Dive Brief:
- Secondhand apparel offers better quality for the price compared to items bought new at retail, according to 62% of shoppers surveyed in the 2024 OfferUp Recommerce Report, released in September.
- Almost a quarter of recommerce transactions involved clothing items, according to the report. In addition, 71% of shoppers surveyed said they found apparel — a category which encompassed clothing, footwear and fashion accessories — to be the most enjoyable secondhand category to shop for, an OfferUp spokesperson said in an email.
- The recommerce market is projected to reach $291.6 billion by 2029, and resale is expected to account for 8% of total retail by then, per the report. By the end of the decade, recommerce’s expansion could outpace the overall retail market by 21%.
Dive Insight:
OfferUp’s report arrived during a month informally known as Second Hand September, a moniker created in 2019 by U.K.-based nonprofit Oxfam to refocus consumer attention on resale, in contrast to the runway shows scheduled on the international fashion calendar.
This is the third recommerce report from OfferUp. This year, report authors said more than half of shoppers (53%) “find reselling to be an enjoyable experience,” and 51% of respondents saying they believe secondhand items overall are typically of better quality than new items sold in stores today.
“For recommerce shoppers, 'value' goes beyond just affordability — it’s about discovering higher-quality secondhand goods,” Ken Murphy, senior vice president of product at OfferUp, said in emailed comments. “Fashion and apparel exemplify this behavior, particularly in the case of clothing.”
In the next 12 months, 58% of shoppers said they planned to buy more secondhand apparel, said the spokesperson.
“Among retail categories, clothing is where shoppers firmly believe secondhand offers better quality than new items,” Murphy said. “People are discovering premium, well-crafted pieces at much lower prices than low-quality new items, and this is a key reason why secondhand shopping is on the rise. Essentially, the growing emphasis on durability, style, and eco-consciousness is reshaping the way we appreciate preloved fashion.”
OfferUp, a digital peer-to-peer marketplace app, used research and data from retail analytics firm GlobalData in its report. Additional data was provided by online market research provider Pollfish, which conducted a survey of 1,500 U.S. adults in July that focused on recommerce buying and selling behaviors.
Several reports this year have supported the premise that resale is gaining ground, particularly in the fashion marketplace.
EBay’s 2024 Recommerce Report, released in May, said apparel and accessories sales with the word “thrifted” in their item descriptions grew over 400% globally from March 2023 to March 2024. Additionally, an April report from luxury resale platform Vestiaire found that the average resold luxury item is worn 76% more than the average fast fashion item.
