From thrift to trend: How resale fashion is taking over global wardrobes

Shoppers are increasingly turning to secondhand apparel, spending $227 billion last year. The trend is set to accelerate as tariffs raise new clothing prices.

Shoppers around the world are quickly adding more used shoes, accessories and clothes to their closets. Last year, they spent $227 billion on secondhand apparel, accounting for nearly 10% of all global spending on clothes, according to a new report from online resale marketplace ThredUp Inc.

The trend is set to accelerate, particularly in the US where President Donald Trump’s tariffs are likely to increase the price of new clothes, and globally thanks to a changing attitudes and artificial intelligence-aided shopping. “You’re starting to see more and more consumers come to resale,” says James Reinhart, chief executive officer and co-founder of ThredUp. “Once people start shopping secondhand, they keep doing it.”

Consumers can now buy secondhand at a growing number of places. Alongside donation and vintage shops, there’s a growing online ecosystem for buying used, including eBay, ThredUp, Poshmark and other marketplaces where customers can directly sell and purchase items.

More brands are also setting up their own online resale offerings, either independently or by outsourcing to companies that provide resale services, including Archive and Trove. The latter has around 50 clients, including the addition of seven brands in the second half of 2024, according to Terry Boyle, the company's chief executive officer. Outdoor apparel maker Patagonia Inc and sneaker seller AllBirds Inc are among those that use Trove’s services.

To attract more shoppers, some brands are looking to integrate resale with the rest of their business by launching shared online checkouts, as well as spending on third-party marketing for resale, according to Boyle.

Global secondhand fashion sales, which rose 15% in 2024 from the previous year, are projected to surpass $250 billion in 2025 and then exceed $300 billion in 2027, according to the report published Wednesday, based on ThredUp data and research from the third-party retail analytics firm GlobalData.

A better deal

A big reason why consumers buy used is because it’s affordable. Shopping secondhand let’s people get deals on all sorts of items, including garments from higher-end brands that may normally be out of reach if purchased new, according to the report.

In the US, President Trump’s recently imposed blanket 20% tariffs on all Chinese imports are expected to raise the costs of new clothing sold nationwide, which would expand the price gap between new and used items, explains Reinhart. While most new clothing sold in the US is produced overseas, largely in China, much of the apparel sold secondhand in the US comes from inside the country.

Shifting tastes

Consumer sentiment has also changed. Historically, there was a stigma around secondhand shopping, but “it’s now become the norm,” says Samina Virk, US chief executive officer for the high-end online resale marketplace Vestiaire Collective.

Online secondhand shopping is especially popular among younger generations, which have grown up with the internet and are comfortable buying and selling their clothes online, she adds.

Some consumers also are turning to secondhand items to avoid the greenhouse emissions generated by producing and transporting new clothes. Similarly, some people choose to sell their used clothes rather than trashing them because it’s more environmentally friendly. Vestiaire Collective’s data suggest that 79% of items sold on its site replace a firsthand purchase.

AI-assisted shopping

Reinhart points to another trend that could bump up used apparel sales in 2025 and beyond: AI.

Sorting through secondhand items to find exactly what you’re looking for can be clunky and time-intensive, especially online. To overcome this obstacle, Thredup is deploying AI tools that allow users to upload a picture of a shoe or jacket they want and sort through the site to find similar items.

This kind of experimentation in the coming years will help making shopping secondhand online just as seamless as buying new, Reinhart predicts.