5 Facts about Vintage Clothing Resale that Will Blow Your Mind

Vintage clothing has become one of the hottest trends around, and thanks to vintage wholesale companies and vintage clothing suppliers, nearly anyone can dive into this steamy market! It’s ripe for the picking, no doubt. But before you dive in or pick anything, here are some mind-blowing facts to take with you.

5 Facts about Vintage Clothing Resale that Will Blow Your Mind

If you’ve been shopping lately or even driven around the business district in your community, you’ll agree that it’s clear that rag houses, and clothing resale in general, is a thing. And it’s one trend that is here to stay.

In the US alone, vintage clothing shop for resale clothing at thrift stores in a given year, and those numbers are even higher overseas. It’s an easy way for shoppers to buy quality clothing (not to mention trendy clothing) at reasonable prices. 

Thrift and resale shops are popping up everywhere, and with good reason. Vintage clothing has become one of the hottest trends around, and thanks to vintage wholesale companies and vintage clothing suppliers, nearly anyone can dive into this steamy market! It’s ripe for the picking, no doubt.

But before you dive in or pick anything, here are some mind-blowing facts to take with you:

 

1. Used Clothing Resale is a Multi-billion Dollar Industry

You read that right. Multi. Billion. Dollar…and that’s per year! Used clothing resale shops are bringing in the big bucks. Goodwill Industries, for example, brought in nearly $6 billion dollars in 2017! By themselves!

Okay, we’ll stop (or at least slow down) with the exclamation points, but you get the idea. There are BIG dollars to be made here. 

And you’re doing the environment a favor as well. More on that a little farther down the list.

 

2. Clothing Resale Has Become a Destination Shopping Experience
With vintage, resale, and thrift stores now seeing the ever-increasing trend of shoppers buying used clothes, they have also begun to realize the value of what’s called clustering (grouping together in the same general area). In areas where this is happening, where resale shops of all kinds are moving in essentially next door to each other, those areas have become destination shopping attractions. 

Some shoppers admit to taking entire vacations based on where they can shop thrift, vintage, and resale shops till they drop. It’s the next trend in shopping…we’ll just call it “resale therapy”!

 

3. 80% of the World Shops Resale

Need we say more? 

Not really, but we will. 80% of the world shops, uses, and/or wears secondhand clothing and goods. That’s over 6 billion people who want what vintage wholesale companies have! Which brings us to our next point…

 

4. The US Exports Tons of Used Clothing Each Year (Literally)

Even with all those resale shoppers, oftentimes, thrift and resale stores can’t handle the volume of donations pouring in the doors. We are a society of stuff! In the US, those donations usually end up going overseas. We are the largest exporter of used textiles in the world!

These items can be sold in stores abroad, usually in developing countries, or they can be recycled/upcycled into other items. 

So, don’t worry, your donations are always going to support and promote worthy causes, even if they end up being exported.

 

5. The US Trashes Tons of Used Clothing Each Year (Literally)

The US alone sends about 21 BILLION POUNDS of used textiles to the landfills annually…can you even fathom that? 21 billion pounds of anything is absolutely mind-blowing. But beyond that, it’s an insane amount of waste. 

That’s why it’s so important to dispose of clothing in a responsible manner whenever possible. Donating it to resale shops versus trashing your items is one way of doing so. Donating, exporting, and recycling or upcycling used clothing and other items helps to keep these items from ending up in our landfills.

So, even if you don’t want to shop vintage—which reduces the demand for new clothing, thus saving “virgin” resources from ever being tapped—you can help the environment exponentially just by donating your gently used clothing and goods instead of binning them. But really…who doesn’t want to shop vintage?

And if you’re looking to get into the resale industry, you’ll want to source your items as responsibly as you dispose of them. 

Speaking of Awesome Vintage Wholesale Companies…

As you can see, the trends are heading toward resale in all kinds of ways. It’s a super hot market, and maybe you’re looking to dive in?

If you’re looking for an awesome vintage clothing supplier to source quality retro items at a great price, come see our collection of vintage clothing, shoes, and accessories! We’re a vintage wholesale company in LA, and we’d love to get you set up. Even if you’re not in the LA area, check us out online for some serious style buys.