Although buying clothes second-hand and reselling them isn’t a new concept, it has recently gathered much controversy from some who claim that resellers make secondhand clothing inaccessible to the lower class population. Despite the controversy, I believe that reselling is largely ethical and in fact beneficial for the environment and our wardrobes, and it’s important for people to understand why.
As the sustainable fashion movement grows, many consumers' eyes are being opened to the variety of unethical processes that allow their favorite fast fashion brands to stay in business. Worldwide, 80 billion pieces of clothing are consumed every year, however, approximately 85 percent of these textiles end up in a landfill.
https://fashionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/resale.
These astonishing numbers can largely be attributed to the rise of fast fashion, micro-trends, and the unethical labor practices that allow these massive levels of consumption to be possible.
While a variety of name brand stores contribute to the harmful effects of the fast fashion cycle, such as Urban Outfitters, Victoria’s Secret, Fashion Nova, arguably the biggest offender of these practices is Shein.
Shein employs labor in China and other foreign countries, paying their workers as little as four cents per item they make, and having workers regularly work 12-18 hour shifts with only one day off per month. These practices allow Shein to cut the process of selling a new item from design to market release to only 10 days, this process usually takes around 3 months.
They release thousands of new items monthly, only six percent being in stock for more than 90 days. Shein is a massive contributor to the surplus of fast fashion in landfills, and worth $64 billion. Shein is an excellent example of a microcosm in the fast fashion world.
Beyond the unethical labor practices, many consumers are unaware of the massive amount of water it takes to create new pieces of clothing. It takes roughly 1,800 gallons of water to make one pair of jeans and 714 to make one t-shirt. Many should consider purchasing clothes secondhand, because it’s not only financially boycotting unethical labor practices but also significantly reducing the carbon footprint.
The main point that is made against reselling is that resellers are the reason that prices in the thrift store are rising, making the clothes inaccessible to those who rely on thrift stores for their clothing. Although prices at these stores have been increasing alongside the rising popularity of secondhand reselling, it’s important to note that correlation is not causation.
The rising costs of rent and inflation are the main causes of these rising prices, along with corporate greed. Thrift stores have noticed the rising popularity of their stores and are capitalizing off of it. Though resellers have a small part in these rising costs due to their contribution to the popularity of thrift stores, it’s unfair to place all of the blame on them. If anyone is to blame it’s the stores that are capitalizing off of their rising popularity and the economic system that allows them to do so.
Another main point made against reselling is that resellers take all the in-demand items from thrift stores, leaving none left for the population that relies on them. Thrift stores are restocked daily, many being forced to not accept any further donations because of the surplus that they already have. In fact, only 20 percent of the clothes put out for sale are bought for resale. As long as the ultra-fast fashion cycle of wearing clothes once or twice and proceeding to throw them out continues, thrift stores will have no lack of supply.
It’s impossible for resellers to take all of the good stuff because of the sheer surplus of items available. That’s how multiple resellers can exist in the same market, there’s enough supply for all of them.
Reselling also allows people to buy unique pieces that they likely wouldn’t have found on their own, given that thrift stores usually only have one of each item. Personally, my favorite items in my closet are ones that I found in thrift stores or bought from resellers. Often these items are vintage and are no longer being sold from their manufacturer, allowing an opportunity for people to own truly unique and quality clothing.
The demonization of reselling only further alienates sustainable fashion practices. This is not to say that all resellers use completely ethical practices, but there are bound to be a few bad apples with any group of people. The best thing we can do for the environment and our wardrobes is to support reliable and conscious resellers or buy second hand ourselves.
Sources
Commentaires