Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
The global secondhand apparel market is projected to reach $350 billion by 2027
The global secondhand market is expected to grow 3 times faster than the overall global apparel market
The U.S. secondhand market is projected to reach $70 billion by 2027
Buying a used item instead of a new one reduces its carbon footprint by 82%
Fashion production makes up 10% of humanity’s carbon emissions, driving the need for vintage adoption
Extending the active life of a garment by just nine months creates a 20-30% reduction in carbon, water, and waste footprints
64% of global consumers have bought or sold secondhand products in the last year
83% of Gen Z have shopped for or are open to shopping for secondhand clothes
Millennials and Gen Z are growing their secondhand spend 2.5 times faster than other generations
Depop has over 30 million registered users, 90% of whom are under the age of 26
eBay sells a secondhand sneaker every 5 seconds in North America roughly
Vinted, a major European resale app, is valued at over €3.5 billion
Hermès handbags retain on average 103% of their retail value on the resale market
The most searched vintage brand on Google in 2022 was Ralph Lauren
"Y2K fashion" searches on resale platforms spiked 450% between 2020 and 2022
Consumer Behavior & Demographics
- 64% of global consumers have bought or sold secondhand products in the last year
- 83% of Gen Z have shopped for or are open to shopping for secondhand clothes
- Millennials and Gen Z are growing their secondhand spend 2.5 times faster than other generations
- 37% of consumers say they buy secondhand to afford luxury brands they couldn't otherwise
- 62% of Gen Z and Millennials say they look for an item secondhand before purchasing it new
- 56% of consumers say they would buy more secondhand if the experience was more like buying new
- 93% of shoppers say inflation impacts their decision to buy secondhand
- 60% of secondhand shoppers say it gives them the most "bang for their buck"
- 25% of consumers identified as frequent secondhand shoppers in 2022
- 40% of standard consumers view secondhand shopping as a "thrill of the hunt"
- 50% of people are more likely to repair their clothes now than 5 years ago to preserve value
- In the UK, 31% of women have swapped clothes with friends or family in the last year
- 57% of consumers are willing to repair items to prolong their lifespan
- 72% of consumers say they screen brands for sustainability before buying, driving them to vintage
- Parents are a key demographic, with 53% of moms purchasing secondhand kidswear in the past year
- Consumers cite "unique variety" as the number two reason for shopping vintage, after price
- 45% of Gen Z prefer to buy from sustainable brands or secondhand stores
- 38% of consumers say they have gifted a secondhand item
- Men are the fastest growing demographic in resale with a 10% increase in participation year-over-year
- 76% of people who have never resold clothing are open to trying it
Interpretation
Worn for fun and bought for sense, vintage has graduated from niche thrill to everyday strategy: 64% of people bought or sold secondhand last year, 83% of Gen Z are open to it, Gen Z and millennials are growing their spend 2.5 times faster than others, and inflation, sustainability screening, desire for luxury and value, repairability, family needs, better shopping experiences, gifting and rising male participation all signal that pre-loved clothing is now a mainstream, resilient way to shop.
Environmental Sustainability
- Buying a used item instead of a new one reduces its carbon footprint by 82%
- Fashion production makes up 10% of humanity’s carbon emissions, driving the need for vintage adoption
- Extending the active life of a garment by just nine months creates a 20-30% reduction in carbon, water, and waste footprints
- If everyone bought one secondhand item instead of new this year, it would save 5.7 billion lbs of CO2e
- Buying secondhand displaces the need to produce new clothing, with 1 in 3 secondhand items replacing a new purchase
- 85% of textiles end up in dumps each year, a statistic vintage clothing combats directly
- The fashion industry consumes 93 billion cubic meters of water annually, which resale mitigates
- 63% of consumers believe wearing vintage or secondhand is the most sustainable fashion option
- Secondhand shopping saved consumers $390 billion over the past decade while reducing waste
- Resale platforms can potential reduce the number of new items bought by 7%
- Less than 1% of materials used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing, highlighting the importance of reuse
- 34% of consumers say they shop secondhand specifically to be more sustainable
- Fast fashion items are worn less than 7 times before being discarded, whereas vintage pieces circulate for decades
- If every person in the US bought one used item instead of new, it would save water equivalent to 900 million showers
- Circular business models like resale could claim 23% of the global fashion market by 2030 to meet climate goals
- 60% of consumers say that the environmental impact of fashion is important to their purchasing decisions
- Washing synthetic clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers annually; vintage natural fibers avoid this
- 43% of consumers say they are buying better quality items to ensure longevity and resale value
- Repair and resale initiatives can cut global emissions by 45% by 2030
- Shopping secondhand prevented 89 million pounds of textile waste from entering landfills in 2022 via ThredUp alone
Interpretation
Buying vintage isn't just a quirky hobby, it's a high-impact climate strategy: choosing one secondhand piece instead of new can cut that item's carbon footprint by 82%, and if scaled could save billions of pounds of CO2, conserve vast amounts of water, keep mountains of textiles out of dumps, save consumers money, and help fashion move toward the circular economy needed to meet climate targets.
