Turning thrifty: incorporating secondhand apparel into the Consumer Price Index

The secondhand clothing market has become a booming industry driven by consumers’ economic and sustainability concerns. This article discusses why and how the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program prices secondhand apparel by exploring the evolution of the secondhand clothing market. We also consider the improvements to item quality control that allow the CPI to incorporate secondhand garments, the weights used by the CPI to accurately reflect secondhand apparel expenditures, and the growth of nonclothing secondhand goods in other markets. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the most widely used measure of inflation in the United States, measuring the average monthly change in prices paid by urban American consumers. It historically has limited its observed market basket of goods and services to new or unused items in good condition except for used cars and trucks. This restriction is to maintain a market basket with consistent item quality.