The Consumer Price Index goes thrifting

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Money Matters, a newsletter from Britannica Money, on June 7, 2026.

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Thrift shopping is now part of inflation data.

© TimurD, MdAsaduzzaman/stock.adobe.com; Photo illustration Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

A little over a decade ago, Macklemore was “gonna pop some tags” with only $20 in his pocket. Thrift shopping was quirky, niche, and maybe even a little countercultural. Today, resale apps, consignment shops, and secondhand racks have gone fully mainstream—partly because of inflation, but also because younger consumers increasingly see bargain hunting as smart money management instead of a stigma. Think of it as loud budgeting with better denim.

Now the Bureau of Labor Statistics is catching up. In early 2025, the BLS officially began incorporating secondhand apparel into the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI), recognizing that Americans aren’t just buying differently—they’re changing the way inflation itself gets measured.

The CPI measures inflation, but it also tracks something broader: how we live and spend. The BLS builds the CPI using a giant basket of goods and services—housing, groceries, gas, clothing, medical care, entertainment, transportation, and hundreds of other everyday purchases—then measures how those prices change.

But the basket doesn’t stay fixed forever. Over time, we change the way we shop, eat, travel, communicate, and entertain ourselves, so the CPI changes too. Categories and weightings evolve because inflation data works best when it reflects our current lives instead of an outdated snapshot.

That’s also why economists look at inflation from different angles. “Headline” CPI covers everything, including volatile food and energy prices. “Core” CPI strips those out to help reveal broader pricing trends underneath the monthly swings. And behind the scenes, the BLS economists make all kinds of adjustments for seasonality, substitution, and “hedonic adjustments,” which attempt to account for changes in quality. Adding secondhand apparel to the CPI may raise an eyebrow at first, but it’s really just the latest example of inflation stats adapting to modern consumer behavior.

The short answer: Used clothes are historically “messy” data. A gallon of 2% milk is a gallon of 2% milk. The same can be said for the latest iPhone, a box of LEGO, and even a Ford F-150 pickup. But a used sweater isn’t easily comparable to another used sweater, and differences can be quite subjective. Faint stains, slightly worn elbows, a custom alteration—all these things matter. And a vintage concert tee might sell for more than a brand-new shirt sitting three racks over.

That inconsistency is one reason secondhand apparel stayed out of the CPI for so long, as opposed to used vehicles, which have long been a key component. But recently, thrift shopping moved online. Apps and marketplaces like Poshmark, Depop, and online auction granddaddy eBay gave BLS economists something they never really had before: searchable prices, standardized listings, and mountains of usable data.

Many years ago I had an inflation conversation with my uncle, during which I said that inflation was running around 1%. I remember his response to this day: “I judge inflation by two things—my health care premium and the cost per case of [his chosen brand of] Scotch whiskey.” Apparently, those were the two biggest line items on his budget spreadsheet.

In other words, CPI measures inflation across the economy, but nobody actually lives in the “average household.” Your inflation rate depends on the things you buy most often—and the ways you adapt when prices rise.

Inflation statistics will keep evolving because the way we live, shop, and spend keeps evolving too. Today it’s secondhand apparel; tomorrow it may be some other corner of consumer life that barely existed a decade ago.