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Summary of our market study
The French second-hand clothing market is estimated at over 1.2 billion euros.
The global market, expected to reach $200 billion, continues to prosper.
While the French market is experiencing a general decline in sales of new clothing, sales of second-hand clothing have surged, accounting for 3.6% of the overall French clothing market.
Online platforms such as Vinted have taken a significant market share, with Vinted's user base in France reaching 8 million out of 21 million users.
Interest in second-hand luxury goods is also growing.
More and more brands and retailers are setting up their own second-hand clothing systems.
Africa has become a major importer of second-hand clothing, mainly from Europe.
Trends in the French second-hand clothing market
Around 30-40% of the population now buys second-hand clothes, a rate that has doubled in the space of a few years.
A third of people aged 18 to 24 have already bought second-hand clothes. 60% of these young consumers recognize that their second-hand clothing purchases are motivated by a desire to reduce the fashion industry's impact on the environment.
63% of customers cite cost as the main reason for their choice.
Online trade in second-hand clothing is growing at a rate of 35% a year.
Players in the second-hand clothing market
- Vinted - Champion of private-to-private resale
- Vestiaire Collective - known for its selection of designer clothing and accessories
- Leboncoin - The French marketplace par excellence
- Depop - The trendy vintage center
- ThredUp - America's thrift store giant
- Kilo Shop offers buyers the chance to hunt for vintage treasures and pay by the kilo.
- Emmaüs and Ding Fring - The choice of solidarity
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Summary and extracts
1 Market overview
1.1 Definition and scope of the study
A thrift store is a retail outlet selling second-hand clothes. There are two types of thrift store:
- Thrift stores run by charitable organizations, whose clothes come from private donations;
- Thriftshops run on a consignment basis: individuals sell their clothes to the thrift shop, which acts as a commercial intermediary.
The global second-hand clothing market is expected to grow by 78% between 2023 and 2028. In the United States, the largest second-hand market, it is even expected to grow 9 times faster than the overall clothing market in 2028.
The appeal of thrift stores is twofold: they offer not only low-priced clothing, but also vintage-style clothing. Buying second-hand clothes in these stores is becoming more and more chic and is gradually becoming part of everyday life, with sales driven mainly by young people and a growing ecological awareness. As a result, the French second-hand market has really taken off in recent years, and is now considered to becompeting with the fast-fashion market. Paradoxically, fast fashion brands are also trying to respond to this need for more sustainable fashion, by launching their own online resale platforms for second-hand clothes.
Although physical stores are still very popular, the Internet plays a considerable role in this sector, as demonstrated by the success of second-hand clothing resale platforms such as Vinted and Depop.
1.2 A booming global market
The second-hand and resale clothing market is booming worldwide, whether it's sales between individuals via platforms such as Leboncoin or Vinted, or clothing sales from dedicated platforms such as Videdressing or Vestiairecollective.
In ****, the global second-hand clothing sales market will exceed US$*** billion, a figure that has increased *-fold in * years. ...
1.3 Sustained growth in the French market
The clothing market is struggling...
In ****, the French apparel market will amount to **.* billion euros, according to the Institut Français de la Mode (***). The sector has been struggling in recent years, posting a **% decline between **** and ****.[***] Figures provided by Insee on the evolution of sales in the clothing sector show ...
1.4 Foreign trade in second-hand goods
We can use the TradeMap platform to observe trade in products registered under code ****: thrift store items made up of clothing, clothing accessories, blankets, linen and home furnishings.
In ****, the exported value was ***,*** US dollars, meaning that domestic trade is the mainstay of the French thrift and second-hand market. This value ...
2 Demand analysis
2.1 The French are increasingly fond of second-hand clothes
Buying second-hand clothes is becoming increasingly commonplace in ****, **.*% of French people buy second-hand clothesalmost half the population. Share of French people buying second-hand clothes France, ****/****/****, in Source: ****
While thrift stores are gaining in popularity, fast-fashion brands remain the primary source of clothing purchases for the French. According to a survey conducted ...
2.2 Young people drive the market upwards
If we consider the global fashion market, young people under ** will devote an average monthly budget of *** euros in ****, compared with ** euros for the French average, making them the biggest consumers of fashion. [***]
Similarly, French under-**s are the main buyers of second-hand products. According to Volago, **% of French people under ...
2.3 Towards a more sustainable way of consuming clothes?
Price, the main reason for buying second-hand clothes
Ethical fashion represents a real transition towards a more sustainable way of consuming clothing. At a time when the textile industry poses numerous problems for the environment and respect for working conditions, consumers are increasingly adopting ethical and eco-responsible behavior in their consumption ...
2.4 Men's fashion, a potential to be exploited
Men and women behave differently when it comes to buying second-hand clothes and giving a second life to clothes they no longer wear. Women (***) in terms of second-hand purchases.
When it comes to giving their clothes a second life, almost a third of women resell their clothes on the Internet, while ...
3 Market structure
3.1 The different models of second-hand clothing sales
There are * main models for selling second-hand clothes:
Sale between individuals:
The sale is managed by the individual seller, who sets the price, negotiates, takes a photo of the item, posts the ad online, etc. Sales between private individuals have developed considerably in recent years, thanks in particular to the rise ...
3.2 Africa: a major outlet for European industry
It's worth highlighting the importance of the second-hand market in Africa: very few African consumers buy new clothes. For example, second-hand clothes account for **% of clothing purchases in Uganda. Most of the textiles purchased on the African continent are second-hand and come from Europe, which puts local textile industries at great ...
