For a while now, we’ve been writing posts where people share “good” things that were ruined by popularity. They’ve started a ton of discussion about things that changed (for the worse) once too many people did them. So, here are some of the most popular responses so far that had everyone talking:
1.
“Food delivery services. It’s terrible now, but when I first used it many years ago, you’d get fast, hot food for a reasonably small extra cost. Now, it’s just a dumpster fire of terrible, because so many people use it, and they have (relatively) few drivers all trying to take as many orders as they can (because the pay is bad), leading to most everyone’s food being cold/late.”
2.
“Dollar stores. I’m so old, I can remember when they actually sold stuff for a dollar. When I was a young divorcée, I could get the basics for my little apartment and have a bit left over for lunch. Now, not even the cheapest junk food snacks are just a dollar. Everyone and their brother shops at dollar stores the way they used to at Walmart.”
3.
“Streaming services used to be an affordable way to watch good content. Now, they keep jacking up the prices, and you need at least half a dozen streaming services to keep up with all the different shows and sporting events.”
—Anonymous, 32, Pennsylvania
4.
“Workwear like Carhartt. It used to be much more affordable. … Now, they’re a trend.”
5.
“Vet visits. Good, decent local vets are being snatched up by private equity. Prices are fixed at a high rate because all the vets around you are owned by the same firm. There is no natural competition anymore for keeping prices reasonable.”
—Anonymous, 56
6.
“Concerts. In 2016, we saw three local bands at the saloon in Austin, Texas, for $10 over about three hours. In the mid ’70s, as a teenager in Detroit, I saw three bands for $5–7 on a Friday night. We don’t bother with concerts that cost over $50 each now. Sporting events are completely overpriced. Instead, we see minor league hockey games. Still reasonable prices, and lots more interesting games to watch live. Oh, and we get real paper tickets, too!”
—Anonymous, 65, Arizona
7.
“Good, ole bar hamburgers are no more. Everyone thinks they are or gotta be a chef, making $10 burgers that don’t taste like a burger at all.”
8.
“Movie theaters. When I was a kid to a teenager, most trips to the movies were chill, with some exceptions for completely G-rated kids’ movies (like the Star Wars prequel films), even those weren’t too wild. Just kids shouting in excitement. Now, people do stuff that ranges everywhere from throwing literal popcorn at the screen to way, way worse and unsafe things.”
“That’s not even considering the increased price of tickets, popcorn, and/or drinks.”
—Anonymous, 33, USA
9.
“Newspapers, I used to love reading the newspaper. Now, there’s no content, and if you can find one, it’s dollars, not 10 or 25 cents. The weekday newspapers were 10 cents, and the Sunday newspaper was 25 cents. I loved reading the travel section. The classified section was where I bought and sold my cars. Now, newspapers are terrible and useless.”
—Anonymous, 69
10.
“Park Güell in Barcelona. It used to be free to access all of it, but then, the scourge of too many tourists started to ruin it (especially when said tourists started chipping off parts of the structures for ‘souvenirs’). Now, you have to pay to enter certain parts, and you can no longer just wander around as a good way to kill time in a beautiful place.”
11.
“The shops at Disneyland. They were a world bazaar: woolen clothes and blankets at the Pendleton shop, turquoise jewelry at the Frontier trading post, Stetson hats, moccasins, leather goods, and clothes and jewelry from Mexico, Central American clothes, pot holders, belts from Guatemalan weavers, Hawaiian clothes, cool things from Africa, India, and the Far East in the Adventureland Bazaar, Christmas ornaments (really nice ones) from the Christmas shop, antiques, really cool kitchen stuff and amazing hats made onsite in New Orleans Square, all kinds of bears, including Steiff bears in Bear Country, and amazing teapots and other china items on Main Street.”
“Now, it’s mostly T-shirts and plush animals in every store. Our mothers used to go to Disneyland to shop, but no more.”
—Anonymous
12.
“Designer collaborations with big-box stores. There was no trouble casually shopping in the store when they first started. Now, items are out of stock the minute the collection drops online, and stampedes clear out the stores. Then, they’re immediately listed on resell sites priced at least twice as much as retail.”
—Anonymous, 42, California
13.
