Secondhand Shopping Gets a Boost, Especially with Well-Off Shoppers
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Multicultural Consumer

Secondhand Shopping Gets a Boost, Especially with Well-Off Shoppers

/ Report

Secondhand shopping (i.e., the purchase of used and preowned items, including luxury categories), is one of the most significant current trends in retail.

 

Secondhand shopping (i.e., the purchase of used and preowned items, including luxury categories), is one of the most significant current trends in retail.

 

According to our Q1 2023 Multicultural Consumer Survey of 2,000 US respondents, people under 35 make up the majority of secondhand shoppers. Lower-income shoppers are a key customer segment; their secondhand purchases focus on essential categories such as clothes, furniture, books, and appliances. But higher-income shoppers have joined them. They have become leading shoppers in discretionary categories such as exercise equipment, jewelry, bags, and plants. With younger and higher-income consumers most committed to buying used items, secondhand shopping has lost its stigma.

Insights for What’s Ahead

The pandemic’s supply chain issues, subsequent inflation, and online selling platforms have boosted the secondhand market—and this may continue. Buying used items was on the rise before Covid-19 due to lower costs and, increasingly, sustainability benefits and the fun of discovering unique items. The pandemic,

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