Not Just Luck
Uncovering the Secret Skills and Expertise of Second-hand Shoppers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54337/plate2025-10282Keywords:
Second-hand products, Skill acquisition, Expertise, Consumer, Thrift shoppingAbstract
In this paper, we study second-hand shopping as an expertise that can be practiced. While second-hand markets are rapidly growing, consumers still find it difficult and challenging to purchase second-hand, as the shopping experience is messier, complex and unpredictable. We investigate the process of skill acquisition to understand the skill development of shopping second-hand. Based on 14 interviews, this research illustrates a progression in second-hand shopping behaviors as individuals gain experience. This study categorises second-hand shopping expertise into six levels, highlighting distinct behaviors and strategies. We find: 1) Novices are overwhelmed, lack confidence, and rely entirely on others to assess quality and price. 2) Initiates show a narrow focus on specific products and apply external expertise but struggle to broaden their scope. 3) Apprentices use structured strategies, targeting pre-researched items and avoiding unstructured second-hand environments. 4) Journeymen demonstrate proficiency within selected product categories, researching brands and quality indicators to compare items with nuanced criteria. 5) Experts possess deep but abstract knowledge of product quality and durability, allowing them to identify high-resale potential items without prior research while maintaining frequent, informed engagement with second-hand markets. 6) Masters showcase comprehensive expertise, relying on intuition, ingrained knowledge, and fast-browsing techniques to navigate diverse product categories effortlessly. These findings offer a framework for improving second-hand shopping skills across expertise levels.
References
Acharya, A. S., Prakash, A., Saxena, P., & Nigam, A. (2013). Sampling: Why and how of it? Indian Journal of Medical Specialities, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.7713/ijms.2013.0032
Bardhi, F. (2003). Thrill of the hunt: Thrift shopping for pleasure. Advances in Consumer Research, 30(Journal Article), 375–376.
Bohlin, A. (2019). ‘It will Keep Circulating’: Loving and Letting Go of Things in Swedish Second-hand Markets. Worldwide Waste, 2(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.5334/wwwj.17
Cervellon, M., Carey, L., & Harms, T. (2012). Something old, something used: Determinants of women’s purchase of vintage fashion vs second‐hand fashion. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 40(12), 956–974. https://doi.org/10.1108/09590551211274946
Chi, M. T. H. (2013). Two Approaches to the Study of Experts’ Charactaristics. In K. A. Ericsson, N. Charness, P. J. Feltovich, & R. R. Hoffman (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance (pp. 21–30). Cambridge University Press.
Cooper, T. (2005). Slower consumption reflections on product life spans and the “throwaway society”. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 9(1‐2), Article 1‐2. https://doi.org/10.1162/1088198054084671
Edbring, E. G., Lehner, M., & Mont, O. (2016). Exploring consumer attitudes to alternative models of consumption: Motivations and barriers. Journal of Cleaner Production, 123(Journal Article), Article Journal Article. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.10.107
Frahm, L. B., Boks, C., & Laursen, L. N. (2024). It’s Intertwined! Barriers and Motivations for Second-hand Product Consumption. Circular Economy and Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-024-00441-y
Frahm, L. B., Laursen, L. N., & Christensen, B. T. (2024). Creating a mess! Design strategies for managing visual complexity in second-hand shops. Design Research Society, Boston. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.773
Frahm, L. B., Laursen, L. N., & Tollestrup, C. (2023). Everyone does it: Product-related Resell Strategies of Professional Second-hand Retailers. PROCEEDINGS 5th PLATE Conference : The 5th Product Lifetimes and the Environment Conference in Aalto University, Espoo, Finland, 31 May – 2 June, 2023, 303–309. https://vbn.aau.dk/en/publications/d0ca1bf9-3bb2-4815-83b8-9e205a0670b7
Gregson, N., & Crewe, L. (2003). Second-hand cultures. In Materializing culture. Berg. https://doi.org/10.2752/9781847888853
Gregson, N., Crewe, L., & Brooks, K. (2002). Shopping, space, and practice. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 20(5), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1068/d270t
Guiot, D., & Roux, D. (2010). A second-hand shoppers’ motivation scale: Antecedents, consequences, and implications for retailers. Journal of Retailing, 86(4), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2010.08.002
Hanington, B., & Martin, B. (2019). Universal methods of design: 125 ways to research complex problems, develop innovative ideas, and design effective solutions (Expanded and revised edition.). Rockport Publishers. https://www.vlebooks.com/vleweb/product/openreader?id=none&isbn=9781631597497
Harboe, G., & Huang, E. M. (2015). Real-World Affinity Diagramming Practices: Bridging the Paper-Digital Gap. Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 95–104. https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702561
Henseling, C., Blättel-Mink, B., Clausen, J., & Erdmann, L. (2010). Contribution of Online Trading of Used Goods to Resource Efficiency: An Empirical Study of eBay Users. Sustainability, 2(6), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.3390/su2061810
Hur, E. (2020). Rebirth fashion: Secondhand clothing consumption values and perceived risks. Journal of Cleaner Production, 273(Journal Article), Article Journal Article. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122951
Kim, S., & Woo, H. (2021). Big data analysis of trends in the second-hand apparel market: A comparison between 2014 and 2019. Research Journal of Textile and Apparel, 26(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/RJTA-12-2020-0139
Lawson, B., & Dorst, K. (2009). Design Expertise. Routledge.
Militello, L. G., & Hutton, R. J. B. (1998). Applied cognitive task analysis (ACTA): A practitioner’s toolkit for understanding cognitive task demands. Ergonomics, 41(11), 1618–1641. https://doi.org/10.1080/001401398186108
Mugge, R., de Jong, W., Person, O., & Hultink, E. J. (2018). ‘If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Explain It’: The Influence of Visual and Verbal Information about Prior Use on Consumers’ Evaluations of Refurbished Electronics. The Design Journal, 21(4), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2018.1472856
Mugge, R., Safari, I., & Balkenende, R. (2017). Is there a market for refurbished toothbrushes? An exploratory study on consumers’ acceptance of refurbishment for different product categories. PLATE: Product Lifetimes And The Environment, Journal Article, Article Journal Article.
Parsons, E. (2002). People or Profits? The challenges of managing in charity retail. Institute for Retail Studies, University of Stirling. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=fce67ce27c9f45d78600a5f28301e5224fbbc123
Parsons, E. (2005). Dealing in secondhand goods: Creating meaning and value. ACR European Advances, Article Journal Article. https://www.proquest.com/conference-papers-proceedings/dealing-secondhand-goods-creating-meaning-value/docview/3168056160/se-2?accountid=8144
Smith, P. (2023). Secondhand apparel market worldwide 2021-2027. In Statista (Vol. 2024, Issue Feb 9,). https://www.statista.com/statistics/826162/apparel-resale-market-value-worldwide/
Steward, S. (2020). What does that shirt mean to you? Thrift-store consumption as cultural capital. Journal of Consumer Culture, 20(4), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540517745707
van den Berge, R., Magnier, L., & Mugge, R. (2021). A poorly educated guess: Consumers’ lifetime estimations, attitudes towards repairability, and a product lifetime label (No. Journal Article). Article Journal Article. PLATE - Product Lifetime And The Environment. https://doi.org/10.31880/10344/10181
Zaman, M., Park, H., Kim, Y.-K., & Park, S.-H. (2019). Consumer orientations of second-hand clothing shoppers. Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 10(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.1080/20932685.2019.1576060
