As the seasons change and our lives evolve, so do our styles and budgets. On the first Monday in October, National Consignment Day offers a way to elevate both.
The holiday celebrates consignment as the smart, sustainable way to shop, earn money, and extend the lifecycle of your items.
- 1897 – Religious groups see the opportunity reselling provides — for funds and to encourage more charity — and they change the optics of this trend.
- 1920s – The number of stores involved in selling used goods increased around the country, and soon, this giant nonprofit opens stores that offered department-store quality of used goods.
- 1950s – Where until now only thrift stores existed across the U.S., consignment stores began to make their presence known — they have existed alongside thrift stores ever since.
- 2017 – National Consignment Day was established by the online luxury consignment store The RealReal to promote this method of shopping.
- As an increase in the ‘disposable’ nature of clothes happened, Jewish immigrants saw an opportunity to sell discarded clothes on pushcarts.
- People buying from pushcarts were seen as low-class and tasteless. Newspapers included inferences about the dangers of purchasing anything from these carts.
- Consignment shops are also known as ‘second-hand shops’ in the U.S.
- Consignment stores sell antiques, automobiles, books, never-worn clothing, furniture, musical instruments, athletic equipment, tools, paragliders, firearms, toys, and more.
- Consignment store items are lower priced than normal stores, and some even resell luxury items.
- One of the coolest parts about consignment stores is that the lineup of merchandise changes daily.
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Clothes Mentor, Naples, FL - The US alone sends about 21 BILLION POUNDS of used textiles to landfills annually
- Some consignment shops sell brand-new merchandise:
- Consignment store inventory is always changing
- Stick to consignment shops in the nicer neighborhoods, where people have more disposable income and more disposable high-end merchandise.
- Consignment shopping is probably the only consumption that’s environmentally friendly: When you buy an item you’re keeping it out of the landfills, where an estimated 85 percent of used clothing winds up every year.
- The resale and secondhand market is booming, and in 2023 is expected to reach $53 billion.
- According to NARTS: The Association of Resale Professionals: “There are currently more than 25,000 resale, consignment and not-for-profit resale shops in the United States.”
- The global secondhand market is expected to double by 2027, reaching $350 billion.
- The U.S. secondhand market is expected to reach $70 billion by 2027.
- Online resale is expected to grow 21% annually over the next five years, reaching $38 billion by 2027. It’s the fastest-growing resale segment.
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