Each year, ThredUp, a large ecommerce thrift and resale store, generates their annual “Resale Report”*. The Untamed Thread has been following this report for years because it provides insight into how resale is beginning to have a major influence on the fashion and retail space.
In their 2022 report, ThredUp predicts that the resale market will double by 2026, reaching the $82B mark. That is “B” for a BILLION! Some of this is due to younger generations, starting with millennials, who are more conscious about the environment, global warming, saving money and waste in general. Throw in the Covid-19 pandemic and according to the report, there were 33M people who shopped secondhand for the first time and plan to keep shopping secondhand due to their positive experience (ThredUp 2021 Resale Report).
So who is thrifting and purchasing resale and why? As mentioned earlier, this is definitely a trend started by the millennials and the reasons are these:
- Spending less money on clothing is a top priority. Clothing is one of our fundamental basic needs and if you can get similar quality for half the price or less, why not?
- People are preferring resellable garments to disposable ones. Once they are done wearing their pieces, they can in turn resell them on the plethora of platforms that are out there, thus reducing their initial cost of the piece even more.
- Sustainability matters - preserving the environment has became a big deal with more and more evidence of global warming.
- The thrill of the hunt! This is a big one for many people. They love finding vintage, one-of-a-kind or even luxury pieces for a fraction of the cost of retail.
In addition, the expansion of technology and ecommerce has made it much easier to shop secondhand. Thrift and resale shops are still great but they could be hit or miss depending on the day. According to the ThredUp Resale Report, 50% of resale dollars will come from online shopping in 2024.
From a global perspective, the environmental impact on switching from retail to resale is also significant. From reducing the use of water, carbon emissions and energy, extending the life cycle of clothing is one of THE best ways to help build a more sustainable environment.
So whether shopping secondhand helps you personally or you are looking to make a more global impact, we salute you!! If everyone just purchased one piece of secondhand fashion per year, THAT would be a big deal!
*You can read the full ThredUp 2022 Resale Report here: https://www.thredup.com/resale/