“Shopping at the Goodwill and thrift stores. You could get everything for a great price. Now, thrifting is so popular that it has ruined it for all the shoppers who really want to find cheap finds. I loved going in there looking for name-brand clothing, children’s books for my classroom, and finding nostalgic items that brought me back to my childhood.”
—Anonymous, 53, Nebraska
“Goodwill. I was looking for a cheap vase and found one that was priced at $5. The dollar store tag was still on the bottom: $3.”
14.
“Going to the gym. There are at least four people recording at any given time.”
—Anonymous, 41, Texas
15.
“School events. Usually, a school dance was free, and anyone from that school could go. Now, it’s $20 for a ticket, and $35 at the door. For what?”
—Anonymous
16.
“Ramen noodles. It was the cheapest thing you could buy, and now, they have ‘Ramen Bars!’ Now, grocery stores play the ‘we upped the price by $5 while you weren’t looking’ game!”
17.
“Cycling! With e-bike rentals everywhere, you have these clueless people who have not, if ever, been on a bike in years, meandering dangerously all over the place, unaware of the basic rules of courtesy or safety.”
—Anonymous, 69, Canada
18.
“Greeting cards. I give my grown kids a couple on their birthdays — a sappy one and a funny one. They used to be $2–5, and $5 was for really nice ones with a bookmark or multiple pages. Regular shmegular birthday cards are, like, $7 now. It’s wild.”
“I had to cut back to just buying one because $15 for two cards is too expensive for me.”
19.
“The Mojave Desert. The almost alien landscape seems to enthrall people from the city. Look at how popular Joshua Tree has become. But, to me, that region is my home, and I just want it to become the isolated place I grew up in again.”
—Anonymous
20.
“Beaches and exotic island retreats. I just spent a year living mostly in Southeast Asia, and it’s really sad to see. People come for the pristine beauty, and as it becomes popular, the area develops to meet demand, attracting more visitors — and increasingly those who are less respectful of the area, its people, and the environment. So, the very beauty they come to see is spoiled. Then, eventually, the more discerning customers will move on to a new piece of pristine land, but the old site just spirals down further and doesn’t get a chance to recover.”
“Thus, it creates a perpetual spiral of encroachment and despoilment of beauty spots.”
21.
“Video games. They’re now so overpriced, and games like Fortnite and others have completely taken the storylines and compelling gameplay away from what used to be a form of art. Not to mention, every game requires you to spend additional money on a subscription or other premium business model. It’s pay more to win or pay more to actually have a good time.”
—Anonymous, 21, New York
22.
“I’ve noticed Korean skincare when sold in UK stores costs more in euros than it does in US dollars on the Korean sites at full price, and there’s always an offer on. I worry that the popularity will lead to price increases on the Korean sites.”
“I love the Korean style, as every few months they do a $39 box full of $200+ of skincare, and sometimes makeup, hair, and body, and the prices are already reasonable, so it’s not one of those inflated boxes.”
23.
“Television and movies. Everything has to be a remake, whether it’s a classic movie or TV series. You can’t remake a classic, so stop trying.”
—Anonymous
24.
“Camping in the North Georgia Mountains. It’s not camping anymore. Everyone enjoyed their campground there. The campsites were made into a blacktop, and you have to pay for staying. You have just enough room for your travel trailer and one automobile. Before, you could get two to three automobiles in, and the campsites weren’t marked. You can’t fish in the creek there at all. It’s not like it used to be.”
“Our families would get together and enjoy a meal together. None of that is done anymore. Gone are those days.”
—Anonymous
25.
“Tri-tip! It used to be that the ‘bottom sirloin roast’ was tossed aside as being worthless. It was the cut that the workers and cowboys got on the side. Was $2–4/pound, but now, it’s very expensive ($10+/pound), and Costco won’t even carry it outside the West Coast and other select locations! Thanks, foodies, for screwing up a nice, affordable meal for the rest of us!”
—Anonymous, 60, Minnesota
26.
“In my neighborhood, pickleball. They added pickleball nets to a few of the tennis courts close to a group of houses. Technically, only neighborhood residents are allowed to have keys to the courts, but they can bring guests. Some rabid pickleball players decided to add it to a public reservation site and use one of the houses as the address. Non-residents were holding tournaments there and causing major disruptions for the near neighbors at all hours. They were blocking sidewalks and driveways with their cars and crossing through yards to access the courts. It was a total mess.”
