something can’t alter it or they could be fired.
Blanket rules without allowing for “common sense” is how owners like that operate.
Went there this week, ended up buying new pants at Winners for the same price as used ones at the village…
How about a single mason jar for $2.99? You can get a dozen in Canadian Tire for $24, $18 on sale.
And the vintage mason jars were even more.
Vernon BC. I haven’t been to the Kelowna one since they started throwing out mason jars instead of selling them.
Happy to shop and donate to my local SPCA/Sally Ann
VV has been like this for well over a decade. I love when articles act like its new.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
U.S. private equity firm Ares Management is a majority shareholder, and helped take the company public last year.
The business model is pretty simple: All of its inventory comes from secondhand donations, some of which are collected by non-profit partners.
Consumers mentally organize retailers into certain categories, explained Matthew Philp, a marketing professor at Toronto Metropolitan University.
But Philp said companies can walk a fine line, as customers who feel duped by a retailer are less likely to return.
Value Village says thousands of items come through each of its stores every week, and that staff try to price products accurately.
CBC’s Marketplace and Streets Cents are teaming up to take a closer look into the Value Village pricing controversy.
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