Thrift shopping: The New Sustainable Arc Pre- and Post-Pandemic

Thrifting is a concept that dates to medieval times when used clothing was taken from the rich and sold in the smaller rural villages. Although in this paper we are going to be looking at 'thrifting' as an evolved concept, turned into a trend. The basic idea of thrifting is reusing, and repurposing used clothes and varied items. There are two sets of extremely opposite opinions when it comes to thrifting. There are a lot of parameters that influence opinions surrounding thrifting and this study plans to highlight arguments that explain both perspectives better.In addition to understanding the nature of the trend, the study also aims to analyze the growth pattern of thrifting throughout India and focus on the causes of its gaining popularity. There is a lot of rising awareness about thrifting and social media platforms have largely contributed to the same. While social media has helped a lot of thrift businesses improve their outreach and acted as a catalyst, it has also helped the masses understand the benefits and impacts of thrifting. In pre-and post -pandemic times, a massive shift in consumer behavior led people towards online thrifting therefore the paper includes comparative research of thrift markets in the pre-and post-pandemic era. This research paper examines the point of view of consumers as well as the insights from the sellers and understands how they plan to fight the challenges such as accessibility, awareness, and acceptance of thrifting.