Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by spywaregorilla 1839 days ago
I took a quick look through it. I didn't really get it though. If it's used clothes, why are there people selling large quantities like a business? That doesn't seem like a compatible idea?

The prices seemed lower than average new retail prices by a bit, but not much. There's no obvious way to signal clothes were purchased from depop as far as I could tell...

The only conclusion I can draw is that the used aspect has to be a sort of gimmick used to define the store brand, but in reality most of the money is made on niche sellers doing original products chasing a very long tail of fashion.

Am I terribly wrong?

1 comments

I live in Japan, thrift stores here sell rare stuff you literally can’t find new in stores, and have scouts who scour the planet for rare finds and ship them back to sell from stores. Sometimes clothes are altered to combine or remix classic styles, too. Prices can match or exceed new goods. And people happily pay for it, there are probably as many used clothes stores as there are for new ones. I’d imagine businesses like this can sell a large catalog on sites like Depop.

I think you’re thinking of used clothes like other used goods - a budget, subpar alternative - but think of it more like, achieving a look from a different era, or collecting something unique, and then it makes more sense.

Yeah they are more like classic cars or relics/jewlry. I wonder if a time piece related site could do well, or if the buyer base is too small.