Why Does Gen Z Love Hauling Stuff?

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In Crap, Wendy writes about novelty in the context of 19th-century five and dime stores. When they were still new, customers were attracted to five and dimes not because they could expect quality wares (it quickly became apparent that they could not), but because they could expect to find something they’d never seen before. Amazon and its endless supply of new discoveries—small “life hack” enabling devices, simple never-before-seen organizational tools, or even off-brand stuffed animals—no doubt scratch this same novelty itch. Thrift shopping does too—you’re unlikely to spot two items exactly alike in a Goodwill or Salvation Army and you’re not often met by an item that is entirely familiar. Naturally, Amazon and thrift hauls dominate TikTok. 

With all of this thrill, and the amount of time us Zoomers spend staring at social media on average, it’s easy to see why, en masse, the delight of the haul video would have a huge influence on our generation’s behavior as consumers. These videos aren’t just peddling individual products so much as presenting and cosigning a level of consumption that might otherwise induce guilt in the thrill-seeking viewer. “Gen Z has an appetite for buying a lot of stuff, which in many ways contradicts our stated concerns about climate change,” Ellyn says. “We’re a very contradictory generation.” 

Rather than being stuck in a constant cycle of accumulation and purging, Zoomers seem to accept the constant accrual as natural. What one generation or onlooker may deem as hoarding, many Zoomers are willing to rebrand as admirable. In a life of constant accumulation and little purging, the collector needn’t deal with the guilt or other negative emotions associated with regularly discarding yesterday’s cheap thrills. The argument could be made, even, that in a home filled with stuff, old items’ “novelty factor” can recharge while hidden beneath other belongings, creating another round of excitement from something simple. 

The allure of the haul video comes deeper still from an especially isolated generation’s desire to connect with one another. For both the haul video creator and its viewer, the video creates meaning out of what could otherwise be any other purchase. Across cities, states, and countries, the haul, get-ready-with-me, and unboxing videos promote products, but their potency comes from how personal they feel; these are not your run-of-the-mill celebrity endorsements. If and when one may not have people in their immediate community who connect over a shared love of makeup, thrifting, or even organization, social media creates a space to congregate with those who do. “Part of it is the idea of group belonging. ‘I want to be just like these influencers, but also I want to identify myself as being a member of the group of people who follow these influencers.’ People do that through the things that they consume,” Wendy says.

“I have tons of friends on TikTok and whenever we have a really solid haul, [we] definitely like [get] bombarded in the comments,” says Mel, who posts thrift hauls under the username @melxdivine. “There’s definitely a community of people who really connect to haul videos.” As someone who was drawn to thrifting for its eco-friendly bent, along with the affordability factor, it’s a pleasure to expose others to the joy of thrifting and encourage her audience to leave fast fashion behind.