Luxury Resale & Trends
- Hermès handbags retain on average 103% of their retail value on the resale market
- The most searched vintage brand on Google in 2022 was Ralph Lauren
- "Y2K fashion" searches on resale platforms spiked 450% between 2020 and 2022
- Vintage luxury watches have outperformed the S&P 500 index over the last 5 years
- 62% of luxury consumers say they would consider buying a pre-owned luxury item
- Chanel bags have increased in resale value by 12% year-over-year
- The definition of "Vintage" typically refers to items aged 20 to 99 years old
- Louis Vuitton is the most sold luxury brand in the secondhand market globally
- 41% of luxury resale buyers say they buy pre-owned to access discontinued or limited edition items
- Collaborations like Gucci x The North Face see immediate 200% markups on resale sites
- "Gorpcore" (outdoor wear) vintage sales increased by 105% in 2022
- 31% of Gen Z are buying "dupes" of vintage luxury items if they cannot find the original
- Telfar bags maintain an average of 145% value retention on the resale market (the highest for accessible luxury)
- 71% of luxury brand executives see resale as a threat to their brand equity, despite market growth
- Archive fashion (high-end designer vintage) listings grew by 40% on Grailed in 2021
- Interest in "90s Minimalism" vintage styles grew 60% in 2023
- Resale of Levi's 501 jeans, a vintage staple, remains one of the top 3 turnover items on global platforms
- Celebrity endorsements of vintage (e.g., Bella Hadid, Zendaya) have driven a 35% spike in specific archival searches
- By 2025, 30% of all luxury sales will take place on digital platforms, heavily influenced by the pre-owned market
- Rolex accounts for roughly 25% of the total pre-owned luxury watch market value
Interpretation
Call it a comeback with receipts: vintage has quietly become a digitally driven, investment-grade arm of luxury where Hermès, Chanel and Rolex hold or even gain value, collaborations and celebrity cachet spark instant markups, Gen Z balances authenticity with affordable dupes, and executives must reckon that scarcity, archival demand and online resale are rewriting what “new” actually means.
Market Size & Economic Growth
- The global secondhand apparel market is projected to reach $350 billion by 2027
- The global secondhand market is expected to grow 3 times faster than the overall global apparel market
- The U.S. secondhand market is projected to reach $70 billion by 2027
- Resale is expected to account for 23% of the average closet by 2029
- In 2022, the secondhand market grew 28% globally
- The European secondhand fashion market is valued at approximately $18 billion as of 2023
- 52% of retail executives say offering resale is becoming table stakes for retailers
- The resale market grew 5 times faster than the primary retail market in 2022
- Online resale is the fastest-growing sector of the secondhand market, expected to grow 21% annually over the next 5 years
- The global vintage and secondhand luxury goods market specifically was valued at $31.1 billion in 2021
- By 2025, the resale sector will be bigger than the fast fashion sector
- 88 brands launched dedicated resale programs in 2022, a 244% increase from 2021
- The secondhand clothing market is growing 11 times faster than traditional retail in the UK
- 75% of retail executives have committed to or are open to offering secondhand to their customers
- Secondhand goods made up $17 billion of holiday spend in 2023
- The total addressable market for resale as a service (RaaS) is expected to climb significantly by 2030
- China’s secondhand luxury market is estimated to reach $30 billion by 2025
- In 2023, 10% of the global apparel market was made up of secondhand items
- The secondhand furniture and home goods market, often sold alongside vintage clothing, is expected to reach $20 billion by 2025
- Japan's reuse market size grew to approximately 3 trillion yen in 2022
Interpretation
The thrift tide has become a retail tsunami: with secondhand apparel projected to hit $350 billion by 2027, growing three times faster than new clothing and surging 28 percent globally in 2022, it’s poised to surpass fast fashion by 2025, make up roughly 23 percent of the average closet by 2029, and force retailers worldwide—from a $70 billion U.S. opportunity to a $30 billion Chinese luxury segment—to treat resale as table stakes.
Online Platforms & Digital Resale
- Depop has over 30 million registered users, 90% of whom are under the age of 26
- eBay sells a secondhand sneaker every 5 seconds in North America roughly
- Vinted, a major European resale app, is valued at over €3.5 billion
- ThredUp has processed over 137 million unique secondhand items since its inception
- The RealReal has over 33 million members on its luxury resale platform
- 70% of online resale shoppers say they find it easier to shop secondhand online than in store
- Searches for "vintage" on Etsy increased by 28% in 2021
- StockX, primarily a sneaker resale platform, hit a $3.8 billion valuation in 2021
- Vestiaire Collective banned fast fashion brands from its platform to promote true value
- 30% of Gen Z browse resale apps daily
- Poshmark has over 80 million registered users across the US, Canada, Australia, and India
- Online resale is expected to account for 50% of the total secondhand market by 2024
- Live shopping for vintage (livestream commerce) grew by 76% in 2022 on platforms like Whatnot
- 80% of eBay's goods sold are new, but the 'pre-loved' category is their fastest growing segment
- Grailed, a menswear resale site, has over 10 million users
- Rebag data shows that intent to sell luxury goods online increased 18% in 2023
- 1 in 2 people throw away their unwanted clothes online rather than donating or selling, representing a digital opportunity gap
- Digital IDs are being introduced by 15% of brands to facilitate easy one-click resale
- Mercari US saw a 50% increase in listings for vintage items significantly during the pandemic
- 50% of resale sellers use the earnings to purchase more clothes online creating a circular loop
Interpretation
With multibillion dollar valuations, tens of millions of users, daily Gen Z browsing, booming live shopping, brands adding digital IDs and even banning fast fashion, online vintage resale has graduated from niche pastime to mainstream tech powered circular economy, and with half of people effectively "throwing away" unwanted clothes online there is a huge digital opportunity for platforms to turn waste into wardrobe and profit.
References
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