“So, the HOA removed the nets and disallowed pickleball for everyone. Now the rabid pickleball players are all ticked because their free courts are gone, and the rest of us are ticked at them because they ruined it for the rest of us. Good times.”
27.
“Estate sales and garage sales. I remember going to them as a kid. I remember being able to get a book or toy for a dime rather than a few bucks. You still can sometimes do this, but it varies. I’ve gotten a decent computer desk for $15 within the last few years, so it’s sometimes possible, but it depends on the seller themselves. As an adult, eBay and Amazon pricing ruined some of these because certain garage and estate sale sellers got greedy. Certain people say, ‘Well, IF I SELL IT ON eBay, I CAN GET X PRICE FOR IT.’ This is often retail price and above, which, if I wanted to pay that, I’d go to the actual store.”
“Here are my points on why this sort of seller annoys me by default: 1) eBay will add shipping costs to that and charge you a fee; 2) I’m literally willing to hand you straight-up cash that isn’t a $100 bill and ask for change first thing in the morning; and 3) it takes TIME to sell stuff on Amazon and eBay. I know that the last one is 100% true since my mom actually sells stuff on eBay. If people do this to me, I literally walk out of their sale because it’s not worth it.“
—Anonymous, 33, USA
28.
“Jeeps. I no longer own one, but years ago, they were a relatively rare sight in my Midwest area. Primarily, people who actually used them as intended (off-pavement) were the ones who owned them. Now, you can’t drive through the suburbs without heavily modded ones in nearly every driveway — and none of them have even set a wheel on dirt.”
“People assume I hit trails every weekend with my Bronco because it’s always got a layer of mud. Nah, I don’t — but mine isn’t a garage princess at least.”
29.
“Formula 1. It’s great that there are so many new fans, but going to a race is now unreasonable for most of us. It’s always been a sport for the wealthy. At least in the past, the fans didn’t have to be. I miss going with my dad and my brothers.”
30.
“Labradoodles. They were developed as a hypoallergenic, low-shedding service dog, and now everyone wants one. There are a lot of unscrupulous breeders just seeking profit.”
—Anonymous, 49, Wisconsin
31.
“Ox tails, which are cow tails — the thing they swat away flies with. Now, they’re expensive.”
—Anonymous, 69, Pennsylvania
32.
“I collect dolls, some vintage, some antique. It used to be a fun, affordable pastime to find a doll and/or clothes for them. Now, people have become rabid over them. A doll that used to sell for $7 is now $157. Shoes cost more than mine. Some clothes are more than I ever spend on my own, but tiny. Bidding on dolls often reaches unbelievable prices, even for dolls in bad condition. Guess I’ll just have to enjoy what I’ve got.”
33.
“Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. When you’re trying to buy or sell something now, you have to wade through tons of scammers, flakes, and lowballers. Almost every vehicle is a reconditioned title and a scam. And then, there are the people who always ask, ‘Is this available?’ and then never say anything after.”
34.
“Tickets in general. I’m taking my family of six to see Disney on Ice. Tickets were $49 each. Not terrible. For six tickets, the cost would be around $300. But with the Ticketmaster fees (and taxes), it came out to $609. More than freaking double.”
35.
“Instagram. If you get locked out of Insta, good luck getting back in, even if you have set up a biz account. All these little tech fixes are not really helpful. They want you to use your personal account. Nope, not cool. Aside from that, like Facebook, Insta is all about showboating — not a lot of substance. All is told in pics…and your data is up for grabs.”
—Anonymous, 55, California
36.
“LinkedIn. It was once a good site for exchanging ideas. Now, lots of bots and companies are phishing for talent with no intention of hiring — just banking the info/data they collect. Also, not a fan of recruiters coming after you pretending to be interested, and what they really want is to connect for access to your connections. Predictable and not interesting.”
—Anonymous, 44, Michigan
37.
“Chicken wings!!! Used to be the cheapest cut of the chicken (except for chicken livers, which are going up, btw), but then that bar in Buffalo, New York, had to brand them and now, they are outrageous!”
38.
“Ground turkey. It used to be a cheap substitute for ground beef for us people on a limited income. That is, until it got heavily promoted as ‘healthier’ than beef, and it seemed like the price tripled overnight.”
