The power of secondary marketplaces

Future brand growth is in capitalizing on its past

By 2025, global spend on second-hang clothing will reach $77bn. Total spend on fast fashion is predicted at $40bn, according to GlobalData. Second-hand spending spread to antique shops, furniture, books, jewelry. The pre-owned luxury watch market is set to grow to $30bn by 2025, per McKinsey. There are 154M #vintage on Instagram, compared to 69M #gucci.

Second hand is the first choice.

Desirability and demand for secondary marketplaces is linked to the shift in wealth creation. There is a direct line between the pre-2020 spending frenzy on tourism, luxury fashion, cultural heritage and the arts and the current spending on vintage goods.

Modern wealth capitalizes on the past — of places, objects, institutions, cultural activity and people — and in the stories (histories, heritage, tradition) associated with them. Growth is in reviving past, ascribing it importance through a half-real-half-imagined narrative, and turning it into an investment asset.

The wealth-mongers of this economy are curators, collectors and creators, who have the power to increase any past thing’s value by linking it into a collection, curating it, and remixing it with the current items and vibes.