What’s so special about the sardine can, gussily upcycled into a rustic Christmas ornament, is hard for Erin Cordero to put into words. The digits, however, sealed the deal. “This is, what, $3.29? And I just love the character. It’s not mass-produced. It’s older. I mean, who else is going to have this?” said Cordero, as she and a friend perused the shelves of the west side Arc Thrift Store in Colorado Springs, awash in piped-in holiday tunes, on Tuesday afternoon.  Unique finds and a cart full of items for the cost of a handful purchased new are only part of the lure for self-described “Olympic”-level thrift shoppers such as Cordero, whose celebration of “Thriftmas” means everyone on her list gets a unique item with a provenance that’s eco-friendly, “not contributing more waste and reusing what’s already out there.” Arc estimates it diverts some 40 million pounds of items from Colorado landfills each year. A habit that’s long checked a slew of lifestyle boxes for a certain subset is booming big-scale among the many, thanks in part to rising retail prices for new goods (and, well, everything else), with uncertain financial times dead ahead.  Consumers planned to “dedicate nearly 40% of their total holiday budgets to secondhand gifts, up from the 30% they typically spend on resale in their everyday shopping,” according to the 2025 Consumer Holiday Report from online resale platform ThredUp, which said the resale industry grew from $28 billion to $49 billion between 2019 and 2024, and is projected to reach $56 billion this year. Those who work and shop the second-hand industry have seen such trends playing out on the ground.  Regular Arc patron Joi Nanninga said the crowd at her local store on Uintah has crept up in pace with the cost of living. For her, modern realities have meant cutting back thrift store visits to a handful of times a month, and adjusting her shopping philosophy for modern market dynamics. “There’s a lot more people coming in even when it’s not a sale day, and I’ve found that I can’t wait for something I want to hit half price anymore because it won’t be here,” she said. “I figure it’s cheap enough that buying it at its regular (Arc) price is better than not getting it at all, and it’s still a whole lot cheaper than getting it brand new. And a lot of the time, it’s brand new here, with the tags still on.” Goodwill of Colorado reported a “double-digit” year-over-year percentage increase in 2025 foot traffic at its retail stores statewide, said “brand and buzz” manager Stephanie Bell.  Joi Nanninga and her dog Violet cruise the clothing aisles at the Arc Thrift Store at Uintah Gardens on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette) “We have seen that there is more of an interest in thrifting overall … and research (showing) that an increasing number of consumers are open to receiving thrifted gifts during the holiday season,” Bell said.  The lines between niche and necessary, fashion and finance have always been blurry in the thrift-o-verse. Online influencers have amassed caches and cachet and helped feed the trend via TikTok and other social media platforms, leading to something of a mini celebrity boom, said Maggie Scivicque, vice president of marketing for Arc Thrift Stores. “So there’s lots of these young influencers, these local resellers who have huge followings … and they make a living off shopping our stores,”  Scivicque said. For them and their followers, wearing and owning second-hand is “a point of pride,” and a message with wider resonance — and broad practical appeal. “Right now we’re seeing our gift cards are flying off the shelf, because what a great stocking stuffer for that 13-year-old girl you cannot figure out what to buy for her, right?” she said. There’s definitely no “shame” in gifting, or wearing, or owning second-hand items for modern shoppers, said Glenna Stanley, store manager at the state’s newest Goodwill in Falcon, which opened Nov. 29 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that drew around 200 people. “It’s often really, really amazing to watch the kids come in and see them and hear them talk about how everything is being repurposed, and the amazing items they find,” said Stanley, whose statewide nonprofit reported diverting an estimated 190 million pounds of items from Colorado landfills in 2024. “And just to watch them have fun while they’re shopping, and talk about how (styles and trends) are coming back around. … I love being a part of that.” Some patrons likely could afford to shop elsewhere. The fact they choose not to tells a story Stanley said she can’t hear enough.  “It’s about re-purposing and wanting to be planet friendly,” she said. “They’re proud to be able to come in, for many reasons.” Say: Carrying on a legacy, even if it’s someone else’s? Thrifter Erin Cordero found a couple of handmade pottery mugs that she could pair with teas as a Christmas gift while shopping at the Arc Thrift Store at Uintah Gardens on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. Cordero refers to herself as an Olympic thrifter. (Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette) “I love it when you’re thrifting and you catch something that somebody made,” said Cordero, holding up one of her Tuesday finds, an ornament with “Peace and blessings, 2009, from Angie,” handwritten on the back. “I don’t know Angie, but thanks for the blessings,” Cordero said. Retail sales at Arc and Goodwill stores support programs that help residents facing life challenges through educational and work opportunities; smaller independent thrift stores often support programs such as church food banks and other assistance to the needy. So getting a good deal should leave you with more than just better financial footing. Even if that good deal might seem like it could be better.  “We hear complaints about pricing all the time,” said Goodwill’s Bell, “but we have to pay salaries, we have to pay insurance, we have to keep the lights on, you know, all those different things, and those prices are going up for us as much as they are for other businesses.” Prices have inched up at the Goodwill outlets and other retail stores in Colorado over the last year. Items on the $2 “last-chance” rack now go for $2.25. “So yes, incrementally here and there, we have increased our prices at our outlets and at our stores. That said, our items are priced by human beings, and humans make mistakes,” Bell said. “We invite anyone who’s shopping at our store if they see something that looks wrong, the price doesn’t seem to be correct, take it to the manager.” ...read more read less