Secondhand has moved from thrift-store niche to structural retail force, posting its strongest growth in years while consumers shift a rising share of apparel budgets to used goods. Online platforms, social commerce, and AI-powered discovery are removing the friction that once kept resale small. This FAQ covers the recommerce market's size, the consumers driving it, and how brands should respond.

What is recommerce?

Recommerce, or resale, is the buying and selling of previously owned goods through organized channels, including online marketplaces like thredUP, Poshmark, and eBay, branded resale programs, and traditional consignment and thrift stores. The model has scaled into a major retail category. Total resale volume in the US will reach $123.52 billion in 2026, up 6.2% YoY, per an EMARKETER forecast. demonstrating the power of online marketplaces. Recommerce now functions as a parallel retail economy with its own platforms, pricing dynamics, and loyal shopper base.

How many consumers shop resale?

Resale participation is broad and deepening. There will be 45.2 million US fashion online resale platform buyers in 2026, nearly a fifth (19.5%) of total digital buyers, each spending an average of $379.73 on those platforms, according to an EMARKETER forecast. Intent data points the same direction: consumers plan to spend 34% of their apparel budget on secondhand in the next 12 months, and Gen Z and millennial shoppers say they will spend nearly half (46%), per ThredUp's report with GlobalData. Secondhand-first behavior is hardening: 46% of consumers say if they can find an item secondhand, they will not buy it new.

Why is recommerce growing so fast?

Several forces compound to drive resale growth:

• Value pressure. Secondhand delivers brand-name goods at lower prices, aligning with the broader value-seeking shift as inflation erodes purchasing power.
• Online acceleration. US ecommerce resale volume represents 75.1% of total resale volume and will grow 7.0% in 2026, per EMARKETER’s forecast.
• Friction removal. 48% of consumers say personalization, improved search, and discovery make shopping secondhand apparel as easy as shopping new, per ThredUp and GlobalData.
• Generational habit. Younger shoppers treat secondhand as a default channel rather than a compromise.

How does resale intersect with social commerce and AI?

The newest resale growth is happening inside feeds and chat interfaces rather than dedicated marketplaces. 39% of younger generation shoppers have made a secondhand apparel purchase on a social commerce platform, per ThredUp's report with GlobalData. AI is doing the merchandising work that used inventory historically required from shoppers: with every secondhand item being unique, AI-powered search, personalization, and discovery tools now surface relevant items at scale, which nearly half of consumers say makes secondhand as easy as buying new. This suggests resale platforms and social marketplaces will compete on algorithmic discovery, the same battleground reshaping firsthand retail.

What does resale growth mean for brands and retailers?

Resale is both a threat and an entry point. Every secondhand purchase that substitutes for a new one pressures full-price sales, particularly in apparel. But the channel also offers upside: Resale platform partnerships and branded resale programs are opportunities to capture growing consumer demand for affordable, sustainable shopping.. Branded recommerce lets retailers control the secondhand experience for their own products, recapture margin on returned and traded-in goods, and acquire value-driven customers who later trade up to new items.

How should retailers approach recommerce in 2026?

Treat resale as a channel decision, not a sustainability gesture. Priorities:

• Quantify the substitution risk. Categories where half of shoppers check secondhand first need a participation strategy, not denial.
• Test branded resale. Trade-in and recommerce programs convert used inventory into customer acquisition and repeat visits.
• Reach younger shoppers where they resell. With many younger consumers buying secondhand via social commerce, resale merchandising belongs in social and creator channels.
• Invest in discovery technology. Unique-item inventory only scales with strong search and personalization
• Watch the growth trajectory. Early operational capability will compound as the category grows.

We prepared this article with the assistance of generative AI tools and stand behind its accuracy, quality, and originality.

EMARKETER forecast data was current at publication and may have changed. EMARKETER clients have access to up-to-date forecast data. To explore EMARKETER solutions, click here.