Vintage markets: Helping or hurting sustainable fashion?

Axa Sibada found a t-shirt she loved at the Chapel Hill Vintage Market on Sunday and almost bought it despite the noticeable wear and tear. 

But it was not the holes in the shirt that stopped her from buying it. It was the $70 price tag. 

High costs at the Vintage Market are a common complaint. There are several critical comments underneath recent posts on the Chapel Hill Vintage Market’s Instagram page. 

However, these comments do not represent all market vendors or shoppers. In fact, the market itself doesn't determine the prices. The vendors do, and each have their own way of deciding the prices for the clothes they resell, which can include quality, rarity and age — all reasons some shoppers justify the cost. 

One vendor, Brandon Blanco, owner and founder of Blanco Vintage, said that like many other resellers, he determines the value of the clothes through online research of comparable items. 

Emma Denman, a senior journalism student at UNC bought a leather jacket from Blanco for $65 on Sunday, which she said was a good deal because of how often she planned to use it. 

“If I spend $70 on one thing and I wear it like, 100 times, that's way more worth it than if I spend $5 on something and wear it five times and it breaks,” Denman said.

She said she feels strongly about sustainable fashion because the class she is currently taking is traveling to Argentina, a country facing a crisis due to mountains of trash in landfills next to neighborhoods. Fast fashion is only adding to these piles, especially in its bordering country Chile, which now has a clothing dump so large, it is visible from space. 

Denman also bought a $30 t-shirt from a different vendor, a deal she said she felt less good about. But, she acknowledged the behind-the-scenes work the sellers put into curating a collection of clothes to sell, and said they deserve to make a livable wage. 

“While, no, I didn't want to pay $30 for a t-shirt, still, I do feel like it was worth it, because [the vendors] went through all this time and effort to go and source these things,” she said.

Jessica Hepper, a registered nurse at UNC Health in Chapel Hill, bought a leather jacket for $70. She said she felt it is worth it to pay extra to have a curated selection that makes shopping second-hand more efficient. 

“There’s definitely a lot more options here, and you don't have to spend as much time looking as opposed to going to a Goodwill or a Plato’s [Closet],” she said. 

Still, Sibada said she feels that the high prices are contributing to making sustainable fashion inaccessible for people with low income. 

She also said that vendors could be losing money by pricing people out of items they would want to buy otherwise. 

“If you make [the prices] lower, then people are more inclined to buy more stuff,” she said. “So I don't know, I feel like you would still end up earning more.” 

Anthony Serrano, another vendor at the market on Sunday, said he too felt that vendors were overcharging, so he started his own reselling business, Oldlaundry, with lower prices. 

When deciding on prices, he said he just asks himself “What would I pay for it?” Most items at his booth were $10-$15. 

Oldlaundry is just a hobby for him though, and not his sole source of income like it is for a lot of the other vendors. 

“I mean, if you're doing it full time, I understand: that's your job,” Serrano said. “And you have to make your profit.” 

Ryan Cuthbertson, founder and owner of Tar Heel Tags, studied for two years at UNC before he left to start selling vintage full time. It is more than a full-time job though, according to him, because he is putting in more time than the typical 40-hour work week. When not prepping for vintage market events, he said he is constantly looking for clothes online, in stores or from other sellers. 

“We have gone out of our way to source all of this,” he said. “So it can't be the same price as a thrift store.”

@dthlifestyle | lifestyle@dailytarheel.com

Editor's Note: Emma Denman is a staffer on the Photography Desk.