thredUp — a leading online resale platform for women’s and kids’ apparel,
shoes and accessories — has released its 2021 Resale Report, a comprehensive study of the US
secondhand market. The ninth annual study, which surveyed 3,500 consumers,
estimates that the secondhand market is projected to double in the next five
years to $77 billion.
This year’s study reveals new insights on tailwinds propelling resale in the
pandemic recovery and the need for government action in accelerating the
adoption of circular fashion. For the first time, the report also includes an
Impact Section, highlighting the company’s progress towards its mission to
inspire a new generation of consumers to make the ‘shift to
thrift’:
By extending the life of millions of used garments, thredUP is helping to offset
the environmental and financial costs of fashion — to date, the platform has
processed more than 125 million secondhand items, displaced 1 billion pounds of
carbon emissions and saved consumers $3.9 billion off estimated retail prices.
As thredUP co-founder and CEO James Reinhart says in the report:
“We are in the early stages of a radical transformation in retail. Consumers
are prioritizing sustainability, retailers are starting to embrace resale, and
policymakers are getting on board with the circular economy,” say. Pollutive
industries have the power to transform when technological innovation collides
with the motivations of consumers, businesses and government. We’ve seen it with
electric cars and solar energy, and we believe circular fashion is next. With
this year’s Resale Report, we hope to shine a light on the positive power of
resale and create a catalyst for further collaboration and action across the
industry."
Notable findings
The resale sector grew during the pandemic and is projected to accelerate during recovery and beyond.
- Secondhand is now a $36 billion market, projected to double in the next 5
years to $77 billion.
- Resale is expected to grow 11 times faster than retail clothing over the next 5 years.
- In 2020, 33 million consumers bought secondhand apparel for the first time; and 76 percent of those first-time buyers plan to increase their spend on secondhand in the next 5 years.
Resale is an emerging growth channel for apparel retailers.
- 62 percent of retail execs say their customers are already participating in
resale, and 42 percent of retail executives say resale will be an important
part of their business in the next 5 years.
- 1 in 3 execs say resale is becoming table stakes for retailers.
- 43 percent of consumers say they are more likely to shop with a brand that lets them trade in old clothes for brand credit; and 34 percent say they are more likely to shop with a brand that offers secondhand clothing alongside new.
Secondhand is displacing fast fashion, new clothing purchases, and harmful production as consumers shift to thrift.
- Resale is expected to be more than 2x bigger than fast fashion by 2030, with
2 in 5 thrifters saying they’re replacing fast fashion purchases with
secondhand clothing.
- The average thrifter bought ~7 items secondhand in the past year that they would normally buy new, displacing more than 542 million new items of apparel.
- In the past decade: 6.65 billion items of apparel have been recirculated via the secondhand market. Consumers have saved $390 billion by buying secondhand. 116 billion pounds of CO2e have been displaced by buying used instead of new apparel.
Consumers’ values have changed since COVID, driving new demand for secondhand.
- 1 in 3 consumers care more about wearing sustainable apparel than pre-pandemic.
- 60 percent of consumers are more opposed to wasting money, while 51 percent are more opposed to environmental waste.
- 1 in 2 consumers care more about seeking value.
Transforming fashion through materials innovation
Join us as leaders from Crocs, Hilos, Marchon Eyewear, Planet FWD and Target discuss real-world examples, practical strategies, and supply chain considerations for developing eco-friendly clothing, shoes, and accessories that minimize waste and protect the planet — Tuesday, Oct. 15, at SB'24 San Diego.
“As we emerge from the pandemic, the resale market is stronger than ever.
Consumers are refreshing their closets and turning to resale as a way to
sustainably discard garments and acquire new ones,” says Neil Saunders,
Managing Director of GlobalData, which conducted the study. “Retailers
recognize this shift, which is why so many of them are now looking to get into
resale. These trends will make resale the most dynamic and fast-paced part of
the apparel market over the next decade.”
These findings build on trends uncovered in GlobeScan’s 2020 Healthy and
Sustainable Living Study, which found a definite uptick in consumer desire for
more durable and secondhand goods that will help them lower their personal
impacts — but there’s a clear need for brands to help them make the
shift.
As GlobeScan CEO Chris Coulter pointed out:
“Brands must make it easy and affordable. Price is a real barrier for much of
the world on anything sustainable. They also have to make it cool. … But what’s
most exciting is that younger consumers — Gen Z — do see consumption
differently, and are open to more radical approaches to
consumption based on circular principles.”
This demand from Gen Z is one thing fueling retailers’ embrace of resale and
takeback programs: Patagonia has long been a leader in encouraging more
circular consumption, urging customers not to buy
anything
from its stores if they don’t really need it; and launching Worn
Wear
— its repairs, returns and resale platform — in 2013. In recent years, companies
including
Levi’s,
The North
Face,
Arc’teryx,
REI, Eileen
Fisher,
COS
and others have followed suit with repair-and-resell schemes of their own —
joining the ranks of UK and European companies such as
Barbour,
Mud Jeans, Hiut
Denim
and Nudie
Jeans.
And recently, Rent the Runway joined thredUP as a fully fledged resale
site, increasing
thrifters’ access to previously hard-to-find, secondhand luxury items.
Consumers and retailers want the government to step in to incentivize resale.
- 58 percent of retail executives say they’d be more likely to test apparel resale if there were financial incentives for doing so.
- 44 percent of consumers think the government should help promote sustainable fashion. 47 percent say they’d be more inclined to purchase secondhand clothing if there was no sales tax or they received a tax credit.
The US would do well to follow the UK’s example in this area: In 2019, the
Environmental Audit Committee called on the UK government to make fashion
brands take responsibility for the waste they
create
— suggesting, among other measures, a £1p extended producer responsibility (EPR)
charge on each item of clothing produced that could pay for better clothing
collection and recycling. While the plan stalled during COVID, consultations on
the EPR strategy — which could see companies across the value chain, including
manufacturers and retail, contributing to the cost of recycling — are moving
forward.
See more results from the study here.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Jun 29, 2021 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST