China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Changing consumer attitudes lift domestic resale economy
LANZHOU — Clad in a vintage woolen suit vest and brown plaid pants, Yang Le is sorting out apparel and accessories in his soon-to-open secondhand boutique store.
The 34-year-old’s new shop is nestled on a busy shopping street in Lanzhou city, capital of Northwest China’s Gansu province, and mostly sells such secondhand clothing as Japanese flight jackets, Europeanstyle umbrella skirts and T-shirts made in the 1980s.
Successively opening two boutique stores within four years, Yang has great faith in China’s secondhand market.
The resale economy in China is growing at a rapid pace, fueled by changing consumer attitudes toward sustainability and nostalgia.
A report published by Shenzhenbased market-research company AskCI Consulting indicates that the revenue of China’s secondhand market reached 740 billion yuan ($114 billion) in 2018, and the figure was estimated at 1 trillion yuan in 2020.
“The young generation cherishes the value of time in vintage objects,” says Yang.
Obsessed with Western and Japanese secondhand culture, Yang quit his office job and opened his first vintage store in 2017.
He invested over 1 million yuan in selecting old objects from around the world.
“It’s generally believed that objects that are more than 20 years old can be seen as vintage,” says Yang.
“They should bear the value of time and be of high quality.”
Positioned as the antidote to fast fashion, the resale economy has been rising among young hipsters in Western countries for decades. But in China, it is still quite new and the industry is still small.
The first store, as Yang had predicted, did not see high sales in the beginning.
“A pair of hip-hugging jeans from the early 1970s may cost twice as much as a new pair of Levi’s. Few can accept both the concept and the price.”
With the new semester approaching, a secondhand book store in Lanzhou Jiaotong University is seeing brisk business.
Piles of secondhand books crowd the less than 10-square-meter store, with customers having to make their way through the books.
Purchasing used books has become the top choice for many students in China as it is cost-effective and environmentally friendly.
“It’s a win-win business and avoids unnecessary waste,” says 21-year-old student Suo Peng.
The booming secondhand market has also spawned new professions, such as secondhand luxury appraisers, and revived old businesses like pawnshops.
Yang Suchang, a professor with Lanzhou University’s School of Economics, says the secondhand market has entered a “virtuous circle” in China, and more professional practitioners and institutions will emerge in the future.
Yang Le spends a lot of time traveling around in search of antiques.
“They are highlights of the past and treasures of the future.”