Resale Becomes Customer Acquisition Channel as 80% Shop Secondhand to Find New Brands

✴︎

4.15.2026

Quick Facts

More than 80% of consumers shop resale to discover new brands, with 58% then purchasing new items from those brands
The global secondhand apparel market will reach $317 billion by 2027, growing two to three times faster than the firsthand market
Two major resale players, Vinted and The RealReal, have achieved profitability as AI automation improves unit economics

Resale has evolved from discount shopping to a primary brand discovery channel. New data from McKinsey & Company shows more than 80% of consumers use secondhand platforms to find new brands. Of those shoppers, 58% later buy new items from brands they discovered through resale.

McKinsey senior partner Colleen Baum presented the findings at ReCon. The data shows 66% of respondents discovered or purchased a brand for the first time through resale, up from 59% in 2022.

“People started to play up in the price tiers that they could afford, and they got used to being able to experience luxury,” Baum said. “Today’s economic pressures mean consumers don’t have the funds to fulfill that urge—unless they spend dramatically less by buying the items they covet used, rather than new.”

The global secondhand apparel market will grow to $317 billion in 2027, up from an estimated $256 billion in 2025, according to McKinsey’s State of Fashion 2026 report. Online resale will nearly double to $48.3 billion by 2030, representing 10% annual growth.

Brands are taking notice. Since 2021, there has been a 325% increase in brands launching resale listings on their own sites. Fifty-eight percent of retailers agree that lacking a resale presence creates a permanent structural disadvantage.

The business model has reached profitability. Vinted and The RealReal both turned profitable as AI-powered automation improved operations. Nearly all top-tier platforms now use AI image recognition to flag counterfeits with 99% accuracy.

Generation Z leads adoption, with resale making up nearly one-third of their wardrobes and almost half of their handbag collections. They are more likely than any other demographic to discover new brands through secondhand purchases.

ThredUp CEO James Reinhart said resale is “no longer just growing, it’s taking share.” The company reported the resale industry is taking measurable market share from new retail.