There has been a 14.2 percentage point jump in pre-loved purchases over the past three years, according to new consumer research by second-hand fashion platform Reskinned.
In 2023, 38.6 per cent of customers told a Reskinned survey they bought pre-loved. In 2026, that figure has reached 52.8 per cent.
A statement from the platform, said: “One of our key strengths at Reskinned is having our own engaged community of consumers, giving us the ability to gather direct insights into their attitudes, preferences and purchasing habits.
“By regularly polling this community, we can track how consumer behaviour is evolving and use these insights to better understand the changing resale landscape.”
Reskinned did stress that the pre-loved journey has not been linear. The proportion of shoppers choosing second-hand rose to 46.4 per cent in 2024 before falling to 41.9 per cent in 2025.
But the longer-term trend shows pre-loved is increasingly becoming an established part of consumer behaviour, rather than a specialist or occasional purchase.
As consumers become more comfortable buying pre-loved, the distinction between “new” and “pre-owned” becomes less relevant.
A spokesperson for the platform added: “The opportunity is increasingly about creating compelling, trusted retail experiences around products that already exist – and building models that keep those products in circulation for longer.
“At Reskinned, we believe this shift represents a fundamental change in the way value is created across the lifecycle of a product.”
Additionally, the company believes the next phase of retail won’t just be about selling more new products, it will be about getting more value from the products already in existence.
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