The Korea Federation of Textile Industries (KOFOTI) released its "2026 First-Half Fashion Consumption Status" report on October 7, 2026, showing that only 15.6% of Korean consumers had bought secondhand fashion in the past six months, while 84.4% of respondents had no such purchase experience; among consumers who had disposed of clothing during the same period, 71.8% threw old clothes into general waste bags, and only 20.5% chose to sell them as secondhand clothing. Secondhand fashion trading remains a niche consumption path in South Korea.

Key Points

  • Secondhand fashion purchase rate in the past six months was 15.6%, with non-buyers accounting for 84.4%
  • When disposing of old clothes, 71.8% discarded them directly, while only 20.5% sold them secondhand
  • 28.7% expressed willingness to engage in secondhand trading in the future, while 39.9% had no intention

In terms of purchasing channels, consumers relied most on person-to-person secondhand trading platforms (such as Karrot Market, 당근), accounting for 57.8%, followed by vintage shops at 30.3%, resale platforms at 22.1%, social media at 20.6%, and transactions between acquaintances at 8.9%. Judging from the channel structure, dedicated fashion resale platforms have yet to take a dominant position.

Future willingness to participate is also low. Respondents who said they "intend to trade fashion secondhand in the future" accounted for 28.7%, those answering "neutral" made up 31.4%, and those clearly stating no intention to trade reached 39.9%, higher than the willing group. The awareness score for viewing secondhand trading as a regular fashion purchasing channel was only 44.2 points (out of 100).

The disposal side is equally weak. Consumers who had disposed of clothing in the past six months accounted for 43.5%; besides the 71.8% who discarded items, 18.5% disposed of them using pay-as-you-throw garbage bags, 17.3% donated them, 9.1% gave them away for free, and only 20.5% chose to sell them secondhand. The per-capita disposal volume was not small: an average of 6.8 items of clothing worn by the respondents themselves and 4.6 items worn by family members; among family members' clothing, infant and children's apparel had the largest average disposal volume at 7.2 items. A large amount of clothing leaves consumers' hands but fails to enter the secondhand circulation chain.

Korean fashion companies are treating resale as a new consumption area and expanding their services: Musinsa launched "Musinsa Used" in August 2025; LF also collects, inspects, and resells secondhand clothing from its major brands through "Elli Market." Other brands and platforms have successively launched secondhand clothing trading services, but how to truly drive consumer participation remains to be resolved.

Industry insiders say that activating participation in secondhand services requires both expanding the purchasing experience and improving the convenience of selling and disposal; currently, secondhand fashion trading is mainly concentrated among consumers who have clear purchase reasons such as price or scarcity, and it will take time to spread as a common fashion consumption method.

(This article is based on a KOFOTI report and reflects South Korea's domestic secondhand fashion circulation landscape; for companies engaged in old clothing export and sorting, the low willingness of Korean consumers to sell secondhand and the high proportion of old clothes discarded directly mean that local sourcing for recycling and recirculation remains an undeveloped link.)

Source: "중고거래 대세라는데"…패션은 안 사고 안 판다 · Originally published on 2026-10-07