Why throw it away?
Fashion and apparel items make up a large portion of what is being re-sold around the world, with the second-hand apparel market on its own expected to reach over 350 billion U.S. dollars globally by 2027. Beyond apparel, however, another category of pre-owned goods in high demand serves the purpose of entertainment. Among Chinese consumers, consumer electronics, used books, movies, music, and games are among the most purchased second-hand items.In the United States, online recommerce – inclusive of all categories – is expected to reach over 100 billion U.S. dollars in resale volume by 2027. Up to 40 percent of U.S. consumers used online resale websites in 2022, according to a recent survey. When it comes to why consumers shop second-hand, most global users cited saving money as their primary reason to buy more second-hand items. Variety of choices and uniqueness it offers was also an important driver for many.
Pre-loved platforms
Several platforms have been created to stimulate the market for selling second-hand goods on the internet. In Western countries, one of the most notable is eBay, which was used the most in the United States among consumers who purchased second-hand products online in 2022. Chinese consumers most frequently used Xianyu, otherwise known as Taobao, for their online second-hand purchases in the same year.As for primarily mobile platforms, the Vinted app was downloaded nearly three million times by mobile users worldwide as recently as April 2023. Depop, another popular platform for the selling and purchasing of second-hand items, registered almost half a million global downloads in the same month. With so many options for online resale and considering the current supply chain disruptions and production bottlenecks for new products worldwide, the online second-hand market can only thrive in years to come.
