There was a time when buying second-hand carried a stigma and replacing a broken item was the default. Today, a shift in consumer habits is redefining how we value our possessions.
Driven by tight budgets, easy access to online resale platforms, and a surge in DIY repair tutorials, more people are choosing to fix, reuse, and buy pre-loved over brand-new. Buying new is no longer automatically considered better - just more expensive.
But that relationship with things appears to be changing.
Not necessarily because everyone has discovered the joys of minimalism, or because we have all decided that owning fewer things is morally superior. There is a much more practical reason: things cost money, and increasingly, people are asking whether they actually need another one.
At the same time, repairing, reusing, buying second-hand and keeping things for longer are becoming the norm. What was once seen as making do is becoming another way of shopping.
The second-hand shop gets a makeover
Second-hand shopping has perhaps undergone the biggest image change.
It is no longer limited to rummaging through racks looking for something that resembles the item you wanted. Online marketplaces, specialist resale platforms, vintage stores and social media have made it considerably easier to find specific things, compare prices and even sell something once you have finished with it.
The numbers suggest this is more than a passing fashion trend. A 2025 ThredUp Resale Report, produced with GlobalData, projects that the global second-hand apparel market will reach $393 billion by 2030, growing twice as fast as the overall apparel market.
In the US, second-hand clothing sales grew 14% in 2024, five times faster than the broader retail clothing market.
The figures are specific to clothing and based on international markets, but they point towards a change in how consumers think about ownership.
There is value in something that has already lived
Part of the appeal is financial.
Buying something that has already had an owner can make considerably more expensive brands accessible, whether it is clothing, furniture, bicycles, cameras, tools or even cars.
It also changes the calculation around quality. A well-made item that has survived several years of use can sometimes be a better proposition than a cheaper new product whose longevity is unknown.
There is also something satisfying about finding an item that isn't everywhere.
Second-hand shopping has become a way of finding older designs, discontinued products and things that aren't made anymore. For many, the search itself has become part of the experience.
Research from ThredUp's report found that 60% of US consumers surveyed said shopping second-hand apparel gave them the most value for their money. It also found that 46% said that if they could find an item second-hand, they would not buy it new.
The used item isn't necessarily being considered because the buyer cannot afford the new one, but it can be the preferred purchase.
Repair is making a comeback
A broken zip no longer automatically means a new jacket. A scratched piece of furniture might get sanded and refinished, an old bicycle can be rebuilt, and a favourite pair of shoes can be resoled rather than discarded.
The repair economy has also benefited from information being easier to find. YouTube has effectively turned millions of us into amateur technicians. There are videos explaining how to repair everything from coffee machines to lawnmowers, while online communities provide advice about parts, tools and obscure faults.
I save by servicing my own car. It’s not a modern plug-in to find the fault vehicle, but almost everything I’ve repaired and serviced myself is thanks to YouTube and forums.
There’s also something very satisfying about fixing something yourself rather than forking out money to a specialist.
Not every repair makes financial sense because sometimes the cost of fixing something exceeds its value. But the decision is increasingly being made on the basis of whether something can be repaired rather than whether it is old.
Making things last is becoming a habit
There is another change with people becoming more interested in looking after what they already own.
It can mean maintaining a car rather than replacing it, buying better-quality furniture and keeping it longer or repairing the cupboard door that has been hanging crooked for months.
The same thinking is visible in the resale market, where buying and selling increasingly form part of the same cycle. The latest ThredUp research describes this as a kind of "resale flywheel", with consumers selling unwanted possessions to generate money that can then be used for future purchases.
We haven’t stopped buying
It doesn’t mean we have stopped shopping.
New products remain attractive, convenient and necessary. Some things make more sense to buy new, particularly when technology, safety, hygiene or warranties are involved.
I had a dishwasher that needed repairing, and after speaking to the repair technician, he suggested that it would cost almost as much as a new one and his guarantee would be six months as opposed to a three-year warranty on the new machine.
It does appear, though, that the assumption that new automatically means better doesn’t always hold.
The growing second-hand market, repair culture and interest in keeping possessions for longer suggest that value is being measured in different ways. Price matters, but so do durability, usefulness, condition and the possibility of getting another few years out of something that is already sitting at home.
We are not necessarily buying more selectively because we have suddenly learned to live without things; we’re becoming a little more interested in the things we already have and questioning whether our next purchase needs to be new at all.
willem.vdputte@nationalmg.co.za