Amid Tariffs, Thrift Shops Could See a Boom

Stores selling secondhand clothes, shoes, and accessories are poised to benefit from President Trump's trade war, even as businesses the world over race to avert potential damage, per industry experts. The Yale University Budget Lab last week estimated short-term consumer price increases of 65% for clothes and 87% for leather goods, noting that US tariffs "disproportionately affect" those goods. In turn, such price hikes may drive cost-conscious shoppers to online resale sites, consignment boutiques, and thrift stores in search of bargains or a way to turn their wardrobes into cash, per the AP. More:

• Expert take: "Resale is going to grow in a market that is declining," said Circana's Kristen Classi-Zummo, an apparel industry analyst. "What I think is going to continue to win in this chaotic environment are channels that bring value."

• Growing demographic: Data from market research firm Sensor Tower shows the audience may be expanding beyond its primary buyers—millennials and members of Gen Z. The number of mobile app downloads for nine resale marketplaces the firm tracks—eBay, OfferUp, Poshmark, Mercari, Craigslist, Depop, ThredUp, The RealReal, and Vinted—increased by 3% between January and the end of March, the first quarterly gain in three years, per Sensor Tower.
• 'Uncertainty': Archive, a San Francisco-based tech firm that builds and manages online and in-store resale programs for brands like the North Face and Lululemon, has noticed clothing labels expressing more urgency to team up, per CEO Emily Gittins. "There's a huge amount of uncertainty," Gittins said. "Everyone believes that this is going to be hugely damaging to consumer goods brands that sell in the US. So resale is basically where everyone's head is going."

• Caveats: Resale vendors aren't immune from tariff-induced upheavals, said Rachel Kibbe, CEO of Circular Services Group. US sellers that import secondhand inventory from EU nations would have to pay a 20% duty if Trump moves forward with instituting "reciprocal" tariffs on most trading partners and eliminates an import tax exception for parcels worth less than $800, Kibbe said.
• Reaction: Norah Brotman, 22, a University of Minnesota senior, buys most of her clothes on eBay. She also thrifts fashions from the 1990s and early 2000s at Goodwill and resells them on Depop. If tariffs upend the economics of fast fashion and discourage mindless consumption, Brotman would count that as a plus. "I would love if this would steer people in a different direction," she said.

More here. (More tariffs stories.)