How Jessica Read turned her overflowing closet into an online store

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Among the most popular of these platforms is Depop, a “circular fashion marketplace” where anyone can buy and sell clothes. Founded in Europe in 2011, it was acquired by American e-commerce company Etsy in 2021.

The service is primarily a fashion marketplace, known for its vintage and Y2K offerings. And it has made solid inroads with young shoppers – 81 per cent of registered users were aged between 15 and 25 in 2021.

So what makes Depop different? Read, who sold her first clothes on the platform and remains a popular seller, says it’s all about curation.

“It’s for Gen Z, essentially. It’s similar to eBay … but I think eBay is a mixture of everything from everywhere,” she says. “[Depop] has all the brands that we’re familiar with, and we see online, and it’s just a lot easier.”

Depop had an estimated 43.5 million users worldwide, an increase from the 28 million people who were signed up in December 2020. Sellers generated $US599.6 million ($925 million) of gross merchandise sales in 2023, which made up 4.6 per cent of Etsy’s total revenue.

In Australia, the platform earns its cut by taking a 10 per cent fee from the total sale cost. There’s no fee for listing items, but buyers pay a processing fee.

Dr Marian Makkar, senior lecturer in marketing at RMIT University in Melbourne, says platforms such as Depop succeed because they utilise aspects of internet culture to appeal specifically to younger audiences.

“These new websites are really bringing it closer to Gen Z and what they want … it’s close to what you would see on Instagram … the colours, the action, the interactivity. It’s a good way of encouraging this new habit [of shopping sustainably],” Makkar says.

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“People are just purchasing and then throwing away … fast fashion has created this whole industry of fast consumption and fast disposal,” she says. “Extending the lifespan of products, that’s really what we want. But we want to also encourage less consumption over the long term.”

And independent sellers on platforms like Depop are not the only ones selling their second-hand goods to the growing online market. Conventional companies are also making the leap.

“We need to be online,” says Liz Randle, head of retail innovation at St Vincent de Paul Society. “We need to give that customer an option … if you’re going to shop online, come to us first.”

The popular op shop chain launched a dedicated online store late last year, after almost a decade of selling a limited range of goods on eBay. A quick scroll on their website shows a mix of items, from pyjama sets and formal blouses to AFL merchandise.

“Vinnies is always predominantly brick and mortar. But what I actually think that our e-commerce does is, it adds value to the range across the Vinnies brand … it ensures that we are able to keep these items in the economy,” Randle says.

The second-hand fashion industry is a better version of online shopping when compared with alternatives such as Shein or Temu, Makkar says. But it can be expensive. The Australia Post e-commerce report says that only 7 per cent of shoppers prioritised sustainability over price in 2024.

Read understands the temptation of bargains from fast-fashion sites. However, she says that people need to be prepared to invest in quality products if they care about sustainability.

“Millions and millions of pieces of clothing are being discarded into landfill each year … it’s kind of out of sight, out of mind, but you don’t realise that this piece isn’t just becoming invisible and leaving existence. It’s got to go somewhere.”

“Just because someone’s worn it once or twice, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have life to live,” she says.

“I wanted to be able to give this clothing a second chance.”

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