If there's a silver lining somewhere in the tariff economy, the secondhand market seems to have found it. ThredUp's 14th Annual Resale Report, released April 2 via Business Wire, documents what could be the most significant structural shift in the resale industry since the pandemic — and tariffs are the accelerant.

The numbers are hard to argue with. ThredUp reported new buyers on its platform grew 95% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 16% year over year to $77.7 million, with gross margins approaching 80%. Depop, owned by Etsy, posted 35% global merchandise sales growth, with U.S. sales jumping 54% year over year — the platform's strongest performance since Etsy acquired it in 2021. The RealReal reported revenue up 11% year over year to $160 million.

WWD notes that the global secondhand apparel market is now projected to hit $393 billion by 2030, and the U.S. market alone is expected to reach $78.8 billion by the same year — growing roughly four times faster than conventional retail.

Tariffs as a Structural Catalyst

What's different about this resale surge is that it isn't just driven by environmentalism or Gen Z aesthetics. It's being driven by price anxiety at scale.

Trellis reports that 62% of Americans now say they're worried tariffs will drive up the price of clothing and fashion goods. Fifty-nine percent say they'll turn to secondhand options if apparel prices rise — a number that becomes very relevant as the de minimis exemption closes and platforms like Temu and Shein face the same cost pressures hitting traditional importers. ThredUp's goods, sourced domestically and priced accordingly, aren't subject to the same tariff math.

The report also surfaced a meaningful shift in how consumers think about new purchases: 60% now say resale value is a key factor when buying new clothing — up from 47% just a year ago. Business of Fashion reports that 80% of retail and brand executives expect trade wars to continue disrupting their supply chains, while 54% see resale as "a stable and predictable source of clothing" in a volatile import environment.

What This Means for Traditional Retailers

The implications for brand-forward retailers are significant. Resale is no longer primarily a threat to secondhand specialty shops — it's increasingly a threat to department stores, specialty apparel, and even mass-market fashion, as shoppers with tightening budgets discover that the resale market's quality-to-price ratio has quietly improved dramatically over the past three years.

Modern Retail's coverage of the platforms' strategies reveals a common thread: the winners are investing in AI-powered discovery, expanding brand partnerships, and working to convert the surge of tariff-driven first-time users into habitual buyers. ThredUp eliminated resale-as-a-service fees and is in discussions with more than 60 brands about partnership arrangements that let traditional retailers participate in the secondhand economy rather than compete against it.

OfferUp and Goodwill are also reporting record engagement, suggesting the wave extends well beyond apparel and into home goods, electronics, and general merchandise. In a market where Consumer Confidence hit a 12-year low and households are feeling an estimated $1,050–$1,300 annual tariff burden, the calculus for "why buy new?" is shifting fast.

The Remaining Friction

The secondhand market still has real friction — inconsistent sizing, extended delivery times, and the time cost of browsing — that limits its ceiling. But those frictions are shrinking as platforms improve AI-assisted search, standardize condition grading, and invest in faster fulfillment.

ThredUp's gross margins near 80% are also a reminder that the secondhand business model is fundamentally more durable than it might appear: the platform doesn't own the inventory. If consumer prices on new goods stay elevated — which most analysts expect through at least the end of 2026 — the tailwind for resale isn't going anywhere.

For retailers still operating entirely in the new-goods economy, this report should read as a warning. The customers you're about to price out of your stores are going somewhere. ThredUp is telling you exactly where.