US Secondhand Garment Sales Grow Faster Than Traditional Retail
Secondhand apparel sales in the United States increased by 11 percent to US $43 billion in 2023, which is seven times faster than traditional garment retail sales and is forecast to reach $73 billion by 2028.
This was the finding of a report titled ‘2024 Retail Resale Report’ released by ThredUp’s and conducted by third-party data analytics firm GlobalData.
The 12th annual ThredUp resale report found that buying secondhand clothing is booming as consumers continue to hold back on spending and preferring to buying secondhand apparels.
52 percent of consumers shopped for secondhand apparel in 2023, while two in five garments bought were secondhand and on average, consumers spent 50 percent of clothing budget on secondhand garments.
60 percent of consumers said that purchasing secondhand garments gives them more value on spending while, 55 percent plan to spend more on secondhand garments.
The report stated that nearly three in four consumers informed that when it comes to spending on clothing, secondhand clothing offers more value.
The study found that 45 percent of the younger generations prefer to buy secondhand apparel on ecommerce platforms, while 38 percent prefer to purchase in offline stores.
The report pointed out that online resale is projected to more than double and total $40 billion by 2028 growing at a CAGR of 17 percent.
The ThredUp study added that 163 apparel brands now offer resale programmes, which include American Eagle, J. Crew and Kate Spade who joined the ThredUp’s Resale-as-a-Service in 2023.
“With more than half of all consumers shopping for secondhand apparel last year, it’s evident that secondhand is now firmly embedded in the fashion landscape,” Neil Saunders, MD at GlobalData said.
For the study, GlobalData did a survey of 3,654 US consumers over the age of 18; and a survey of 50 top US fashion brands and retailers.
Click here to view the full report.
