Parents Are Big Secondhand Shoppers, and Take Their Activity Online

For more insights about Gen Alpha, download our report Gen Alpha’s Influence.

Secondhand shopping, thrifting, vintage hunting — call it what you want, but the resale market is undeniably having a moment on social media. For some, the motivation is to differentiate themselves from the pack through finding unique items in an era where everyone seems to buy the same stuff. For most though, it’s all about saving money. 

Parents have a lot of financial pressures that non-parents don’t, and are more likely to shop secondhand than non-parents for both themselves and their children. Millennial and Gen Zer parents are more apt to take that activity online through social media groups and resale marketplaces. 

A majority of parents in all income groups shop secondhand

When asked if they “frequently consider ‘previously owned’ products as opposed to new”, 59% of parents say they do. That number falls slightly to 55% for all U.S. adults. Those with kids in their households of course have financial pressures that others don’t, so shopping secondhand helps to keep spending in check. Secondhand shopping is more common in families with household incomes under $50,000 annually, where 61% of respondents say they frequently consider previously owned products. 

Having an income over $100,000 annually doesn’t go as far with kids in the household, so these families are only slightly less likely than their lower income counterparts to have an inclination to shop secondhand. Even families with over $250,000 incomes with far more wiggle room for spending still have high rates of secondhand purchasing consideration, over 50%. 

The big annual back to school shopping trip — a particularly stressful event for budget-conscious families — includes not just shopping for new items, but collecting and buying previously owned items as well. Our 2024 back to school shopping survey found that books and clothes were the most common secondhand categories. 

Secondhand shopping for children is most common for under twos

Kids under two aren’t particularly worried about where their clothes and toys come from, so we see a higher share of parents purchasing secondhand items for their kids at that age. Our recent report on Gen Alpha’s Influence found that kids’ brand awareness and attention really kicks off after age 9, when secondhand shopping also dips. 

Naturally, lower income families get a greater share of their kids’ stuff secondhand than higher income families. There’s not a meaningful difference between our middle income group and higher income, again because six figures isn’t as comfortable as it once was, especially for families in high cost of living areas. 

Lower income families feeling financial pressure shop secondhand more because they have to than because they want to. When asked why they choose secondhand, their responses are more concentrated toward the financial benefit as opposed to style choices. 

Thrift stores & friends and family dominate secondhand activity, but socials have a big role to play

Nearly half (49%) of parents use social media and online marketplaces for secondhand shopping. Platforms like Facebook Marketplace are particularly popular with high- and middle- income parents (and young adults in general), as well as Poshmark, which has a strong social media component to its platform. Bundles of gently worn onesies or toys kids won’t notice have left their play areas are easy to find on these sites.

Young adults are much more active users of these platforms than others, helping them access a much wider range of brands and products than the traditional hand-me-downs from friends and family might. 

Kids brands should take note of others that have established successful partnerships with resale platforms, like ThredUp and J.Crew. Of course, those that manufacture products geared toward children's safety, like car seats, can help educate parents on why secondhand products might not be the right choice for their categories.