3.3 Intensifying competition in the French market
Historic players
Most of the leaders in the French second-hand market have been present for a number of years, such as Vestiaire Collective and Vide dressing created in ****, or Vinted, which opened its French site in ****.
Nevertheless, competition is intensifying in the French market. A number of foreign players have been ...
3.4 The Internet turn
The Internet has grown enormously in recent years, and now accounts for **-**% of sales of second-hand consumer goods. For example, Leboncoin, created in ****, is growing fast. It's worth noting that by ****, LeBonCoin has overtaken Amazon in terms of value sales (***). However, both are behind Vinted, which grew by **%. [***]
The second-hand ...
4 Offer analysis
4.1 Consumers' desire to pay less
Consumers are less and less inclined to pay high prices for new items, especially if they are of poor quality. This has encouraged the growth of promotions and sales on new items: it is estimated that one out of every two items is bought on promotion, thanks to an average price ...
4.2 The revival of thrift store concepts
In recent years, there has been a revival in the sale of second-hand and vintage clothing, driven by growing ecological awareness and a desire to stand out from fast-fashion chains. The prevailing model is the classic sale of second-hand clothes without trade-in to private individuals.
Most chains rely on physical stores, ...
4.3 The brands most represented on second-hand platforms
According to Les Echos Études, some brands are more represented than others on second-hand goods sales platforms and in thrift stores.
At Vide dressing, the top * most-represented women's brands are Maje, Sandro and Comptoir des cotonniers. Men's brands include The Kooples, Lacoste and Sandro. Brands like Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss ...
4.4 Used luxury goods make their mark on the market
The second-hand goods market is opening up more and more to luxury goods. Players such as Vestiaire Collective and Instantluxe have even decided to focus on luxury and high-end goods, as the market potential is enormous. According to Bain & Company, the second-hand luxury goods market in Europe will exceed $** billion in ...
5 Regulations
5.1 Registration with French authorities
The sale of clothing, used in the study to give the size of the clothing market in France, is referenced by Insee under code **.**Z entitled "Retail sale of clothing in specialized stores".[***]
This class includes the retail sale of articles of clothing, fur articles, clothing accessories such as gloves, ties, ...
6 Positioning the players
6.1 Player segmentation
- ParuVendu.fr
- Vide Dressing
- Vinted
- Kilo Shop
- Guerrisol
- Emmaüs
- Depop
- Freepstar
- Fripouille vintage
- Petite Chineuse
- Inditex groupe (Zara)
- Veepee (Venteprivee.com)
- Patatam - Rediv
List of charts presented in this market study
- Second-hand clothing market size and forecasts
- Second-hand clothing market size and forecasts
- Market share of second-hand clothing by generation
- The second-hand clothing market and forecasts
- Change in in-store clothing retail sales index
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Latest news
Zara successfully moves upmarket in the face of ultra-fast fashion - 13/09/2024
- - Inditex owns brands such as Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka and Zara.
- - Zara focuses on moving upmarket rather than competing with ultra-fast fashion.
- - Zara has over 1,800 stores worldwide.
Zara's recipe for remaining the world's leading ready-to-wear brand - 10/07/2024
- - Head office: Arteixo, ten kilometers from La Coruña, Spain.
- - Sales: nearly 36 billion euros last year.
- - Share of capital held by Amancio Ortega: 59%.
- - Proportion of production carried out close to main markets: 50% (in countries such as Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Turkey).
- - Worldwide store replenishment frequency: twice a week.
Vinted profitable for the first time - 29/04/2024
- - **Sales up:** 596.3 million euros last year, representing an increase of 61%.
- - **Net income:** 17.8 million euros (against a loss of 20.4 million euros in 2022).
- - **Workforce:** 2,000 employees. - **Year of creation:** 2008.
- - **Number of registered members in France:** 27 million.
- - **Market position:** Europe's third-largest textile operator, behind Zalando and Shein, and number one in the C to C second-hand market in Europe.
Zara, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, all Inditex banners to grow by 10% or more by 2023 - 14/03/2024
- Inditex sales: up +10.4% to 35.9 billion euros.
- Growth rates of the Inditex Group's various banners: all up by 10% or more, with Oysho showing the strongest growth (+19%).
- Number of stores operated by Inditex by the end of fiscal year 2023: 5,692.
- In-store sales growth: 7.9%
- Increase in e-commerce sales: 16% to 9.1 billion euros.
Liquidation of second-hand specialist Rediv (ex-Patatam) - 05/02/2024
- Rediv (formerly Patatam) was created in 2013.
- In receivership since November 2023, Rediv was placed in liquidation in January.
- The company's liquidation entails the loss of 120 jobs.
- Rediv had raised 12 million euros in funding in 2022.
- at that time, Rediv had achieved sales of just 2.5 million euros, well short of its target of 15 million euros.
Vinted: the recipe for the new king of online fashion - 01/12/2023
- In the third quarter of 2023, Vinted is the most visited fashion site in France.
- Vinted has 23 million subscribers in France.
- The company was founded in 2008.
- Vinted has posted sales growth of 51% in 2022.
- The company's sales in 2022 were 370 million euros.
- Vinted has almost 2,000 employees.
- Almost half (44%) of all baby clothes bought online are purchased on Vinted.
- The second-hand fashion market was worth 6 billion euros in 2022 in France.
- The total clothing market in France in 2022 was worth 26 billion euros.
- Vinted's notable competitors include Shein, Temu, Zalando, La Redoute, Leboncoin, and Vestiaire Collective.
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The thrift store market | France
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