The thrift store market in France

A thrift store is a retail outlet selling second-hand clothes. There are two types of thrift store:

Thrift stores run by charitable organizations, whose clothes come from private donations;

Thriftshops run on a consignment basis: individuals sell their clothes to the thrift shop, which acts as a commercial intermediary.

The global second-hand clothing market is expected to grow by 78% between 2023 and 2028. In the United States, the largest second-hand market, it is even expected to grow 9 times faster than the overall clothing market in 2028.

The appeal of thrift stores is twofold: they offer not only low-priced clothing, but also vintage-style clothing. Buying second-hand clothes in these stores is becoming more and more chic and is gradually becoming part of everyday life, with sales driven mainly by young people and a growing ecological awareness. As a result, the French second-hand market has really taken off in recent years, and is now considered to becompeting with the fast-fashion market. Paradoxically, fast fashion brands are also trying to respond to this need for more sustainable fashion, by launching their own online resale platforms for second-hand clothes.

Although physical stores are still very popular, the Internet plays a considerable role in this sector, as demonstrated by the success of second-hand clothing resale platforms such as Vinted and Depop.