The secondary market for apparel is booming, and projections for 2025 and beyond are promising. In fact, the apparel secondary market is growing 15 times faster than the primary market, with experts projecting it will reach a total market value of over $125 billion by 2034.
Read on to learn what’s driving this trend and how apparel brands and retailers can benefit from this phenomenon of pre-owned popularity. And then be sure to download our Apparel Insider which provides an inside look at some key trends and exclusive B2B apparel resale data within B-Stock’s platform.
What’s Driving This Trend?
There are multiple reasons behind this ongoing market shift:
- Sustainability got fashionable
People are waking up to the sustainability and environmental issues around fast fashion and the overproduction of synthetic textiles used in cheaply made garments. Millennials and Zoomers especially are beginning to value responsible choices over owning brand-new clothes and accessories. - Thrift shopping has evolved
The process of buying pre-owned apparel is better than ever. In recent years, upmarket thrift stores and attractive recommerce platforms like ThredUp and Poshmark have transformed an unglamorous practice into exciting boutique experiences that combine endless variety with the conveniences shoppers expect. - Budgets are tight
Inflation and cost of living increases have many consumers rethinking their spending habits lately, so the affordability factor can’t be overlooked. Shoppers love that these enjoyable, sustainable buying experiences deliver their favorite styles and brands at steep discounts compared to purchasing new, even for luxury goods like designer purses (spoiler—they’re a strong performer on B-Stock’s marketplace).
What Does This Mean for Apparel Brands & Retailers?
The thriving secondary apparel market presents an opportunity for apparel retailers and brands that are likely saddled with returns or overstock (apparel is the number one returned item across the board). With the circular economy delivering both supply and demand for once-owned goods, it’s well worth any brand or retailer’s time to look into the secondary market as an outlet for any merchandise that can’t go back onto primary shelves.
An online B2B resale platform—one that is backed by technology and data and offers multiple channels to sell inventory—can help apparel retailers and brands tap into this robust secondary market. Apparel was B-Stock’s top-selling category by a wide margin in 2024. In fact, both supply and demand for the category was up 20% year-over-year.
Why Partner with B-Stock on a B2B Resale Solution?
There are several key reasons to leverage B-Stock’s B2B resale platform.
- Confidence and consistency in pricing
A B2B resale platform that owns and analyzes years of resale data enables you to understand the true market value of your goods. Top partners offer multiple ways to resell—open auctions, prenegotiated contracts, or private sales—and can provide pricing comparisons across each channel.
- Access to the right buyers
You’ll want access to a large and vetted group of business buyers interested in merchandise across all categories, quantities, and conditions. - Flexible Resale Options
Whether your goal is to recover cash, clear warehouse space quickly, or ensure brand control, the best partners will help build a diversified resale strategy that meets your needs. - Quick Cycle Times at Scale
Reducing the number of days that inventory spends in warehouses is paramount. With proper advice, you can resell massive amounts of inventory quickly and predictably. - Brand control
Through an online B2B resale platform, you can choose how, where and to whom your inventory is sold. This helps avoid sales channel conflict and maintains your brand’s image by creating specific, binding rules (channel restrictions, geographical limitations, delabeling requirements, etc.) that apply to all buyers. - Data-backed Pricing & Performance Insights
Quality data should be recorded and analyzed to understand seasonal demand, predict buyer behavior and forecast resale pricing, and maximize recovery—and our Apparel Insider gives an exclusive look at recovery rates, quarter-by-quarter resale patterns, and other insights that only careful attention to data can uncover! - Managed & Automated Resale Process
Dedicated account management, support teams, and many efficiency-minded features (built-in shipping estimates, automated payments and invoicing, preset auction launches, and more) make selling to thousands of buyers just as easy as selling to one.
With consumer excitement over sustainable, affordable, preowned apparel higher than ever there’s never been a better time to partner up with B-Stock. With over a decade of proprietary, network-wide data, B-Stock’s B2B resale experts can offer great insight into trends and demand within the apparel secondary market.
Some of the world’s largest brands and retailers count on B-Stock’s B2B marketplace to quickly, efficiently resell high volumes of returned and excess apparel, footwear, and accessories—consistently one of our most popular categories.
For more information and exclusive data on apparel resale trends across our platform including recovery rates by financial quarter, top-selling apparel subcategories, and the consumer-level reasons behind these trends, please download our download our Apparel Insider.
Ready to get started with B-Stock? Reach out and schedule a live platform demo with one of our resale experts today.
