I love a good secondhand shopping date. For a fashion enthusiast, there’s few feelings that compare to the elation that arises when you find a piece of clothing that screams your name.
While I’m not so much of an op-shopper (I don’t have the patience to spend hours flicking through every item of clothing and envision the potential of a piece), I get around the occasional weekend market — with Hunter Markets being my all time favorite — and I’ll spend nights curled on my couch, scrolling through apps like Depop or Designer Wardrobe. And while it’s easy to get swept up in the world of all the beautiful, unique pieces for sale, I try to make a concerted effort to only invest in what I need rather than what I simply want.
Secondhand shopping has boomed in recent years. WGSN data revealed that 40 per cent of Gen Z buy pre-loved clothes because the style they’re after isn’t available in retail stores anymore. Ibis World insights also show that the number of op shops in Australia has grown by one per cent between 2020 and 2025.
Social media has played a part in the increasing popularity of thrifting. If you’re on fashiontok, you’ve probably seen creators posting op shop try on videos and Depop hauls. They’re fun to watch, and can inspire people to give secondhand shopping a try.
Lately, during my daily doom-scrolls, I have noticed an upsurge in this type of content. Sustainable shopping, fashion and lifestyle influencers are posting their op shop finds for their followers to eat up, and it got me wondering: has social media made op shopping less sustainable?
I’m not trying to sit on a high horse — I’ve posted secondhand finds to my page before. But as I lay in bed, watching the same creators do weekly thrift hauls, accumulating seemingly excessive amounts of clothes and boasting about how cheap they were, I started questioning the motive of it all.
Did these creators genuinely need these weekly clothing finds, or was it all in the name of content? Once the cameras stop rolling, are the pieces being cherished and worn, or left to gather dust in the back of their wardrobe?
Culture Club host, writer and slow-fashion advocate Maggie Zhou said that it’s a grey area.
“Hauls, generally speaking, aren’t sustainable as the concept relies on showing off purchased items… and that’s coming from someone who enjoys watching and creating this content,” Zhou told PEDESTRIAN.TV.
She pointed out that historically, op shops were run by charities who used its resale arm to help fund its community care operations. In the early days, sustainability likely wasn’t the main driving force behind op shops, and they were designed for people of low socioeconomic status.
“I think it’s a myth that we’ve made op shopping so cool that people are overconsuming secondhand clothes to a harmful degree,” Zhou said.
Kady Munro, retail operations manager for preloved store Uturn, said that while thrifting has become more fashion-forward than budget-driven, the positives of social media increasing its popularity outweigh the negative impacts.
“It normalises secondhand shopping, which means more people are choosing it over fast-fashion,” Munro told PEDESTRIAN.TV. “Even if their initial motivation isn’t sustainability, the outcome benefits the planet.”
But what about the rising op shop prices? Isn’t the increasing popularity of secondhand shopping playing a part in the price tag hike?
That’s actually not the issue. Fast-fashion and cost of living are the primary culprits for this.
“There are multiple factors at play, but I wouldn’t single out social media popularity as the main reason,” Zhou pointed out. “That being said, it’s alarming that those who rely on op shops for affordability are struggling, but I wouldn’t put the blame on other op shoppers.”
Zhou shed light on the fact that only around 10 per cent of clothes that are donated make it onto the op shop floor. And research from Charitable Recycling Australia showed that only 15 per cent of these clothes are sold.
“Op shops are struggling to fill the demand for good-quality donations, all the while trying to cope with high volumes of low-quality, unsellable donations,” Zhou said.
Zhou made me realise my social media feed had created a filter bubble (a whole other can of worms) for me, amplifying the secondhand fashion hauls into a bigger issue than it actually is. It was my own ignorance that made me believe that content creators were significantly impacting the ethos of op shopping.
Munro said the rise in popularity of secondhand shopping hauls isn’t a simple black and white answer.
“The intent behind thrifting matters, and social media can both amplify its values and commercialise them,” Munro said. “The challenge and opportunity for brands like us here at Uturn is to recentre the conversation around conscious consumption and not just consumption.”
Munro said that redefining what success looks like in thrift culture is the next step. “Instead of celebrating the biggest hauls or rarest finds, let’s celebrate intentionality, creativity, and community impact.”
Zhou, who is also one to share her secondhand finds on her social media, recently reevaluated her shopping habits to reduce her levels of consumption. Now, she’s more discerning with her purchases, and intentional with how she shares them.
“In the words of Mark Manson, if it’s not a fuck yes, it’s a no. Be really sure about wanting a garment before you buy it. It’s easy to get carried away or make hasty decisions because something is cheap,” she said.
When secondhand shopping, Zhou considers whether or not she already owns something similar in her wardrobe, and if she doesn’t, if she’ll wear the piece at least 30 times. Her cost per wear would be down in the cents, slay!
So while social media isn’t responsible for the demise of thrifting’s sustainability, it serves as a good reminder of how we can get a tad carried away in the excitement of it all. Like most things, it needs to be approached with thought, intention and consideration.
If you’re a Sydneysider and are looking to shop secondhand (without going overboard, of course), here are the best op shops and thrift stores to do so.
Image credit: millieandchloeofficial / Uturn / montana.older
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