Study: Secondhand shopping rises, fueled by economic concerns
Buying used goods continues to make up a larger share of retail spending in the United States.
Nearly all (90%) U.S. shoppers reporting buying something secondhand in the 12 months and 51% reported selling something during the same period, according to OfferUp's 2026 Recommerce Report, published in partnership with retail analytics firm GlobalData.
Seventy-one percent said economic or financial concerns have influenced their decision to buy or sell secondhand in the past year, with 56% pointing to cost of living or inflation. Tariff-related price concerns are also making secondhand more appealing. Half of U.S. shoppers say concerns about tariff-related price increases have made them more likely to consider purchasing certain items secondhand.
The U.S. recommerce market will reach $246.7 billion this year, an increase of 7.9% from last year, the report said. Recommerce makes up 7.5% of all retail spending, with that figure projected to increase to 8.3% by 2030.
[READ MORE: eBay: Secondhand shopping is on the rise]
OfferUp noted that while clothing is most often thought of as the main category that consumers buy secondhand, roughly three-quarters of U.S. recommerce spending happens outside apparel in categories that include furniture, electronics, home improvement, sporting goods and auto.
Secondhand is also entering the consideration set for bigger purchases. Before buying a physical item costing $100 or more, 44% of U.S. shoppers check whether they can find it secondhand first.
Additional insights from OfferUp’s 2026 Recommerce Report are below.
•Nearly all (95%) shoppers own at least one type of item they think they could sell or resell.
•Eighty-one percent of respondents said buying secondhand allows them to get what they really want without paying full retail price.
•The majority (81%) of existing secondhand shoppers are spending as much or more time on online resale platforms than they were a year ago. Seventy-eight percent are buying as many or more secondhand items as they were a year ago.
•The vast majority (91%) of Gen Z respondents said economic or financial concerns have influenced their decision to buy or sell secondhand in the past year. Nearly one-in-five (18%) Gen Z respondents who made money from resale used it to start or grow a business or side hustle.
•More than half (54%) of all respondents and more than two-thirds (68%) of Gen Z ones said AI-generated images or AI edits that substantially change how the actual item appears make them less confident in a listing.
•Thirty-eight percent of recommerce buyers prefer buying from someone nearby and picking the item up locally, while 25% prefer having the item shipped to them.
“With the U.S. recommerce market projected to reach $307.7 billion by 2030, the economic opportunity is significant,” said OfferUP CEO Todd Dunlap. “But what excites me most is what that growth can mean in people’s everyday lives: greater access to the quality they want, new value from the things they already own, and more ways to make their money go further.”
For its 2026 report, OfferUp partnered with Pollfish, which conducted a survey of 1,500 U.S. adults in August.
