What: Platforms selling vintage and upcycled goods are gaining popularity in cities including Shanghai and Beijing as customers become more price-conscious.

Why it is important: Rising prices, more environmentally conscious consumers, and the celebrity effect are normalizing secondhand shopping for Chinese shoppers, buying not only resale luxury goods but pre-owned fashion and accessories across price points.

According to data released by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics in October, apparel prices rose by 0.5% compared to last year, leading some to adopt secondhand shopping. Gen Z is becoming more accepting of resale, however, they tend to visit secondhand markets for social reasons rather than environmental ones. As well, in a July survey, online technology platform Youth36kr found younger generations are increasingly inclined to save rather than spend.

Recently, sustainable lifestyle company Bottle Dream and content platform Xiaohongshu launched a recycled fashion initiative in Shanghai complete with used clothes exchanges, upcycling craft workshops and other activities. According to Xiaohongshu, the three-day secondhand marketplace brought more than 2,000 people together.

Xiaohongshu is watching engagement around secondhand rise: circular fashion has garnered more than 20,000 notes as of September 2022, a 693% increase on the prior year.

Secondhand shopping starts to take off in China