A ‘resale revolution’: Affluent shoppers embrace secondhand shopping

Bargain hunting is surely not new.

But with the Covid pandemic came a surge successful "thrifting," oregon buying and selling pre-owned goods.

At first, immoderate families nether fiscal unit looked to secondhand buying arsenic a mode to save. Then it became mainstream.

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So called recommerce grew astir 15% successful 2021 — doubly arsenic accelerated arsenic the broader retail marketplace and notching the highest complaint of maturation successful past for the industry, according to a 2022 recommerce study by OfferUp.

While dominated by covering resale, 82% of Americans, oregon 272 cardinal people, bargain oregon merchantability secondhand products, OfferUp found, including electronics, furniture, location goods and sporting equipment, arsenic good arsenic apparel.

Over the adjacent 5 years, recommerce is projected to turn by 80% and deed $289 billion.

To beryllium sure, astir consumers are motivated by value. Thrift store shoppers prevention astir $150 a month, oregon $1,760 a year, connected average, by buying secondhand items, according to a study by CouponFollow.

Saving money, however, is not the lone driver, CouponFollow found. Shoppers person besides turned to resale for different reasons, arsenic well, specified arsenic sustainability and arsenic a means to unafraid hard-to-find luxury items.

Because it is considered eco-friendly, it's besides go much socially acceptable, said Brett Heffes, CEO of Winmark, the franchisor of stores similar Plato's Closet, Once Upon a Child and Play It Again Sports.

"When I started successful this business, determination was a stigma astir purchasing antecedently owned items, and that stigma is gone."

In fact, sometimes buying secondhand is the lone mode to people a limited-edition brace of Air Jordans oregon different highly coveted and exclusive items.

Part of the momentum fueling resale is the tendency to summation entree to that unsocial item, added Wells Fargo managing manager Adam Davis, who works with recommerce retail businesses, whether that's "a Chanel handbag oregon Nike sneakers" — adjacent if you extremity up paying much than the archetypal retail price.  

Much of the maturation has been driven by younger shoppers, peculiarly teenagers, Heffes said. "We merchantability a batch of sneakers."

Increasingly, however, "affluent consumers are starring the recommerce revolution," said Chris Richter, CEO of recommerce tract FloorFound.

Largely driven by worth and a tendency to store successful much sustainable ways, "shoppers are looking to acquisition resale alternatively of new," Richter said.

High-income consumers are adjacent much apt to store secondhand, according to a canvass of much than 1,000 adults by FloorFound: Nearly 9 successful 10 shoppers making much than $175,000 a twelvemonth person antecedently bought a resale point — 14 percent points higher than the survey average.

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