volume one
NEWS TO ME
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A quarterly commentary
on news that news to me :)
march 2024
Trash Today.
Beauty Tomorrow.
The Second-Hand Beauty Market is Here and Thriving.
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I was perusing Mercari, as I am apt to do for some faux retail therapy (because leaving the house to shop and actually spend money is so 2019.) I can spend hours looking at NWT (new with tags) and NWOT (new without tags) second-hand dresses, shoes, and jewelry. Imagine it, and Mercari's got it, even second-hand beauty. Gasp!
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Cosmo featured Erica Metzger's article on second-hand beauty trends late last year and I can't say I was immediately drawn to the idea of swapping DNA off any jo-shmo's unwanted Dior lipstick. However, with my unparalleled obsession with Mercari, I decided to do some digging. According to Q3 Transparency Market Research report "The [global second-hand] market is anticipated to advance with a booming 13.6% CAGR from 2023 to 2031 and by 2031, the market is likely to gain US$ 1.3 trillion." This is a global phenomenon and beauty is most definitely part of that success. TMR is not alone in its estimations. Capgemini Engineering published a report titled Beauty Goes Circular exclusively on Formes DeLuxe "Second-hand cosmetics is a global market worth some $7bn that is slipping through brands’ hands and into those of consumer-to-consumer (C2C) platforms,...”
One can see with a simple Google search that there are already a dozen of pre-owned and second-hand beauty resale websites and programs underway. The newest to hit the market GlamBot acts as your ThredUp beauty edition with cleaning standards as part of their promise to buyers as mentioned on their About page. In addition to Mercari and Glambot, other web or app-based companies with skin in the game include: You From Me, Vinted, Poshmark, Glou Beauty, Depop, and Ebay with no doubt, more coming.
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In our most climate-conscious period and consumers with sustainability top of mind second-hand purchases are a win-win. Consumers can save some skin and minimize waste that would have otherwise gone to the bin. Now don't get me wrong - there is a gross factor here and when using a C2C resale site like Mercari a certain amount of risk is involved. Many consumers speaking on the subject via reddit note that many resale products can, in fact, be counterfeit.