—Anonymous, 68, Indiana
39.
“Fly fishing. You once had a long stretch of the river to yourself, and if someone came upon you, they would exchange pleasantries, maybe share a tip, and be on their way. Nobody cared if you were fishing with a handmade split bamboo rod or if you were fishing with your Daddy’s rod from Western Auto. Today, you get the googly eyes if you’re not tricked out in the latest from Patagonia and you’re not willing to share the river pool. Really hate Robert Redford for that movie!”
40.
“Can’t believe nobody has said this, but, college. My parents were the first in their families to go to college. My mom’s dad had dyslexia and was not fully literate, and left school in eighth grade, owned a farm, and sent my mom to a large state school for her bachelor’s and master’s with little to no loan debt. My dad’s dad worked at a local grocery store; my dad worked a union job at Safeway on the weekends and paid for his college and veterinary school tuition, books, and a car. He also went to a large state university. I attended a smaller liberal arts school, received hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships, and then went to medical school, where there’s no such thing as scholarships — and you aren’t allowed to have a job while being a medical student. I owe less than most people I know in medicine; the average debt is about $400K, and I owe $250K, but it’s nowhere near the experience my dad had.”
“My state went from heavily funding higher ed and seeing it as a public good, to defunding it almost completely and having massive lawsuits for millions in missing funding found in audits. To my knowledge, nothing has happened, the money was allegedly never found, and the politicians who ‘lost’ that money got voted back in, and seemingly, all their staff now have suspiciously new cars.”
—Anonymous, 31, Pennsylvania
41.
“Pokémon cards/packs. In-store stock at places like Walmart is basically nonexistent. Prices to buy products from obvious scalpers are, in some cases, two to three times the normal cost of the products. Even the Pokémon Center website is typically cleaned out almost immediately after restocking.”
42.
“Moving to Texas. All these celebrities want to ‘slow down’ and avoid the wild taxes in California, so they move to Texas. Now, it’s getting unaffordable for us native Texans, and the developers are building for the rich. If I had any shot of eventually owning my home one day, it’s long out of reach now!”
43.
“Hawaii! There are too many tourists, and they are hoarding our Costco food, goods, parking spots, food court, and adding aisles and aisles of liquor!”
—Anonymous, 51, Hawaii
44.
“Free nights at museums. It used to be a low-key thing for ‘museum’ people like me who would frequent them. Now, with social media, everyone and their mother seems to know about them, and it’s become something to do for yet another selfie opportunity. And most museums now require a reservation for their free hours.”
—Anonymous, 43, New York
45.
“Sushi. I just want some simple raw fish on a rice patty, a little wasabi, soy sauce, and hot sake.”
46.
“Beef tongue. Growing up near the local stockyard, we were able to purchase a pail full of them for 50 cents as long as we came and collected them from the scrap pile ourselves. Then they became boutique locally and soared to $25–30 a pound. No more poor people’s roast beef.”
—Anonymous
47.
“Craft fairs/shows. I feel this is a mix of hustle culture and the rise of AI art. Craft shows used to be small artists selling homemade goods like crochet items and handcrafted ceramics because they enjoyed making them or used it as a small side thing. Now, the show is 80% AI art plastered onto Stanley cups and door wreaths. The admission fees for the crafter have gotten super high as well.”
“People have stopped doing crafting for fun and think it has to be a full side hustle money maker, or why bother, which leads to using more AI to get it done faster.”
48.
“Farmers markets used to be a great place to find everything from local produce to jewelry and clothing. Now, everything is massively priced up. I’ve gotten $15 earrings from a farmers market. The last one I happened upon charged $90 PER EARRING — SINGULAR! (And no, I’m not exaggerating.)”
“Same goes for Etsy; due to tariffs, prices went way up.”
49.
“Charleston, South Carolina. The holy city. Now, it’s the ‘Apartment and Traffic City.'”
—Anonymous, 75, Pennsylvania
And finally…
50.
“Stanley cups. This product was once known for subtle reliability, and quickly became an overpriced cup touted as a status symbol.”
—Anonymous, 38, Pennsylvania
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
What other “good” things were ruined when they became too popular? Tell us in the comments, or use this anonymous form below.
