The Future of Gift-Giving Is Thrifted

It might not be the biggest trend this holiday season, but consumers are getting more comfortable with the idea of secondhand gifts. That's good news for online resale platforms. Companies like Grailed, thredUp and The RealReal are reporting an uptick in traffic and sales this year as consumers look for greener gift options and attempt to avoid a tangled supply chain. Holiday season digital marketing efforts from thredUp and The RealReal are urging consumers to consider thrifting rather than buying new as they pick out gifts for friends and family. As an overall percentage though, most people still prefer brand new gifts to accompany their end-of-year holiday traditions. New remains the default in gift-giving An Adweek-Morning Consult survey shows that it's a minority of consumers who will "probably" or "definitely" buy a secondhand gift this year—just 27% of U.S. adults. That's compared to 94% who say they plan to buy a new gift for someone throughout the holiday season. A similar percentage (28%) said they would consider giving a secondhand gift in 2022. On the receiving end, more respondents were open to the idea of secondhand gifts. Just over half (51%) said that receiving secondhand gifts would be somewhat or very favorable. Still, more prefer to unwrap mint-condition presents—82% said that receiving brand new gifts would be somewhat or very favorable. "People are starting to view thrift as a socially acceptable gift option," Erin Wallace, vp of integrated marketing at thredUp, told Adweek. ThredUp's online thrift shop processes around 100,000 used items every day, with roughly 2.4 million available on the site at any given time. According to thredUP's Thrift for the Holidays report, 72% of Gen Z shoppers are open to receiving secondhand gifts. The future is thrifted The brand's goal is to "inspire a new generation of consumers to think secondhand first," Wallace added. "We envision a future where thrifted gifts are the norm." That kind of positioning holds a real opportunity, said Neeru Paharia, an associate professor at Georgetown University who studies consumer behavior related to sustainability. "Normatively, it hasn't been very common that you would buy people secondhand items [as gifts]," Paharia said. But with the right messaging around sustainability and even supply chain issues, "it would actually catch on." ThredUp's own holiday shopping research showed that two-thirds of respondents were open to receiving secondhand gifts this year, "but not all consumers have crossed over yet," Wallace said. Gen Z respondents were most open to thrifted gifts at 72%. "The holidays are typically not resale’s strongest season," Wallace added. "To see that nearly half of consumers are considering alternatives like thrift this year really underscores how much supply chain pressures, inflation and greater awareness of fashion's impact on the planet have converged, making secondhand gifts an attractive option." The reselling of sustainability For certain categories like luxury and vintage, resale is a more natural fit—even for gifting. It's seen an uptick in recent years on high-end platforms like The RealReal and Grailed. A 10-year-old, billion-dollar resale brand focused on luxury and designer brands, The RealReal saw a 60% year-over-year increase in orders with gift boxes in 2020. The platform's 2021 holiday campaign, "Unwrap the Unexpected," zeros in on that trend. The ads highlight the opportunity for unique finds and access to limited edition or sold out collections. The RealReal's holiday campaign urges shoppers to "Unwrap the Unexpected" by choosing to buy secondhand gifts through its platform. That focus appears to be a smart one—in Morning Consult's survey, 90% of respondents said that "finding something unique" was a factor in their decision to buy a secondhand gift. More than half (61%) called it a major factor. While the platform has seen steady growth, it's seen a shift in motivation from its consumer base over time. "When we first started, almost 11 years ago, we would lead with some of the marketing message around sustainability, and that would never pick up for us," said Rati Sahi Levesque, president of The RealReal. "Now, it's inherent to our brand." Based on research that The RealReal has done among its buyers, 43% said sustainability is a driving factor to purchase from the platform. Subverting the supply chain For Grailed, a resale platform that specializes in men's fashion, streetwear and sneakers, the holiday season brings a "massive wave of new users, first-time buyers," said the brand's vp of marketing, Matthew Eberhart. Grailed doesn't do any data collection that would indicate how many of its users are buying gifts via the platform. Still, Eberhart said it's seen a significant boost in activity this fall as traditional retail prices have inched upwards—especially in luxury apparel. Grailed saw a huge uptick in first-time users this fall. Eberhart credited supply chain issues in traditional retail for some of the migration to resale platforms like Grailed, who don't face the same complexities. Instead of paying the price for inflation and supply chain failures, you can get "the same exact thing, oftentimes new with tags, on Grailed," Eberhard said. "You can get the Gucci sweater, you can get the Loewe jacket, you can get the Chrome Hearts chains, you can get any of this stuff—but you're not paying for a broken supply chain." Pandemic Will Accelerate Growth of Fashion’s Resale Market, Rebag CEO Predicts