My favorite thing about thrifting is the treasure hunt. You never know what you’ll find or how good of a deal you’ll get. Thrift stores and garage sales have always been my go-to, but the internet has brought us even more options. Platforms like eBay, Etsy, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace offer a million possibilities for finding secondhand items. Some are even industry-specific, like Vinted and ThredUp in the fashion industry. Thrifting has always brought me joy and excitement, but some people worry that the fun of the treasure hunt might be coming to an end.
With new technologies, especially AI, everything is becoming a lot more “optimized”. If algorithms can quickly find the hidden gems, what’s left for people like us? Today, we’ll see how technology has impacted online thrifting and the secondhand market, and how the experience has changed over the years.
How AI Changed the Game
Before even looking at online secondhand platforms, it’s important to note how AI and technology have completely changed the way some people shop at thrift stores. For years, smartphones gave shoppers access to tons of information about brands. Fast forward to today, and tools like Google Lens allow users to take a picture of an item and instantly identify it. You no longer need extensive knowledge to find a hidden gem, your phone can quickly tell you what an item is and how much it’s worth.
This accessibility has made it easier than ever to turn thrifting into a resale business. Unfortunately, this has been bad news for regular shoppers looking for personal finds and for thrifting pros who used to rely on their expertise. Online, this trend is even worse due to features like pricing algorithms, which help sellers find the optimal price points. On the buyer’s side, AI has introduced personalized recommendations and improved search features, making it easier to find exactly what you’re looking for. Technology also helps with inventory management, making it easier for retailers to categorize items and for customers to discover them.
Will AI Kill the Thrifting Experience?
While technology has made shopping easier for millions, will it kill the experience of going to a store or browsing eBay, hoping to find a hidden treasure? Will there be any treasures left after AI went through the listings?
We’ve already discussed how improvements in search algorithms have made finding items a lot easier. This means treasures are now sometimes spotted by buyers well before they’re available to the general public. Additionally, tools that let sellers accurately assess the value of their items made prices more accurate. As a result, it’s becoming less frequent to find valuable items priced low due to sellers’ lack of knowledge. Unfortunately, this also means fewer great deals for the occasional shopper and more “flippers” (people who buy items cheaply at thrift stores and resell them for profit). This change has made thrifting a less enjoyable experience for many casual shoppers. The professionalization and gentrification of thrifting often negatively impacts those who rely on it out of necessity, turning unique finds into commodities and reducing the excitement for traditional thrifters.
Another trend gaining traction in recent years is brands launching their own resale channels. A few months ago, I wrote about the French sporting goods brand Decathlon, but now over 100 brands have resale programs. According to ThredUp’s resale report, “74% of retail executives who don’t offer a resale program are either considering or planning to launch one in the future.”
Finally, a less direct but significant consequence of technological advancements is the rise of companies like Shein and Temu. These businesses use the latest technology and AI tools to optimize supply chains, allowing them to come up with thousands of new designs every day. However, their products are often cheap, low-quality, and discarded or donated to thrift stores after only a few uses. I believe a lot of people visit these stores to find quality items at discounted prices, and now have to dig through piles of cheap polyester items from China before finding something interesting.
What Can be Done to Preserve the Experience?
Knowing that some recent developments have alienated part of the customer base, should platforms get rid of these features? I don’t think so. While these changes have had some negative impacts, improving navigation and product discovery is a major win for many shoppers. That said, I believe there are steps platforms can take to improve the experience for everyone.
First, platforms need a balanced mix of personalized recommendations and strong search features. It’s always nice to see an unexpected item show up on the homepage that we didn’t know we needed, but having the ability to filter items based on specific criteria is equally important. Going too far in either direction would be a mistake. eBay, in my opinion, found a good balance with its advanced search tools making it easy to search through millions of items listed, and personalized app notifications or email recommendations. Of course, platforms should allow users to disable AI-driven personalization. Why not even introduce “mystery selections” of uncategorized items to mimic the excitement of sorting through bins of random stuff at thrift stores?
I wonder if it would be possible to use AI to assist in curating human-selected collections of secondhand items. While this is more practical for new products available in bulk, sellers could potentially pay a premium to feature their listings in human-curated selections if AI finds that the listings are suitable. Adding a human touch in this way could make the experience more engaging for some shoppers.
Improvements could also be made on the listing creation side. At garage sales, I enjoy hearing sellers share stories about their items. Sometimes it’s just a sales pitch, but other times you hear fascinating histories, for example a book annotated by someone locally famous or a watch once owned by a World War II veteran. Bringing some of that storytelling to online platforms could add depth to the shopping experience.
Finally, while online thrifting is convenient, it will never fully replicate the magic of visiting a thrift store or garage sale. These physical spaces are still goldmines for unique finds, and even if we can’t return to the thrifting experiences of 20 years ago, I still see a lot of value in them.
Conclusion
Thrifting, whether online or in-store, has always been about the joy of discovery and the excitement of finding treasures. While AI and modern technology have made items easier to find and pricing more accurate, they also killed some of the spontaneity that we used to experience one or two decades ago.
Although we will never go back to the past, there is still room for progress in how resale platforms can offer a more exciting experience. With the second hand market getting larger by the year and brands starting to build their own platform, I am positive (maybe a little optimistic) that we will eventually see some improvements that will make online thrifting less mechanical and more interesting.
