The Best Places To Buy Second-Hand Clothing Online
In an age of fast fashion and overconsumption, buying second hand is a great way to keep your wardrobe fresh and your conscience clear. There are plenty of rare gems and jaw-dropping bargains to be found online – but only for those who know where to look.
From hard-to-find deadstock sneakers to classic wardrobe staples, it’s all there for the taking if you’re browsing the right sites and apps. So, to make locating the good stuff that little bit easier, we’ve put together a list of our favourite places to source second-hand steals on the web.
Whether you’re after high-end designer gear from an online consignment store, trying to find a suit for a special occasion or just want to refresh your wardrobe on a budget, one or more of the options below should have what you need.
Grailed
For the uninitiated, a ‘grail’, in streetwear parlance, is that one item you’d cut off your right hand to own. Something that’s near impossible to find and highly sought after. As the name suggests, that’s what Grailed is all about.
Whether you’re trying to cop those limited-edition sneakers you missed out on in the raffles or desperately searching for an obscure piece from a 1990s Raf Simons collection, chances are you’ll find it on Grailed. It’s a community marketplace specialising in hype-worthy, high-end fashion and has earned a reputation as the go-to place for rare second-hand streetwear garms.
Depop
What do you get if you cross eBay and Instagram? Probably something that looks a lot like Depop. This online marketplace is mobile based and has become a hugely popular means, particularly among teenagers, of buying and selling pre-owned clothing.
But you don’t need to be part of Gen Z in order to benefit; simply type a keyword or two into the bar, hit search, and your smartphone screen will be filled with an Insta-esque arrangement of tiles, each showing an image from a seller. Click the photo and you’ll be taken to the listing where you can either message with an offer or pay a fixed buy-it-now price.
The app is great for sourcing everything from streetwear to wardrobe staples and it can even be used as a platform to set up online stores. Plus, if you get in the habit of liking items, the app will paint a digital image of your personal style and recommend listings to you based on what it thinks you’ll be into.
Vestiaire Collective
We’d all like to have wardrobes overflowing with high-end designer gear, but for most of us, personal finances make it a difficult goal to achieve. That’s where Vestiaire Collective can help.
This online platform is the best place for buying and selling luxury goods, and although the price tags reflect this, it’s possible to save hundreds, sometimes thousands, on RRP.
The best part is that authenticity is guaranteed. Vestiaire Collective provides a middleman service for buyers, whereby all items sold are inspected before being passed on to the buyer to make sure they’re the real deal. Valuable peace of mind when you’re dealing with high-value items.
Shop now at vestiairecollective.com
eBay
So, chances are you’re already very familiar with eBay, but it’s possible you haven’t thought about it as a tool for sourcing fashion. In fact, eBay has a ton of features that make it great for finding rare second-hand clothing and it’s a good first port of call if you’re looking for a particular piece.
What really makes eBay great for finding rare items is the fact that it’s an international platform. The global shipping program makes it easy to buy from sellers in different countries, which increases your chances of finding certain pieces massively. The auction format is great too, and while there’s little left to say about eBay that hasn’t been said already, it’s still one of the best tools at your disposal when it comes to buying second hand.
Marrkt
Marrkt is an online consignment store created by the owner of The Real McCoys and Superdenim. It focuses on high-end, high-quality menswear; the sort of stuff that’s built to last. Think things like weighty Japanese raw denim, sturdy leather boots and brands spanning the likes of Visvim, Stone Island, Gucci and Yuketen.
This is a great place to get upscale menswear at bargain prices. Plus, everything sold is authenticated by the experts at Marrkt first, so you can rest assured that you’re getting legit pieces.
Oxfam
Browsing your local bricks-and-mortar Oxfam shop isn’t always the most efficient way to find something you’re looking for, but things are much simpler online. The Oxfam site allows you to filter by brand, which makes it much easier to find pieces that might be of interest.
Granted, not every search is fruitful, but every once in a while there’s a gem to be found. Besides, the most important point here is that you’re helping out the less fortunate, which is why Oxfam will always be one of our favourite spots to find second-hand clothes online.
StockX
American site StockX has revolutionised the sneaker resale market. It’s a live marketplace that works on an auction format, with data available about various metrics such as the current market value of any given pair of sneakers. It has become the default tool for sourcing rare kicks and you’ll struggle to think of a pair that can’t be found, even if the price tag is astronomical.
Again, like others, StockX provides a middleman service, authenticating items sold. Products are reviewed by experts who determine authenticity before shipping them to the buyers, making sneaker resale safer than its ever been before.
