Why resale stores could be a great shopping option for you.

by Click On Trend Click On Trend

We live in conflicting times. On the one hand, over the past couple of years it has become quite clear that consumer models have changed dramatically: uncontrolled shopaholism and ostentation have become bad form, normcore is a new philosophy of life, and the concept of “less is better” is the motto of many modern people.

But on the other side of the barricades are the same mass market, firing off new collections every two weeks as they are confident their clients do not want to wait six months to buy the thing they like. So all seasonal releases should go straight to the store from the runway. It is clear that the modern world in general, and the retail world in particular, are about variety of choices. If you want to, profess the ideology of slow life and keep the number of things necessary for life to a minimum. Or, if you want, rush headlong into consumer joys. And everything would go on as it were, but there’s a third perspective looming on the horizon, balancing somewhere between these two extremes.

Professional resale websites have obvious benefits. Firstly, the ability to choose from hundreds of things something worthwhile without having to spend a couple of hours in a room smelling of mothballs and forever gone youth. And secondly, the interface of resale online stores like TheRealReal or Click On Trend itself does justice to former fashion’s glory: they are usually made in the best traditions of retailers like Nordstrom or Matchesfashion with nice-looking collections, colorful banners and eye-catching street style pictures. The main thing, of course, is the prices that do not hit the wallet very much, especially in comparison with those originally indicated on the tags.

It is clear that in modern realities a Prada blouse even for $90 is a significant waste, but with this almost hundred bucks you get: a) quality; and b) a thing that you don’t have to send to junk at the end of the season (for comparison, a lightweight polyester jacket from Zara now costs about the same).

This approach to shopping fits perfectly into the concept of “buy less, choose more carefully,” which we already discussed, and the pleasure of non-impulsive shopping warms up a quite affordable price range. And here's another thing: the numerous bags, dresses and shoes that you remember from your own Instagram feed or trend reports from fashion magazines; just a couple of seasons later look hopelessly empty and outdated. Resale is an excellent prophylaxis against attacks of shopaholism: just think about how many endless “it” shoes and “must haves” (including to the interpretation of the mass market) ultimately turn out to be put up for resale, yet there is no desire to spend money on them.

But the main argument in favor of resale sites is different. Each year, 80 billion units of clothing are sold in the world, of which only 10 percent is destined to be donated to charity. More than 13 million tons of textiles are sent to scrap, of which 15 percent of which are processed and gain a second life. Here and there we hear about the initiatives of industry players to contribute to environmental support: they will decide to change old things into new ones, but it turns out that they only follow half-hearted measures like paying their seamstresses two dollars per hour instead of one and a half.