Perhaps there was once a stigma attached to buying pre-used items; perhaps people associated it with being poor, or needy. However, such attitudes are fading rapidly – 2025 research from the Centre for Economics and Business Research reports that second-hand products now account for 34 to 45 percent of UK consumer purchases.
As well as rising living costs, there are increased concerns about waste and sustainability – and, while these are key to why I continue to favour pre-owned things, there’s an emotional aspect to it as well: buying them makes me feel closer to my mother.
With me in London and Mum, who’s no longer able to travel, in Sydney, our opportunities for togetherness are rare. Second-hand shopping was our pastime, even when money wasn’t in short supply. Going to garage sales and markets was a bonding, mutually enjoyable activity. Even now, Mum loves seeing my finds, always praising me for my “good eye”.
“You’d never know it was only £2; you make everything look a million dollars!” she says admiringly, in that way only mothers can.
‘Making her dream a reality’
When I show my purchases to Mum, and list them on our Etsy vintage shop, it feels a little bit like I’m vicariously making her dream shop a reality, albeit only virtually. More importantly, every sale we make goes towards my next airfare home. I called the shop Bevintagebounty – not only as a reminder to “be vintage” and try to shop more sustainably in this age of over-consumerism, but also as a way of linking in Mum’s name, Bev.
Vintage resellers and “professional thrifters” have huge followings online, and you could easily believe that it’s as simple as scoring a secondhand Le Creuset for a quid and selling it for £30. There’s a bit more to it than that.
For me, obviously, the buying is a doddle, and I’m fairly clued up about what will sell – but staging, photographing, uploading, listing? So tedious. And the thrill of a sale is often quickly outweighed by hunting for suitable packaging and trudging to the post office. Not to mention the fact that new US customs and tariffs have made postage to the market most eager for European finds prohibitive.