Secondhand Fashion Market in the UK: Categories, Preferences by Generation, Top Platforms

Secondhand Fashion in the UK: Key Insights

• Clothing Is Most Relevant: Among all fashion subcategories, Clothing is bought most often in the UK secondhand online market: 30% of respondents bought a pre-owned apparel item in the past year.

• Generational Trends: The youngest shoppers – Gen Z and Millennials – are the most active secondhand shoppers in all categories. 68% of them have purchased a pre-loved item lately.

• Most Preferred Platforms: At 62%, eBay has the highest level of usage among UK secondhand shoppers in 2024. Vinted and Etsy follow suit.

ReCommerce – or reverse commerce – refers to the online sale and purchase of secondhand products. This growing eCommerce sector is mainly driven by eco-conscious consumers who prefer pre-owned goods at affordable prices and less damage to the environment.

The shift to reCommerce is evident in the UK across a range of product categories, but particularly in fashion.

Here is which subcategories of fashion are bought secondhand the most, attitudes by generation, and the most popular platforms to buy secondhand clothing online in the UK.

Top Fashion Category Bought Secondhand Is Clothing

In Statista’s 2024 Consumer Insights, UK online shoppers were asked if they had bought secondhand products over the last year. Although the numbers are not limited to online purchases, we can use these responses to assess consumer willingness to buy pre-owned products.

Secondhand purchases are not uncommon in the UK. Clothing is popular among UK secondhand shoppers, with 30% of consumers stating that they bought a used piece of clothing in the last 12 months.

The second most-bought fashion category for secondhand purchases is Bags & Accessories, at 20%. The least popular is Shoes, with 15%.

Looking at secondhand purchases in general, regardless of product category, an even higher percentage of UK users say they have recently purchased a secondhand item: 63% of UK online shoppers say they've bought secondhand in the past year, compared to 37% who haven't.

But what impact does age have on consumers' willingness to buy pre-owned products?

Secondhand Fashion Is Most Attractive to Younger Users

Age is negatively correlated with buying secondhand, which means that younger shoppers are more likely to have bought a pre-owned item recently.

This is consistent with previous reports by other publications. In general, 68% of Gen Z as well as Millennial respondents said they have bought secondhand in the last year.

Amongst older shoppers, more Generation X (59%) bought secondhand in the past year than Baby Boomers who, at 46%, are the least inclined amongst all generational cohorts to buy secondhand. But even at this rate, nearly half of Baby Boomers purchased secondhand products, which is a significant share.

In comparison, younger consumers are more inclined to purchase pre-owned goods. In particular, consumers aged between 30 and 39 report the highest level of secondhand purchases in 2024, with 70% of respondents saying they bought secondhand in the past year.

Although these figures do not specify whether products were purchased online or analog, they show us that there is a high willingness to buy used Fashion products among UK consumers, regardless of age.

Secondhand Clothes Most Attractive to All Generations

Looking at specific fashion product categories, we see that clothing is not only the top choice to buy pre-owned but is also the secondhand category with the least variation across generations.

31% of Gen Z and Millennial online shoppers said they have bought secondhand clothing in the past year, followed by 30% of Gen X and 22% of Baby Boomers.

Bags & Accessories are most popular among Gen Z shoppers (25%), while secondhand Shoes were bought by Gen Z at a lower rate of 19%. For Millennials, the category wise preference is comparable to Gen Z.

Older Users Are Less Interested in Secondhand Accessories or Shoes

Categories other than Clothing are of much less interest to Gen X and Baby Boomer secondhand shoppers.

13% of Gen X shoppers have bought either used Bags & Accessories or Shoes, while these rates are even lower for Baby Boomers, at 8% and 6% respectively.

The reasons for this disparity between the younger and older cohorts are thought to lie in changing attitudes towards fashion and the textile industry. While fast fashion has contributed to increasing amounts of waste in landfills around the world, affordability is also a major concern.

On the one hand, young users are the most likely to buy from the likes of Shein and Boohoo, but there is a reverse trend where young users are buying secondhand to combine sustainability with lower costs.

A Changing Paradigm: Leading Secondhand Initiatives

Online fashion retailers are already taking note of this trend and offering customers a selection of used clothing, as well as repair services for damaged clothing that is still fit to wear or resell.

In addition to that, marketplaces are either integrating new secondhand features or starting out as reCommerce online stores focused exclusively on used apparel.

Among stores best known among UK secondhand consumers, eBay tops the list by a sizeable margin: 62% of respondents said they prefer this platform for secondhand buying.

Vinted and Etsy are the second- and third-most liked by UK consumers, with respective rates of 48% and 41%. Depop is next, taking the fourth position with 32%.

In the fifth place is ASOS Marketplace (26%), followed by FARFETCH (25%). Ranks 7 to 10 include Cow (21%), Poshmark (21%), ROKit (18%), and Re-Fashion (18%). But do not let yourself be fooled by these relatively low preference shares. All these stores have devoted themselves to contributing to the circular economy and prove that secondhand styles do not need to be antiquated or outmoded.

While high-end products are certainly a focus for many of the aforementioned stores, it is not a must for a viable business strategy. More important is a good balance between quality and price at a tasteful product presentation.

UK Fashion ReCommerce: Closing Thoughts

The reCommerce Fashion market in the UK is growing, with younger UK buyers at the forefront and driving this trend. Older generations, however, are less inclined to buy secondhand fashion products

With critiques of fast fashion and greenwashing mounting in the UK, retailers are under pressure to ensure sustainability standards. It is reasonable to assume that more consumers in the UK gaining awareness of the costs and environmental harm of fashion consumerism will enhance the shift towards reCommerce.

Sources: Guardian

FAQ: Secondhand Fashion eCommerce UK

What is the trend for second-hand clothing in the UK?

What is similar to Vinted UK?

Where do people buy clothes online in the UK?

Is thrifting common in the UK?