--- description: Thrift stores are reporting an notable uptick in donations this new year, which many are pointing to as the influence of Marie Kondo. title: Thrift Stores Have New Junk Restrictions Amid Marie Kondo image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1e2c8a627e4aa3f/6989444cb21a9cf3ea50003d/marie-kondo-effect-thrift-stores.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Thrift Stores Can't Keep Up With All the Junk and They're Saying the Signs Lead to Marie Kondo  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 31, 2019 4:07 PM CUT  NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 18: Organizing consultant and author Marie Kondo visits the Brit+ Co #CreateGood Wellness event at Build Studio on October 18, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Gary Gershoff/WireImage) NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 18: Organizing consultant and author Marie Kondo visits the Brit+ Co #CreateGood Wellness event at Build Studio on October 18, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Gary Gershoff/WireImage)Gary Gershoff—WireImage  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 31, 2019 4:07 PM CUT While the start of a new year has traditionally been a time to reflect on what belongs in your life and what needs to be eliminated, the first month of 2019 could be upping the ante with donations to thrift stores, which many attribute to [Marie Kondo](http://time.com/5516365/marie-kondo-on-jimmy-kimmel/ "undefined") and her [wildly popular minimalist organizing method, KonMari.](http://time.com/5493284/marie-kondo-ariana-grande/ "undefined") Kondo, who wrote about KonMari method (where users are advised to ask themselves if an item “sparks joy” to determine whether or not they should keep it) in her book, _The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing_, recently debuted her own Netflix show called _Tidying Up With Marie Kondo_, where she helps homeowners with heavily cluttered homes organize their belongings and in turn, their lives. Now, however, for one city, the donations are so great in number that a sample of stores in San Francisco that they’re actually putting restrictions in place. According to [_KPIX 5_](https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/01/30/marie-kondo-effect-leaves-bay-area-thrift-stores-swamped-with-donations/ "undefined"), thrift stores in the San Francisco East Bay Area are limiting when and how much they will accept due to the mass amount of donations. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5517557/thrift-stores-donations-marie-kondo-effect/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5517557/thrift-stores-donations-marie-kondo-effect/"},"headline":"Thrift Stores Can't Keep Up With All the Junk and They're Saying the Signs Lead to Marie Kondo","datePublished":"2019-01-31T16:07:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:57:12.782Z","description":"Does it spark joy?","url":"https://time.com/5517557/thrift-stores-donations-marie-kondo-effect/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1e2c8a627e4aa3f/6989444cb21a9cf3ea50003d/marie-kondo-effect-thrift-stores.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1e2c8a627e4aa3f/6989444cb21a9cf3ea50003d/marie-kondo-effect-thrift-stores.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Celebrities Visit Build - October 18, 2018","caption":"Celebrities Visit Build - October 18, 2018","creditText":"Gary Gershoff—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5517557/thrift-stores-donations-marie-kondo-effect/","name":"Thrift Stores Can't Keep Up With All the Junk and They're Saying the Signs Lead to Marie Kondo"}}]}] ```