Secondhand E-Commerce in Europe 2021

Secondhand E-Commerce Accelerates in Europe, as Consumers Pay Special Attention to Sustainability

“Secondhand E-Commerce in Europe 2021” offers a comprehensive overview of the current state and trends of secondhand commerce in major markets of the European region, as well as provides insights about the top local players and their activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic together with consumer interest in sustainability increased demand for secondhand goods in Europe

The COVID-19 pandemic and general interest in circular economy practices were the key drivers of secondhand sales growth in 2020, and this is expected to be so in 2021 too. Moreover, in Europe, the recently introduced French regulations aiming to significantly reduce industrial waste are likely to spread to other nations and positively impact the whole secondhand industry, as detailed in this publication.

On the country-level in Europe secondhand consumer profiles differ, but a general trend exists

In the developed markets of the European region, a share of consumers who have had an experience with purchasing secondhand clothing ranged from 20% to 75% during the pandemic. Apart from secondhand clothing, European consumers also increasingly purchased pre-owned furniture and books, and for some countries, these were the most popular product categories, according to figures cited in the report. Furthermore, in Europe, the largest demand growth on average is likely to come from the younger generations in Europe and from online channels. With that, the ranking of E-Commerce market players differed on the country level in Europe. However, when aggregated, the following were among the top local ones: Lithuanian Vinted, UK-based Depop, Rebelle from Germany, as well as French Vestiaire Collective. Each of these had a customer base well above 10 million across available markets.

Report Coverage

• This report covers the global B2C and C2C Secondhand E-Commerce and offline market in Europe. Some data points on B2B Secondhand Commerce are also included. The report covers the current state and trends of the secondhand sales industry in different countries, as well offers an overview of as consumer preferences and demand drivers.
• The following countries were included: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Turkey, and Russia.
• The following profiles of European secondhand E-Commerce companies were included: Vinted, Depop, Rebelle, and Vestiaire Collective. The companies were ranked according to their estimated customer base.
• The report contains relevant information about regulations, international and regional comparisons, market trends, secondhand E-Commerce adoption rates, consumer preferences, and players. Not all types of information were included for each country, due to varying data availability.

Report Structure

• The report starts with a global overview of the current state and market trends of the secondhand industry, including recent activities of some major players, as well as statistics applied to the global scale. Regional chapter follows the global overview and includes information on countries’ activities, consumer attitude towards secondhand sales, and other data points. The market report concludes with profiles of four European secondhand E-Commerce companies and the key takeaways.

Please note: For this report, the purchase of an Enterprise license allows up to ten worldwide users of an organization access to the report