The Rise of Depop at Hopkins

 

These students’ initial explorations and interests in thrifting each started in unique ways. Suki Sze ’25 explains that her concern for the environment inspired her to start thrifting. She says, “There are already so many clothes in the world, so I don’t really see the point in buying new clothing.” The cost of clothing was also a factor for Sze: “New clothes can also be really expensive, but second-hand clothing tends to be cheaper.” Other Hopkins students who thrift echo similar beliefs. Laila Rivera-Good ’27 recalls how she “really liked buying clothes, but eventually my mom told me I would have to start paying for clothes myself.” This led her to discover thrifting, which she became more interested in “because it was less expensive, and I could get the clothes I wanted for a cheaper price.” However, for Kelsey Reichart ’27, her interest in thrifting started in 2020, during the pandemic: “I was online a lot, and I started to get inspired by what I saw on Pinterest, so I started going to places like Plato’s Closet.”

With the rise of online thrifting platforms like Depop or Vinted, Hopkins students have begun to notice the benefits of shopping on these platforms. Julia Van Der Aue ’26 believes that thrifting online “is definitely more convenient, because you don’t have to spend the time looking through racks and piles like you would in thrift stores.” As a buyer, Rebecca Spiewak ’27 believes thrifting online saves her time: “There’s usually a larger selection of styles available than most thrift stores.” Rivera-Good repeats this belief, recalling how online thrifting allows “buyers to find exactly what they’re looking for, even if the items should be super hard to find.” For example, “if you want a nice black top with embroidery, you can find it for cheap and usually in good condition,” Rivera-Good offers. 

Second-hand clothing provides people with more choices to express themselves and communicate their personalities. Rivera-Good explains how usually “when you shop at a mall, the stores follow the trend at the moment,” but when going thrifting, “you can find clothes based off of what you like, and discover more about your personal style.” Reichart agrees with this, mentioning how “you can find interesting clothing pieces that aren’t being made anymore” due to mass production. Van Der Aue, who likes to take thrifted clothes and tailor them, believes “it’s hard to find new clothes that I like, or that fit me correctly,” so instead she “buys second-hand, for a cheap price, and adjusts them” to her preference and personality. Thrifting allows Sze to express her political views: “I don’t agree with constantly producing new clothes that usually go to waste, so by buying secondhand I can go against those practices.”

These platforms also have their downsides. Reichart, who sells her old clothes on Depop, mentions that while “you can sell your old clothes, there’s often a lot of seller’s fees” which make the platform more difficult to handle as a seller. Having been interested in thrifting for a couple of years, Sze mentions, “the experience of being in a thrift store and looking for things yourself, trying them on, feeling the material; it disappears when you shop online.” Not being able to try items on also catches Reichart’s attention: “sellers could list items as a [certain] size, but then you finally get it, and it’s not what you were expecting.”Since users price their own items on these platforms, thrifted clothes can sometimes be just as expensive as new clothing. On Depop, Rivera-Good notices that “there’s also a bunch of different fees on top of already expensive items.” Sze, who prefers to thrift in-store rather than online, agrees, as “a lot of people go to thrift stores and buy clothes for a really low price, just to sell them for much more on Depop.” Due to this, she believes “the point of thrifting, of being able to get the clothes you want sustainably, for a low price” has been forgotten. 

In a world where new trends rise and fall every few days, thrifting offers a way to combat overconsumption in a cheap, sustainable manner. At Hopkins, thrifting offers students a way to find the clothes they want, usually without spending too much money, and express their unique identities and personalities in everyday life; both on campus and off.