In these market hotspots, second-life sales are mainstreaming beyond fashion
Written by admin on December 19, 2025
When soccer parents in Evanston, Illinois, need new cleats or shin guards, many frequent Play It Again Sports for a secondhand bargain.
The store is part of Winmark Corporation, which operates five brick-and-mortar resale brands, including clothing (Plato’s Closet, Style Encore) and children’s gear (Once Upon a Child). The Minneapolis-based company reported $31.7 million in net income for the first nine months of 2025, a 4 percent increase from 2024. That’s steady performance, although modest next to recent bullish projections for online resale.
Lately, the sports-goods franchise has seen more competition from digital portals for athletes, in addition to eBay, Facebook Marketplace or OfferUp, where athletic items already trade heavily.
That dynamic is playing out across more product categories, thanks to inflation, tariffs and shifting consumer sentiment. Seventy-five percent of resale is not in fashion, according to the OfferUp 2025 Recommerce Report. It projects secondhand’s portion to approach 8 percent of all retail sales, growing by 34 percent by 2030 to $306.5 billion. Another estimate forecasts 12.5 percent annual growth through 2029.
And as returns are expected to hit 15.8 percent of new-product sales in 2025, off-price retail is projected to grow 8.7 percent annually through 2032. That’s motivating brands and retailers to partner with portals to sell open-box products.
Circular economies have traditionally been the domain of independent shops, nonprofits and informal community networks. Lately, reverse-logistics software and AI are bringing new efficiencies and centralization of distributed goods.
‘A growing economic engine’
“Recommerce is more than a trend,” stated California Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove. “It’s a growing economic engine that provides consumers with affordable, high-quality goods and gives entrepreneurs, small businesses and resellers access to trusted, thriving marketplaces.”
This summer, the Democrat joined bipartisan members of Congress to form the Recommerce Caucus. eBay, Poshmark, Etsy, OfferUp and Depop expressed support.
Recommerce is mainstream, reflecting “a broad movement propelled not just by affordability, but by sustainability, self-expression and community values,” said eBay Chief Sustainability Officer Renée Morin.
In November, eBay’s 2025 Recommerce Report showed that 81 percent of its customers were motivated by cost savings, while 68 percent felt good about “giving items a second life.”
Collectibles led eBay’s third-quarter sales, followed by motor parts, luxury goods, refurbished items, clothing and sneakers. Dedicated portals for children’s toys, sports gear, furniture and kitchenware are also growing.
Clothing
New online circular economies echo the path of apparel, where brick-and-mortar retailers generally fail to transition online. For example, Goodwill Industries shut down its GoodwillFinds fixed-price website in March. Yet younger digital brands such as ThredUp, Vinted and Poshmark are bridging the gap to move clothes from consumers’ closets to virtual shopping carts. Reverse logistics companies Archive, Trove and Tersus are finding new collection-and-sorting efficiencies with AI.
Secondhand fashion sales will grow more than twice as fast as new sales, reaching $367 billion globally by 2029, according to ThredUp’s 2025 Resale Report. More than half of those buyers are online.
Furniture
Sourcing items for her online shop the Curio Collectress has become harder, Michele Cicatello says. “Now thrift stores are cool,” she adds. IKEA created Pre-Loved online sales in 2024, and Humanscale launched branded online sales. Chairish and 1stDibs cater to vintage buyers. Everyday pieces are still resold via charities or P2P services.
Office furniture has created B2B opportunities. Rheaply moves furniture and lab equipment, transferring 158,000 items in 2024. Reseat helps companies decommission furniture, saving 40 to 50 percent and meeting sustainability goals, using digital product passports.
Children’s gear
Small shops such as Chloe’s Closet in San Francisco and Nesting House in Philadelphia serve parents buying pre-owned kids’ gear. Startups are expanding consignment models for strollers, baby slings and toys.
GoodBuy Gear works with brands such as Graco and Baby Jogger to sell returned items. Kidsy partners with Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Target. Baby gear marketplace RebelStork rebranded as Rebel in 2025 after 300 percent sales growth, raising $25 million in Series B funding. It expanded in 2025 to kitchenware, housewares and furniture.
Sports gear
As Rebel also plans to start selling athletic and outdoor equipment, it faces several rivals. SidelineSwap counts 2 million participants; eBay Ventures invested. GearTrade saw 80 percent growth in 2024 for outdoor gear. 2ndSwing Golf specializes in used golf merchandise.
Kitchenware
Kitchen bric-a-brac is a staple of thrift shops and tag sales. B2B marketplaces have long distributed unsold or returned kitchenware in bulk from retailers. What’s new is a direct-to-consumer focus, with Rebel and others seeing an opening. Kitchen Switchen launched in 2024 as a peer-driven “Poshmark for kitchenware.”
Electronics
Circular electronics markets are booming, aided by manufacturers and retailers. Refurbished electronics sales are projected to grow 10.2 percent annually through 2032, from $61.8 billion to $121.9 billion.
BackMarket is running a Manhattan pop-up to grow consumer confidence in refurbished merchandise. It predicts $3.5 billion in 2025 sales after counting 25 percent growth in 2024. Rival Refurbed had double-digit growth in 2024, reaching $294 million. Meanwhile, peer-to-peer listings for smartphones and laptops abound on Mercari, Swappa and OfferUp.
