UK secondhand fashion market worth almost £2.5bn last year - survey

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 12, 2024

A new study claims that UK consumers spent £2.4 billion on secondhand clothes and shoes last year with around half of them buying something pre-worn.

OK, it’s not based on actual sales figures. It’s derived from a Westfield-commissioned survey of 2,000 adults as part of its Westfield Good Festival. But the numbers are certainly interesting.

They show respondents claiming as much as 23% of their wardrobe is secondhand on average, with the 18-34 age group driving that figure up to 34%.

And when it comes to the number of secondhand items people bought last year, it’s three on average, dividing into a lower 1.7 for the over-55s but an impressive 5.3 items for young adults. 

And secondhand goes down a storm in London where the average purchase was 6.6 items.

The reasons they’re buying secondhand are easy to understand — including low prices (36%), sustainability/rejection of fast fashion (16%), style and quality (9%), and the cool factor (8%).

And these days they have a much wider choice compared to the jumble sales, swaps, charity shops and hand-me-downs of the past. All of those sources still exist, but the rise of sites like eBay, Vinted, Vestiaire Collective and more, plus retailers' own secondhand initiatives is what's helping drive the market to higher and higher sales.

So how much are people spending? An average of £91.60, but the 18-34 age group spent £120.40 and Londoners spent £133.20.

They bought a wide variety of items such as shirts/T-shirts (57%), jackets (39%), jeans/trousers (37%), accessories (29%) and shoes or trainers (26%).

A big part of all this was parents buying secondhand clothing for children, especially younger age groups, which essentially continues a decades-long tradition of acquiring pre-owned items for kids. As many as 59% of parents bought at least one item last year, with those of toddler/primary school age buying more than six.

And in an endorsement of the moves some retailers are making into the market, almost a third of respondents said they’d be more likely to buy secondhand clothing if they could buy directly from a high street retailer.

The secondhand market had been growing steadily in the UK with GlobalData saying it rose 149% between 2016 and 2022, but it has accelerated of late with a jump of 67.5% expected between 2022 and 2026.