TL;DR
Global secondhand clothing sales are expected to reach £217bn ($289bn) this year, up 12% from 2025, according to ThredUp’s annual resale report. AI is playing a growing role in how platforms catalogue and surface items for buyers, with the market projected to hit £295bn ($393bn) within five years.
What the numbers show
Resale now accounts for roughly a tenth of global clothing sales, growing at twice the pace of the broader market. The sector was worth £106bn ($141bn) in 2021 — this year’s figure represents more than a doubling in five years.
Platform-level growth varies. ThredUp’s own sales rose 20% to £233m ($310.8m) last year. Vinted grew 36% to £710m (€813.4m) in 2024, while Depop climbed 42% to £101m. Profitability remains elusive for most, however. ThredUp posted a £15m ($20m) pre-tax loss and Depop lost £42m in their most recent reporting periods. Only Vinted turned a profit, at £67m (€76.7m).
Brands including Dr Martens, Zara, and Mulberry have started selling their own secondhand items or running repair and revival programmes.
Where AI fits in
ThredUp CEO James Reinhart said AI is transforming how platforms handle their enormous, unsorted inventories. Where streaming services like Netflix and Spotify spent 15 to 20 years building recommendation algorithms, AI can catalogue and match secondhand items to buyers almost immediately.
The technology also reduces friction between discovering an item on social media and purchasing it. Reinhart described the next market phase as being defined by “who can best unlock supply and use AI to connect that inventory with the next generation of shoppers.”
UK market context
For UK consumers already familiar with Vinted and Depop (both with strong UK user bases), the trend aligns with rising cost-of-living pressures. GlobalData’s Neil Saunders noted that gen Z and millennial shoppers aged 14 to 45 are expected to drive 70% of market growth, with discovery increasingly happening through social media feeds rather than dedicated apps.
Looking forward
The market is entering what Saunders called “a more competitive, structurally complex phase.” Making selling easier will be as important as improving the buying experience — without enough supply, demand growth stalls regardless of how good the AI-powered search becomes.