Go Thrift gears up for expansion as shoppers turn to secondhand

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Feb 17, 2023

As more shoppers turn to ways of saving money in the cost-of-living crisis, sales almost doubled at a UK second-hand clothing retailer Go Thrift in the final three months of 2022.

Revenues for the quarter totalled £846,000, up from £451,000 a year earlier. The figure was boosted by a surge in Black Friday sales that were up 160% compared to the previous year, and was perhaps also driven higher by consumers becoming more sustainability-conscious.

Based on its success, the business has a fundraising target of £1 million “to rapidly scale-up in response to demand and to increase the amount of inventory listed online”, it told Business Live. The funding will also lay the foundations for expansion throughout Europe.

CEO and co-founder Carl Walker called it an “exciting time” for the business as the global second-hand fashion market is set to overtake fast fashion by 2030 (according to a GlobalData report).

Since its launch in 2019, GoThrift said it has recirculated 200,000 used clothes, with Levi’s jeans a big seller. It has sold over 60,000 pairs of Levi’s since launch, saving an estimated 456 million litres of water.

Walker added: “Go Thrift is going from strength to strength. We started as a completely bootstrapped company to turning over £1.2 million in the second year of trading.
 
“The global second-hand fashion market is growing three times faster than the global fashion market overall. By 2030 the market is expected to be bigger than fast fashion, making this investment round an attractive opportunity for investors who want to be ahead of the game in this sector.
 
“We are turning the tide on fast-fashion, driving category awareness and creating a genuine impact on the planet and consumer pockets throughout the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.”