Secondhand resale is getting cutthroat as platforms akin to Depop and Poshmark increase

Six months after launching his secondhand clothes store on digital market Depop in 2020, Blake Robertson, a 15-year-old excessive schooler on the time, obtained a loss of life menace from a buyer.

It got here by way of Instagram, from somebody who had not obtained her buy in time for Christmas.  

“Nothing occurred, however I do not know, it simply opened my eyes to the truth that some individuals, they simply actually need their gadgets,” mentioned Robertson.

Demand for secondhand resale on-line has been booming because the early days of the pandemic, producing a tradition shift throughout the indie marketplaces the place it started. Prospects, a lot of whom have been feeling the squeeze of inflation, are fiending for decrease costs, resulting in extra heated negotiations and sometimes ruthless bidding wars.

In the meantime, impartial resellers are turning their onetime interest right into a job, typically even upselling gadgets to make the most of demand spikes. Customers on platforms akin to Depop and Poshmark arrange on-line retailers to checklist classic, secondhand or distinctive gadgets on the market and generate notable followings of loyal customers.

Robertson is now 17 and says the expansion of resale has allowed him to show his Depop store, which now has greater than 19,000 followers, right into a part-time gig. He advised CNBC he juggles the hustle of reselling together with his highschool research.

He is change into accustomed to the occasional hate message or dayslong negotiations over a single merchandise. Greater than something, he has been pleasantly stunned by the rising attain of his store, which used to simply serve his pals as patrons.

“I get these messages from whole and full strangers, which simply makes me assume how a lot this app genuinely has grown,” Robertson mentioned.

To make certain, loss of life threats towards resellers will not be the norm. Beaux Abington, 49, says that general, she’s had “actually unbelievable, phenomenal clients.”

However she’s additionally observed extra patrons looking offers and has felt insulted by current provides for her merchandise which are typically lower than half her asking worth.

“There’s positively a price-consciousness that wasn’t all the time there,” mentioned Abington.

About 53% of individuals polled in an October 2022 Depop survey of greater than 2,000 U.Ok. customers mentioned that they’ve been turning to secondhand purchasing extra with a view to get monetary savings as dwelling prices rise. The consequence, sellers say, is extra frequent negotiations and intensified bidding wars.

“There’s much more negotiation taking place. Even within the final yr, I might say it is sort of skyrocketed for me,” mentioned Josefina Munroe, 27, a Depop vendor with greater than 30,000 followers. She began her store 5 years in the past and determined to make it a full-time job after she graduated faculty in 2020 and demand for on-line resale expanded.

Then there are the de facto bidding wars. Munroe remembers buying an merchandise on Depop solely to have the vendor cancel her order after realizing that one other buyer was keen to pay extra. Different Depop customers say that isn’t an unusual expertise.

“It is utterly separate from real-world purchasing as a result of that might by no means occur in a retailer,” mentioned Munroe. “I believe individuals have gotten very snug with the entire back-and-forth.”

Platforms akin to Depop and Poshmark are leaning into the aggressive shopper zeitgeist.

Final January, Depop launched a brand new “Make Supply” choice — a function that has streamlined the negotiation course of, which used to happen informally by way of direct messages. Resellers say that the brand new button has made clients extra snug haggling.

“The provide function on Depop has positively created a brand new dynamic by way of being hounded with low-ballers and likewise being anticipated to promote issues cheaply,” mentioned Pascale Davies, 28, who runs a Depop store with 59,000 followers.

However Depop has but to institute a proper perform for bidding battles — like the unique on-line reseller, eBay, provides. Depop additionally shut down remark sections on product pages the place clients used to ask questions and typically get in arguments, in line with customers.

“We discovered that feedback on an merchandise didn’t immediately assist patrons with their decision-making,” a Depop spokesperson advised CNBC when requested in regards to the change.

In September, Poshmark launched “Posh Reveals,” which permits sellers to carry livestreamed auctions to promote and promote their stock.

Stephanie Dionne, 44, who has been promoting on Poshmark for about two years, mentioned the reside exhibits are “all types of loopy and chaotic,” producing a fast-paced, ruthless promoting surroundings.

“Relating to the reside exhibits, individuals will sort of steal it out from beneath you on the final second,” she mentioned.

Since she launched her secondhand market along with her two sisters, Dionne’s enterprise retains getting greater and greater — a lot in order that considered one of her sisters decreased her full-time day job to part-time with a view to deal with the Poshmark store.

Final yr, the Dionnes made between $4,000 and $5,000 in revenue. Only a couple months into this yr, they’ve already surpassed that.

However now, sellers such because the Dionnes will not be solely competing with Poshmark and Depop friends but in addition main retailers akin to Goal and H&M which are attempting to money in on the resale increase.

Final week, H&M introduced its most up-to-date collaboration with the web thrift retailer ThredUp, which can now cross-list about 30,000 items of secondhand clothes on H&M’s web site. Goal has launched a number of ThredUp partnerships of its personal, and Etsy purchased Depop in 2021. In January, Poshmark was acquired by South Korean net large Naver.

However some impartial resellers doubt that the distinctive, curated expertise of indie resale may be scaled.

“Though greater firms try to occupy this area, I believe they miss the mark with regards to the non-public component of classic,” Finn Thomas, a London-based Depop vendor, advised CNBC.

“A part of the attraction of shopping for classic is the one-on-one interplay between the customer and vendor, the distinctive story behind every bit and the overall curation behind a retailer, one thing I am unable to see the bigger firms like H&M reaching,” Thomas added.