Frugality Rules as Americans Start Making the Most in a Hand-Me-Down Market

Thrift stores and consignment shops are an alternative to buying new as import tariffs loom and price hikes look set to bite.

Deborah Locker, an employee at Christian Family Care Thrift Store in Phoenix, Ariz., stands behind the sales counter on May 1, 2025. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

PHOENIX—While many retailers have struggled, business has thrived since Estefania Gasca and her husband, Cristobal Zepeda, established Thrift It Forward consignment store in Phoenix nearly two years ago.

Some days, the second-hand goods sell as quickly as they come in.