Management Practice Insights
DOI: 10.59571/mpi.v4i1.1
Year: 2026, Volume: 4, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-7
Original Article
Sukriti Sekhri Guptai* & Ruppal Walia Sharmai
iS.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research
*Corresponding author: [email protected]
Received Date:31 August 2025, Accepted Date:05 March 2026, Published Date:31 March 2026
While recent years have seen rising consumer interest and demand for second-hand goods, one persistent challenge remains: the supply. Consumers are often reluctant to part with their possessions, even those that they no longer use. This reluctance is especially strong among those who purchase new products firsthand, as they tend to form deeper emotional connections with such products, which inhibits their re-entry into the supply cycle. So how can brands break this deadlock? The answer lies in recent research by Feifei Huang and Vincent Chi Wong, which suggests a virtuous ‘reuse-resale cycle’ — second-hand purchases involve weaker attachment, which reduces barriers to reselling.1 Thus, this increases supply and encourages more consumers to buy second-hand products. To leverage this insight and provide brands and marketers with a playbook of interventions, we outline a framework to identify the most effective nudges based on purchase type and consumer type. These strategies can help expand the second-hand market and align with sustainability goals.
1 Feifei Huang and Vincent Chi Wong, ‘From Second-Hand to Third-Hand: Reuse and Resale Cycle’, Journal of Consumer Research 51, no. 1 (2024): 104–13, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucad042.
2 Fanny Moizant, Felix Krueger, Catharina Martinez-Pardo, Pierre Dupreelle, Judith Vitrani, Charles Gardet, Dounia Wone, Alice Hebrard-Lemaire, Delphine Baz, Erika Dietze, and Maria Lasa Aresti, ‘Resale’s Next Chapter: How Fashion and Luxury Brands Can Win in the Secondhand Market’, BCG Global, 1 October 2025, https://www.bcg.com/publications/2025/how-fashion-luxury-brands-can-win-secondhand-market.
3 Umair Bashir, ‘Most Common Second-Hand Purchases by Category in China 2025’, Statista, 25 November 2025, https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1348226/most-commonsecond-hand-purchases-by-category-in-china/.
4 Umair Bashir, ‘Most Common Second-Hand Purchases by Category in France 2025’, Statista, 25 November 2025, https://www.statista.com/forecasts/998302/most-commonsecond-hand-purchases-by-category-in-france/.
5 Chen Pang et al., ‘Leveraging Strategic Consumer Behavior in Consumer-to-Consumer Resale: From Economic and Environmental Perspectives’, Omega 120 (October 2023): 102924, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omega.2023.102924.
6 Thredup, ‘2025 Resale Market and Consumer Trend Report’, ThredUp, March 2025, https://www.thredup.com/resale.
7 Danica Lo, 85% of Women Keep Clothes Even If They Don’t Fit: I Do This! Do You?, Glamour, 6 August 2013, https://www.glamour.com/story/85-of-women-keep-clotheseven.
8 Emma Ruminski, Poor Quality Donations ‘Costing South West Charities Money’, BBC, 4 February 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cnvqep9rn0yo.
9 Nor Ashikin Ab Manan et al., ‘Factors Influencing Purchase Intention of Second-Hand Clothing Among University Students’, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science IX, no. II (2025): 558–68, https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.9020045.
10 OLX INDIA, ABOUT OLX INDIA – OLX India Careers, 2025, https://careers.olx.in/olx-background/.
11 Minda Zetlin, ‘After 123 Years, Goodwill Hit $5.5 Billion in Sales by Turning Retail Wisdom Upside Down’, Inc, 4 December 2025, https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/after-123-years-goodwillhit-5-5-billion-in-sales-by-turning-retail-wisdom-upsidedown/91272957.
12 Patagonia Help Center, What Is Worn Wear?, 15 November 2019 https://help.patagonia.com/s/article/What-is-Worn-Wear.
13 Corporate news, IKEA Second Hand Furniture Buy Back Program, Ikea, 3 September 2021, https://www.ikea.com/au/en/newsroom/corporate-news/ikea-renames-the-kallax-and-the-billy-bookcase-for-buyback-friday-pub71565ba0/.
14 H&M, ‘Garment Collecting at H&M’, , 6 May 2025,
https://www2.hm.com/en_in/sustainability-hm/services/garment-collecting.html
15 PIB Delhi, Centre Notifies the Consumer Protection (Direct Selling) Rules, 2021, PIB, 28 December 2021, https://www.pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1785873.
16 Marie Kondo, ‘About the KonMari Method’, KonMari, The Official Website of Marie Kondo, 14 August 2021, https://konmari.com/about-the-konmari-method/.
17 The New One | Back Market, directed by Back Market, 2023, 01:01, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_GuTbz8Ymk.
18 Pooja Malik, This Pune Startup Is Using Patented Tech to Make Shoes That Grow with Children, 16 February 2023, https://yourstory.com/2023/02/tech-led-pune-startup-arettochildren-shoes.
19 Rent the Runway, ‘How Rent the Runway Works’, Rent the Runway, 18 May 2015, https://www.renttherunway.com/how_renting_works.
20 ‘Lululemon Wants to Sell You Its Used Leggings. But Are They Worth Buying?’, The New York Times, 29 January 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/lululemon-likenew-review/.
21 Maghan McDowell, ‘Coach Enables Instant Resale Via Poshmark’, Tags, Vogue, 19 September 2024, https://www.vogue.com/article/coach-enables-instant-resalevia-poshmark.
22 Karol Andruszków, Why Big Brands Are Launching Second-Hand Recommerce Platforms?, 30 January 2026, https://ulansoftware.com/blog/why-big-brands-launchsecond-hand-recommerce-platforms.
23 Сonsumer International, ‘How Patagonia Became a Cult Favorite ’, Сonsumer International, 15 June 2023, https://consumerinternational.org/how-patagonia-became-acult favorite/?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
24 Laura Horton, ‘How My Love Of Clothes Became A Hoarding Problem’, Tags, British Vogue, 21 July 2022, https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/hoardingdisorder.
25 Samantha Dersarkissian, ‘How Branded Resale Transforms Returns into Profitable Revenue’, Trove, 16 December 2022, https://trove.com/resources/solve-fashions-return-problemsbranded-resale/ . H&M Management
© 2026 Published by SPJIMR. This is an open-access article under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Subscribe now for latest articles and news.
