I've seen folks raising awareness over social media of how that thrift store chain brags about employing unemployable people, but pays them less than minimum wage. I'm not saying that's the case with your husband, just that this is a pattern that has been observed. My coworker's daughter works at one and she is making more than minimum wage. 

Another popular complaint is that their higher quality donations are sold online at-value rather than in-store for thrift prices AND there are a ton of TikTok videos going around of cheap or broken donated goods being priced too high in-store. For instance there are goods with price stickers still attached from Marshalls or TJ Max where they were going for say $6, and at the thrift brand, they're going for $12. You get the idea.  

There have even been posts in the thrifting subreddit about shoppers bringing low-priced name-brand merch (Lululemon pants, as I recall) to the counter only for the manager to declare the price a mistake and insist on raising it. 

It's all anecdotal but when I see folks asking where to donate on local Facebook groups, they often state that they are seeking places other than the well known thrift store brand. 

To add to your point though, I am also seeing local swaps kind of like the urban free stores (Albany NY has one that runs once a month for instance) where you leave what you can and take what you need. I don't recall seeing those last year or prior in my suburban TX area. And my friends who used to shop at name-brand stores frankly out of my price range, are now thrifting and hitting estate sales with me.