Whether it be the post-recession, budget-conscious consumers or eco-friendly consumers who’d rather reuse than buy new, more and more people are buying used merchandise. In a July 2013 survey by America’s Research Group, nearly 20% of adults surveyed said they shopped at a secondhand store in the past year. According to the Association of Resale Professionals, there are an estimated 25,000 used merchandise stores in the United States, which includes thrift, resale, and consignment shops. This number is projected to increase by 7% annually.

The graphic shows U.S. sales made through used merchandise stores from 1992 through 2012. What is worth noting is the fact that, as is true for all categories of products, used merchandise is sold online as well as through retail outlets. The sales figures presented in the graphic do not include online sales of used merchandise, think eBay… We suspect that if those sales were added to the sales made through retail outlets, the significance of a shift towards used would be even more striking.

Today’s market size is the sales volume of used merchandise stores in the United States 2002 and 2012.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2002 and 2012
Market size: $9.5 and $13.4 billion respectively
Source: Lindsay VanHulle, “As Recession Alters Shopper Attitudes, Secondhand Shops Thrive,” Lansing State Journal, August 25, 2013, pages 1E, 3E. The graphic was made with data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s series of reports on the retail trade sector, specifically: “Estimated Annual Sales of U.S. Retail and Food Services Firms by Kind of Business: 1992 Through 2011,” released March 29, 2013 and available here.
Original source: First Research and the U.S. Bureau of the Census
Posted on August 28, 2013