Last updated: June 11, 2026 · Curated by the WishThrift editorial team
The secondhand economy is no longer a niche. The global secondhand apparel market is worth roughly $197 billion and is on track to hit $350 billion by 2028 — growing about three times faster than the apparel market overall. Below are the most important sourced statistics on resale market growth, how much thrifting actually saves, and the environmental case for buying used — the numbers we rely on at WishThrift, updated for 2026.
Key takeaways
- The global secondhand apparel market is projected to reach $350 billion by 2028 (ThredUp / GlobalData).
- Buying a used item instead of new cuts that item’s carbon footprint by about 82% (Green Story).
- Typical thrift-store and resale savings run 50–80% below retail for everyday items.
- 52% of consumers bought secondhand apparel in the past year (ThredUp Resale Report 2024).
- A truckload of textiles is landfilled or burned every second worldwide (Ellen MacArthur Foundation).
Secondhand market size & growth
- The global secondhand apparel market was valued at approximately $197 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $350 billion by 2028. — ThredUp Resale Report / GlobalData
- The secondhand market is expected to grow 3× faster than the overall global apparel market through 2028. — ThredUp Resale Report 2024
- The US secondhand apparel market reached about $43 billion in 2023 and is projected to hit $73 billion by 2028. — ThredUp / GlobalData
- Online resale is the fastest-growing segment of secondhand, expected to roughly double over the next five years as marketplaces replace donation-only channels. — ThredUp Resale Report
- Resale is taking share directly from fast fashion: secondhand’s share of closets keeps rising while more than 1 in 3 shoppers say they buy used specifically instead of buying new. — ThredUp consumer survey data
Who shops secondhand
- 52% of consumers shopped for secondhand apparel in the past year. — ThredUp Resale Report 2024
- Gen Z and millennials lead adoption: roughly two in three say they look for an item secondhand before buying it new. — ThredUp / GlobalData consumer surveys
- Saving money is the #1 motivation for buying secondhand, cited by about half of shoppers, with sustainability the second-biggest driver. — ThredUp Resale Report
- Younger shoppers increasingly see resale value as part of the purchase decision: many check an item’s resale value before buying it new. — ThredUp Resale Report
- Stigma has effectively disappeared: a large majority of consumers say there is no shame in shopping secondhand, a complete reversal from a decade ago. — industry consumer surveys
How much thrifting saves
- Everyday thrifted clothing and household items typically sell for 50–80% below original retail price. — industry estimates
- Designer and luxury resale items generally sell for 30–70% below retail, depending on brand, rarity and condition. — resale platform pricing data
- Secondhand furniture routinely sells for 50–90% less than new, with solid-wood pieces holding value best. — resale market estimates
- UK wardrobes alone hold an estimated £30 billion of clothing that hasn’t been worn in the last year — value that resale unlocks. — WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme)
Fashion’s environmental footprint
- The fashion industry is responsible for up to 10% of global carbon emissions — more than international flights and maritime shipping combined. — UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
- The world produces an estimated 92 million tonnes of textile waste every year. — Global Fashion Agenda / Boston Consulting Group
- The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or incinerated every second. — Ellen MacArthur Foundation
- Less than 1% of the material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing. — Ellen MacArthur Foundation
- Producing a single cotton T-shirt takes about 2,700 litres of water — enough drinking water for one person for 2.5 years. — WWF / UNEP
- Textile dyeing and treatment account for roughly 20% of global industrial wastewater. — UNEP / World Bank
- Around 100 billion garments are produced every year — clothing production roughly doubled between 2000 and 2014. — McKinsey & Company / Ellen MacArthur Foundation
- The average garment is worn 36% fewer times than it was 15 years ago. — Ellen MacArthur Foundation
- Polyester — found in well over half of all garments — can take hundreds of years to decompose and sheds plastic microfibres with every wash. — UNEP
- Washing plastic-based textiles releases an estimated 500,000 tonnes of microfibres into the ocean each year — the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles. — Ellen MacArthur Foundation
- In the US alone, 17 million tons of textile waste was generated in 2018; about two-thirds went to landfill and under 15% was recycled. — US EPA
- The average American throws away around 81 lbs (37 kg) of clothing every year. — Council for Textile Recycling
The impact of buying secondhand
- Buying a used item instead of new reduces that item’s carbon footprint by about 82%. — Green Story for ThredUp
- Extending the life of a garment by just nine extra months reduces its carbon, water and waste footprints by 20–30% each. — WRAP
- If everyone bought one used item instead of new this year, it would save billions of pounds of CO₂e — the equivalent of taking hundreds of thousands of cars off the road. — ThredUp / Green Story
- Reuse beats recycling: keeping a garment in active use is the single most effective way to reduce its lifetime footprint, ahead of fibre recycling or donation-export chains. — Ellen MacArthur Foundation circular-economy research
- Every kilogram of clothing reused (rather than newly produced) saves an estimated 25 kg of CO₂e across the production chain. — WRAP lifecycle analyses
Sources and methodology
Figures on this page are drawn from the ThredUp Resale Report (market data by GlobalData), the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the UN Environment Programme, the US EPA, WRAP, WWF, McKinsey & Company and the Global Fashion Agenda. Where reports give ranges, we cite the conservative end. This page is reviewed and updated by the WishThrift editorial team; figures were last verified in June 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How big is the secondhand clothing market?
The global secondhand apparel market was valued at roughly $197 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $350 billion by 2028 (ThredUp / GlobalData) — growing about three times faster than the apparel market overall.
How much money do you save by thrifting?
Typical savings run 50–80% below original retail for everyday clothing and household items; designer resale usually lands 30–70% below retail depending on brand and condition.
Is buying secondhand really better for the environment?
Yes — buying used instead of new cuts that item’s carbon footprint by about 82% (Green Story), and extending a garment’s life by nine months reduces its carbon, water and waste footprints by 20–30% each (WRAP).
What percentage of people buy secondhand?
About 52% of consumers bought secondhand apparel in the past year (ThredUp Resale Report 2024), with adoption highest among Gen Z and millennials.
Why is thrifting so popular right now?
Three forces: saving money (the most-cited motivation), sustainability concerns about fast fashion, and online resale marketplaces that made secondhand as convenient as regular e-commerce.
Ready to put these numbers into practice? Browse pre-loved items from verified sellers worldwide, or start selling what you no longer use — listing is free. More guides on the WishThrift blog.