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Vinted’s rise to the position of the UK’s third-largest fashion retailer by customer numbers marks a significant turning point for secondhand marketplaces. Once associated with wardrobe clear-outs and casual side hustles, resale has evolved into a structural force within the UK retail landscape. With more than 17 million users in the UK alone, the Lithuanian marketplace now sits just behind Primark and Next in terms of customer reach.
The scale of this shift is reflected in broader market data. According to research from OC&C Strategy Consultants, the UK second-hand fashion market is now worth more than £7bn, with nearly one in four fashion transactions involving resale. While the first-hand apparel market remains largely stagnant, second-hand channels are expanding rapidly and capturing a growing share of consumer spending.
“Second-hand fashion is no longer a niche segment, it’s a fundamental shift in how consumers shop,” says Olivia May, partner at OC&C Strategy Consultants. “Affordability, sustainability and the appeal of unique finds are reshaping expectations and disrupting the retail sector.”
The contrast with the wider apparel market is stark. OC&C analysis suggests fashion purchase volumes in 2028 will mirror those in 2019, highlighting the lack of growth in traditional retail. By comparison, nearly a quarter of the volume transacted in the UK, just under one billion of four billion units, now comes from second-hand retailers.
“Vinted is winning the volume war because it nails discovery, trust and low-friction flows at a scale most retailer resale pages cannot match.” – Paul Ryazanov, chief executive of Magecloud Inc
The shift is also visible in consumer behaviour. Around 30% of UK adults now purchase second-hand clothing, led by millennials, more than half of whom shop on resale platforms. Affordability is the primary driver, cited by 40-50% of shoppers, while 20-30% enjoy discovering unique items. Sustainability is a factor, but typically secondary.
The resale boom goes mainstream
For retailers, the rise of recommerce presents both a challenge and an opportunity. “Resale channels are responsible for all the volume growth in the apparel market,” May says. “It’s no longer an alternative, it’s an expectation.”
Within this environment, Vinted has emerged as one of the most influential players shaping resale at scale. Although it was not the first platform to enter the market, its marketplace design and user experience have allowed it to capture demand more effectively than many competitors.
May attributes much of Vinted’s growth to its ability to reduce friction for users. “Vinted has won the hearts of consumers across Europe on value for money, product relevance and ease of shopping,” she says. “Trust has also improved through better tracking, verification and payment functionality.”
Technology has supported that growth. Vinted has invested in AI tools such as image recognition to help buyers search for similar items, while logistics initiatives like Vinted Go aim to streamline delivery and returns.
Why Vinted is winning the marketplace race
For marketplace specialists, the platform’s success reflects the powerful network effects that come with scale. Paul Ryazanov, chief executive of Magecloud Inc and an ecommerce strategist advising retailers on marketplace infrastructure, says Vinted’s model offers advantages retailer-led resale initiatives struggle to replicate.
“Vinted is winning the volume war because it nails discovery, trust and low-friction flows at a scale most retailer resale pages cannot match,” he says. “Millions of user-generated listings allow the platform to capture long-tail search traffic across highly specific queries.”
“Second-hand fashion is no longer a niche segment, it’s a fundamental shift in how consumers shop.” – Olivia May, partner at OC&C Strategy Consultants
Buyer confidence is reinforced through seller histories, dense review systems and direct messaging between buyers and sellers. These features help address concerns around product condition and sizing.
“The checkout and shipping journey is also streamlined, with integrated labels and lockers, so the effort per transaction stays low,” Ryazanov adds. “Retailer-owned resale sites often struggle with thin inventory and weaker on-page content, which makes conversion harder.”
Consumer search behaviour also reflects the growing dominance of resale platforms. Annabelle Sacher, retail trends lead at ecommerce optimisation specialists MediaVision, says demand for second-hand fashion continues to accelerate.
“As an ardent thrifter I’ve always believed the future of fashion isn’t new, it’s renewed,” she says. “And increasingly consumers feel the same.”
Search data across Google, TikTok and Pinterest suggests interest in resale is rising rapidly. “Year-on-year searches for ‘vintage’ are up around 50%, while ‘second-hand fashion’ and ‘fashion resale’ are also growing steadily,” Sacher says. “The cost of living, sustainability awareness and the appeal of unique pieces are pushing consumers towards second-hand.”
