The market for second hand luxury goods is also on the rise. Europe is the largest second hand personal luxury goods market, a market which mostly consists of watches and jewelry. It is also quite a lucrative market, with some brands of luxury sneakers being sold second hand for over eleven hundred U.S. dollars on average.
There is a thriving online marketplace for second hand clothing, whether it is through websites like eBay or apps such as Poshmark or Thredup. Among independent online sellers, the most popular online marketplaces are Amazon, eBay, and Etsy. These kinds of websites were also most popular among online buyers of second-hand merchandise, followed by local “free” pages on Facebook, where users can advertise unwanted goods so that someone in their community may take them off their hands.
A 2018 survey found that six percent of the average U.S. consumer’s wardrobe consisted of resale clothing, a proportion that was expected to rise to 11 percent by 2027. Although only a small percentage of consumers prefer used clothing to new clothing, the largest share of these individuals belong to the 18 to 29 year age group. Another survey from 2018 revealed that nearly 30 percent of consumers had purchased second hand clothing in the past 12 months, more than any other product category.
