Tariffs will push customers to secondhand clothing market, industry expert says

Increasing clothing costs, the result of tariffs, could drive a business boom for the secondhand clothing industry.

“The tariffs that have been added to the vast majority of products are going to increase the costs for all of these brands and mean that they have to raise prices by a pretty significant amount in the coming weeks.” said Emily Gittins, the CEO and co-founder of Archive.

Archive, a Berkley, California company, helps businesses develop secondhand clothing operations. Gittins says she expects increasing costs will drive more people to seek out secondhand goods.

“Given that we’re likely heading to a recession, given the increase in full-price product, we’re expecting buyers to look for alternative, cheaper options and flood to secondhand marketplaces," Gittins said.

It's a change Stephanie Wilson, the assistant manager at a SuperThrift in Pearl, Mississippi, is already seeing.

“I definitely think that we will see an uptick in traffic — we have the last couple months," Wilson said. "I think [it's] because everybody’s watching the economy and how it’s going to go and saving what money they can wherever they can.”

Hannah Laird, a SuperThrift customer, says she plans to avoid higher prices by spending more of her money at secondhand stores.

“I have a 10 year old as well and this one is almost two," Laird said, holding her daughter. "Things are just so much more expensive than they were, again, clothes, diapers, food, everything. And it really helps to save by getting stuff used."
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