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As it’s done every year since 2013, secondhand clothing platform thredUP released its 2023 Resale Report this week.
Compiling data from independent consumer surveys and its own brand partners—which include labels like Kate Spade, J. Crew, Hot Topic and Tommy Hilfiger—the company aims to give a snapshot of how the recommerce industry has changed over the past year and what people and companies should expect to see next.
The global resale market grew 28% in 2022, according to thredUP’s report, reaching $177 billion in total. Next year, the platform predicts that it’ll make up 10% of the global apparel market, with resale outpacing the rest of the market in coming years to reach $350 billion globally by 2027.
“We’re on a promising trajectory,” James Reinhart, thredUP CEO, said in the report.
This year, it relaunched a consumer-facing tool called the Fashion Footprint Calculator alongside the report. The tool estimates the climate impact of a person’s fashion habits based on how many new pieces of clothing they buy each year, what they do with garments they no longer want, as well as how often—and how—they wash their clothes.
The calculator was initially launched in 2020, and the revamped version has some notable changes, including a tone shift that avoids shame-inducing language and instead aims to empower shoppers with practical steps to curb the climate impact of their closets.
While the report charts significant growth in branded resale and a steadily increasing consumer interest in secondhand, experts point out that resale is just one tool to address the climate impact of the fashion industry. Secondhand business models must be part of a broader shift away from overconsumption as well as overproduction that relies on virgin materials—instead, moving toward a slower, more ethical way of creating and distributing clothing.
Focusing on opportunity for change
To address the consumer behavior side of the equation, thredUP changed the tone of its Fashion Footprint Calculator, which the brand initially launched in 2020, asking consumers: “How dirty is your closet?”