According to Sacher, Vinted’s open marketplace structure reinforces that momentum. “Unlike retailer resale schemes tied to a single brand, Vinted operates as an open marketplace where supply and demand reinforce each other,” she says. “More sellers attract more buyers, which in turn attracts more sellers.”
Alongside technological and behavioural shifts, regulatory changes have also reshaped resale platforms. Reporting rules introduced by HMRC under the OECD’s Digital Platforms Reporting framework require marketplaces to report seller data once certain thresholds are reached, typically after 30 transactions or £1,700 in sales.
While some initially feared these rules might discourage sellers, industry experts say they have instead accelerated the professionalisation of recommerce.
Vineta Bajaj, CFO and ecommerce specialist, says the framework is pushing sellers to treat resale more like a business. “The rules are encouraging serious sellers to run resale like a small retail operation rather than casual decluttering,” she explains.
“That means clearer record keeping around costs, postage, packaging and platform fees, alongside more standardised fulfilment using lockers and batch shipping.”
Greater transparency may also increase trust within the marketplace. “Clearer tax status legitimises recommerce because it reduces uncertainty for buyers and large sellers,” Bajaj says. “When seller identity and income reporting are clearer, second-hand begins to look more like mainstream ecommerce.”
Accountancy specialists are observing similar changes. Lee Murphy, managing director at The Accountancy Partnership, says many sellers are becoming more aware that regular buying and reselling can qualify as trading.
“Platforms must now report seller data to HMRC once thresholds are reached, which has made people more aware that frequent reselling for profit is considered trading,” Murphy says.
He believes the new rules may encourage some sellers to scale rather than withdraw. “Treating reselling as a business helps sellers track margins and claim allowable expenses,” he says. “Those who operate more professionally will be in the strongest position to grow.”
Retailers rethink their role in recommerce
As resale expands, traditional retailers are exploring ways to retain a share of this market. Several have launched their own recommerce platforms designed to keep second-hand transactions within their ecosystems.
Zara has introduced Zara Pre-Owned, allowing customers to resell, repair or donate clothing. IKEA is piloting a peer-to-peer marketplace for used furniture, while H&M has experimented with pre-loved initiatives through its partnership with resale specialist Sellpy.
Luxury retailers are also entering the space. Selfridges launched its Resellfridges platform as part of its Project Earth strategy, focusing on authenticated luxury resale. Next has introduced its own resale marketplace enabling customers to trade pre-owned items through its website.
However, operating resale channels presents significant challenges. Claire Wallis, consumer goods and retail director at management consultancy BearingPoint, says recommerce requires infrastructure many retailers have yet to fully develop.
“Resale only works when the operating model is designed for it,” she says. “Reverse logistics, quality control, pricing discipline and customer trust are non-negotiable. Where these are missing, volume platforms win.”
Wallis believes this shift has major implications for the British high street. As more second-hand transactions move online through third-party marketplaces, retailers risk losing an important channel for engagement.
“With resale volume increasingly captured by external platforms, physical retail risks losing relevance in the secondary market,” she says. “Stores must justify their role through experience, service and brand engagement rather than transaction alone.”
Yet the shift also presents opportunities. Physical stores could become hubs for resale intake, authentication and logistics, helping simplify the process for customers.
Ryazanov believes this hybrid model may shape the future of retail participation in recommerce. “Stores can still win by acting as hubs for intake, authentication and fast refunds or credit,” he says. “Those services build trust in ways pure online platforms cannot.”
In this scenario, resale becomes part of a broader circular retail strategy rather than a standalone channel. Retailers may combine take-back schemes, repairs and resale marketplaces to extend product lifecycles while maintaining customer relationships.
“Resale only works when the operating model is designed for it. Where that infrastructure is missing, volume platforms win.” – Claire Wallis, consumer goods and retail director at BearingPoint
OC&C’s research suggests brands that integrate these capabilities successfully could unlock new revenue while strengthening loyalty. Companies with strong resale value and margins, such as Dr Martens, Levi’s and Patagonia, have already demonstrated that profitable second-hand models are possible when resale is built into the value chain.
As the resale market continues to expand, some retailers will build their own circular marketplaces while others partner with established platforms or syndicate inventory across multiple channels. For retailers navigating a stagnant first-hand market, the second-hand economy is rapidly becoming one of the most important battlegrounds for future growth.
