The Market for Children’s Resale Apparel is Booming

The majority of the fashion industry is focused on how large the secondhand clothing market has gotten for young and mature adults. However, there’s another segment to this market that might have even more to offer—children’s resale apparel.

The market for secondhand kid’s clothes is booming, and it’s only projected to get bigger. In the coming years, resale clothing and apparel is expected to overtake traditional retail, thanks to shifting buyer behavior and socioeconomic trends. Now has never been a better time for aspiring entrepreneurs to consider opening a resale franchise catered to children’s clothing like Kid to Kid.

The resale industry is making growth leaps

The secondhand apparel industry has been growing tremendously over the past decade. In 2021, the global secondhand market reached $36 billion. This value is expected to double in the next five years.

According to ThredUp’s annual resale industry report published in June 2021, the secondhand industry will reach an estimated $77 billion by 2025. Curated resale is driving this growth. In fact, resale is expected to grow 11 times faster than the traditional clothing retail industry!

This is huge news for resale business owners. The demand for resale clothing is already here, and it’s poised to grow in the years to come.

Top trends driving children’s resale clothing sales

It’s important to examine why resale apparel is so hot right now and why experts anticipate it will be in the near future. There are a few key trends helping to drive the secondhand clothing market, particularly when it comes to children’s resale.

• Sustainable shopping: Conscious consumerism is changing the way shoppers—particularly younger shoppers—buy clothing. 77% of millennials want to shop from environmentally conscious brands. Fashion is one of the world’s most pollutive industries, and buying new items contributes to the problem. This trend is even more pressing when it comes to children’s clothing. Because kids grow out of clothes so fast, parents find it even more wasteful to buy new items for every growth stage, only for them to end up in a landfill in a few months. Resale shopping is a solution to this problem, extending the life of garments and reducing their carbon footprint.
• Tighter budgets: Between the economic impacts of COVID-19, inflation in the cost of clothing and younger generations having less disposable income, parents’ budgets are tight. Kids need clothes frequently, and this costs parents a lot over the course of their lifetime. Moms of kids plan to spend 53% more money than the average consumer on clothes for their kids. Enter resale. Secondhand stores allow tight budgets to stretch further. Parents can find items up to 70% off retail by shopping resale instead of new.
• More resale store options: With the growth of the resale industry has come a growth in the number of secondhand clothing stores available to shoppers. Buyers are no longer limited to independent thrift stores with bargain bins. Popular business names like Kid to Kid are expanding to new markets and becoming staples in communities. Thanks to word-of-mouth marketing and other advertisements, resale stores are bringing more people through their doors.
• Renewable customer base: Resale is becoming and staying popular because the consumer base is constantly renewing. There will always be a market for quality kid’s clothing because there will always be new parents! When it comes to families, affordable children’s apparel will always be in demand. When resale stores land a new customer, they have the opportunity to retain them and draw in even more.

Kid to Kid is prepared to meet the demand

Retail-focused entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on the booming children’s resale market should consider investing in a franchise that’s demonstrated year-over-year success. Kid to Kid has 27 years of experience in the children’s resale clothing business—and we share all our expertise with you as an owner! We invest heavily in state-of-the-art technology, marketing experts and ongoing training platforms to boost franchise owner success.

Plus, we focus specifically on kids—unlike more general thrift or resale stores that cater to a much wider set of demographics. This means we’re poised to capture a larger portion of the market interested solely on children’s clothing, and we market to those customers appropriately.

Now is the perfect time to take advantage of the growing popularity of children’s resale clothing. Fill out our contact form to learn more about Kid to Kid and our franchise opportunity.