People cautious of the impact tariffs may have on their wallets are shifting their gaze towards secondhand items. 

Operators of secondhand marketplaces for objects starting from footwear to toys and residential requirements have stated they anticipate tariff-triggered value nervousness to spice up curiosity in resold items. Secondhand market OfferUp has currently seen searches for some merchandise—together with Apple (AAPL) AirPods, washer/dryers, and couches—rise to 10 instances their typical ranges, executives instructed Investopedia. 

The information “makes it clear that one thing is going on,” stated OfferUp Chief Enterprise Officer Nathan Garnett. “We’re in all probability on the very vanguard of seeing precise affect on the resale market from these tariffs and shoppers beginning to seek for other ways of discovering issues that they need.”

Secondhand Buying May ‘Surge’ as Customers Search Aid

The U.S. secondhand market generated about $53 billion in 2023 income, in keeping with Capital One; roughly one-third of the clothes bought within the U.S. over the previous 12 months was secondhand. 

A majority of these polled earlier this 12 months by on-line thrift and consignment platform ThredUp have been involved that commerce insurance policies would make attire dearer, with most saying they’d hunt down choices—corresponding to secondhand items—to mitigate rising clothes costs.

“Extra shoppers are turning to secondhand as a means of hedging in opposition to value rises and potential product shortages,” stated Neil Saunders, retail analyst and managing director at GlobalData Retail. “As we transfer into key retail events like again to highschool and the vacation celebrations past, secondhand will seemingly surge in recognition.”

OfferUp, which has greater than 40 million customers within the U.S., stated searches for smartphones, home equipment, tech devices and electrical bikes surged in Could. Essentially the most closely searched latest product class on the platform is strollers; Child merchandise are particularly weak to tariffs, as a majority of toddler merchandise offered within the U.S. is imported, primarily from China.

Consciousness of shortages or rising costs–and even simply the potential of them–tends to juice curiosity in some product classes, in keeping with Garnett. That will clarify an increase in searches for iPhones on OfferUp, with President Donald Trump not too long ago elevating the specter of tariffs on smartphones made outdoors the U.S.

Greater than 40% of the products offered on eBay (EBAY) at the moment are used or refurbished, which CFO Steve Priest on an April convention name, a transcript of which was made out there by AlphaSense, referred to as a “aggressive benefit and a energy.” 

“Customers are persevering with to search for worth on this atmosphere,” stated Priest.