Second hand. Like new. Thrift. Buy Nothing. Gently used. There are lots of ways to describe consumption in the booming resale market.\u00a0
\nAdd \u00ab\u00a0Merry Christmas! \u2026<\/b>
\nSecond hand. Like new. Thrift. Buy Nothing. Gently used. There are lots of ways to describe consumption in the booming resale market. Add \u00ab\u00a0Merry Christmas!\u00a0\u00bb to the list. Resale has taken off among those looking to save the planet and spend less on gifts during what can be the most wasteful time of the year \u2014 the December holidays. This year’s supply chain delays have provided extra motivation. \u00ab\u00a0Gifting at its core should be about thoughtfulness, and arguably more thought is put into finding a meaningful, interesting secondhand gift for someone than just hitting the \u2018buy\u2019 button on something everyone is getting from Amazon,\u00a0\u00bb said Ashlee Piper, a sustainability expert and author of \u00ab\u00a0Give a Sh(asterisk)t: Do Good. Live Better. Save the Planet.\u00a0\u00bb One of her favorite gifts ever was a tattered copy of \u00ab\u00a0Gentlemen Prefer Blondes\u00a0\u00bb that a friend found for $2 at a thrift shop. \u00ab\u00a0It\u2019s kitschy, thoughtful and totally unique,\u00a0\u00bb Piper said. The resale market is far from dominant overall, and spans all ages. Industry reports have said the recent gains are driven mainly by Gen Z and Millennial shoppers. Players large and small are reaping the benefits. Luxury resale marketplace The RealReal, which has more than 23 million members after going public more than two years ago, said it saw a 60% jump last year over the year before among those choosing gift boxes with purchases during the holiday season. Last month, the online site, which has 16 brick-and-mortar consignment stores around the U.S., saw orders with gift boxes rise by 73% over the same month last year for unbranded jewelry. Such purchases were up 62% for Gucci items and 53% for Louis Vuitton selections, according to company data. \u00ab\u00a0The stigma is gone,\u00a0\u00bb said Marshal Cohen, a consumer behavior and retail analyst for the NPD Group. \u00ab\u00a0There is a new view of how valuable some of the resale product is. Gray market selling of new and used items are now reaching new heights. Scoring a great item others can only dream of is the new form of luxury.\u00a0\u00bb Sales of gift cards for online thrift giant ThredUp, which went public earlier this year, were up 103% during the first two weeks of December compared to the entire month of November, said Erin Wallace, vice president of integrated marketing. Kristi Marquez,36, in Jupiter, Florida, has two young daughters. She has cut down her gift list from about 20 people to 10 this year after her family opted to buy only for their kids. A good three-quarters of her gifts will be resale items. She used Thriftbooks.com and other book resellers to purchase previously owned titles at deeply discounted prices. Facebook Marketplace and local moms’ groups have proven fruitful for toys. Sometimes, she said, going resale isn’t about the environment or saving money, especially this year. \u00ab\u00a0At the top of our oldest\u2019s list is the Magic Mixies Magic Cauldron. At first, I didn\u2019t know the toy was so popular and was shocked to see it sold out everywhere, except at more than double the price from resellers on Amazon and Walmart,\u00a0\u00bb she said. \u00ab\u00a0After wading through potential scammers, I finally got a hold of one on Poshmark for $99. It\u2019s not the eco-friendly toy we\u2019d hoped for and it\u2019s still overpriced but we\u2019re happy we found the main toy she asked for this year.\u00a0\u00bb The plastic toy, which makes sounds and produces mist after kids create a \u00ab\u00a0potion,\u00a0\u00bb retails for $69.99. As more retailers have added resale as an option, tech middlemen have jumped in to assist. One company, List Perfectly, offers tools for resellers to cross-post their wares on 11 marketplaces. \u00ab\u00a0Resale doesn\u2019t necessarily mean used. A lot of resellers resell new items that are currently scarce as they\u2019ve planned their inventory for months to accommodate holiday shopping demands,\u00a0\u00bb said Clara Albornoz, co-founder and CEO. \u00ab\u00a0Buyers can see a variety of options, easily price compare, shop from their home, get their items quickly and affordably, and delivered straight to them, usually with opportunities to return if there are any issues.\u00a0\u00bb Another company, Recurate, enables brands to create their own resale platforms on their websites. \u00ab\u00a0Recurate\u2019s sales over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday week were over 50% higher than average,\u00a0\u00bb said Karin Dillie, vice president of partnerships. She said customers are seeking resale items \u00ab\u00a0to satisfy their own deal hunting as well as to purchase as gifts.\u00a0\u00bb Appealing specifically to Gen Z, the resale marketplace Galaxy provides live shows for buyers and sellers to interact in real time. It recently hosted a five-day holiday event involving 40 top sellers. \u00ab\u00a0By being able to have real time conversations through live video and SMS messaging, sellers and shoppers get to build a relationship. This often leads to sellers becoming trusted curators of your wardrobe and your holiday shopping,\u00a0\u00bb said Danny Quick, co-founder and CEO. Sadie Cherney, a franchise owner with three resale Clothes Mentor boutiques in South Carolina, said resale is a buyer-beware market. Her tips: Search for items that are new with tags, do your homework on return policies, make sure things like zippers are functional, check for stains and tears, and \u2014 perhaps most importantly \u2014 decide whether you will tell your gift recipient that you shopped resale. Kahlil Spurlock,32, in Jersey City, New Jersey, turned to resale for holiday gifts this year in an effort to reduce his carbon footprint. He used Grailed, a site not unlike The RealReal but focused on menswear. \u00ab\u00a0I was buying for my 20-year-old brother, who does buy resale,\u00a0\u00bb he said. \u00ab\u00a0There are some items that are just so cool, like some streetwear, you can only find on resale.\u00a0\u00bb Spurlock picked up two items from hot brands for his younger sibling. None of this is new to 50-year-old Amanda Spencer in suburban Philadelphia. She’s a longtime resale hunter on Facebook Marketplace, local Buy Nothing groups that offer items for free, and events like sales at her church. This year for Christmas, she found a series of books on Facebook that her daughter wanted. And from a Buy Nothing group, she picked up a beanbag chair her daughter had asked for. \u00ab\u00a0It’s not exactly the one but who cares,\u00a0\u00bb Spencer said. For her son, she found Minecraft cube building toys at a yard sale. \u00ab\u00a0Most of the stuff that they\u2019ve ever gotten throughout their lives has either been hand-me-downs or from consignment shops,\u00a0\u00bb Spencer said. \u00ab\u00a0Why bother paying full retail?\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n