A new way to shop second hand online

Why shop second hand?

I like second hand shopping both in person and online. It’s a great way to get a bargain and have a lower impact purchase. Buying new has a much bigger cost than just the price tag, pollution, workers rights and resources are all hidden costs. Waste Action charity WRAP has found that extending the active life of 50% of UK clothes by only 9 months would reduce carbon by 8%, water by 10% and waste by 4%.

Second hand shopping has become very popular. Globally the sector is heading towards 10% of global sales, and the trend is highest among the Gen Z and Millennials age group. If you have some items that need to find their next home, you might be interested to know eBay has just stopped charging selling fees for second hand clothing (April 2024).

Second hand is especially useful when curating a new, or upgrading a festival outfit. We go to festivals that usually have a theme for at least one of the days, and we often come up with our own themes for the other days. Much is based on what we already have but there is often at least one new theme! The tip is to start looking early as it can take a while to find the right item/s.

Multiple up cycled / recycled and hand made items in these Shambala outfits. Theme for 2023 was “Part of the Furniture”.

The challenge

EBay was the site I used most, as I was familiar with it from the selling and buying perspective. However, I knew there were loads of others. The idea of registering, and having saved searches, with lots of them, did not seem fun!

Rumage

Then I discovered Rumage. The search engine reviews 31 (with more being added) sites; clothes, shoes, accessories, electronics, furniture, toys, all at the same time. You get a preview of the item with price, photos and description. If you are interested you just click on the link to open a new window for the selling site. The sale is completed on the third party site, and Rumage gets a commission. If you are not already registered with the third party site you will need to do this to process the sale.

I have found it works very well so far. The algorithms seem to show only genuine second hand items.

I have a list of what I am looking for, and once a week check out whats coming up for those search terms. You can save searches but I haven’t needed this feature yet.

As with many websites there is a free version and a paid version. The FAQ’s are currently not clear on the differences between the free and paid versions. There is no app, yet but it is still very new.

What have I got so far

Wellies

My old wellies had been patched, and mended, multiple times so it was time for a new pair. There are currently very limited options for ethical new wellies, so second hand was my best option. Here they are at a very wet and muddy allotment a few weeks ago.

Scarf

One of the Shambala festival themes for 2024 is PINK. This is part of the outfit I am curating.

What I am currently looking for

Pink tights (fishnet) for the Shambala festival pink day theme.
Cyberdog (clubbing brand) items.