THE FEASIBILITY OF THRIFT STORE IN COLLEGE

CAMPUSES IN KHARGHAR

BY

ANSHIKA SABHANI
ERIKA LEPCHA
KANIKA BANSAL
NEHA AGARWAL
PRIYANKA KASHYAP
SOMYA JAIN

SUBMITTED TO
ASST. PROF. MR. TANMAY KANDEKAR

Department of Fashion Management Studies(FMS)

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY, MUMBAI, 2017

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 DECLARATION

The research work presented in the project titled ‘Feasibility of a Thrift Store in
College Campuses in Kharghar’ submitted to Nift Mumbai during the academic year
2017-18 is authentic and original to the best of our knowledge and is the outcome of our
contribution and research. The project was carried out under the guidance of Mr.
Tanmay Kandekar, Department of Fashion Management Studies. No portion of this
work has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification
to NIFT or any other University or professional organization.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We are grateful to the sanctum of “NIFT Mumbai”, for providing an excellent platform
to pursue our research work in good spirit.

We wish to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who helped us through the
working and completion of this research. Without their help, support and guidance, this
project would not have been completed successfully.

Firstly, we would like to thank our Resource Centre head Dr. A.N Bandi, in particular for
the excellent facilities provided in the college resource centre.

We would like to convey our sincere gratitude to our professor, Mr. Tanmay Kandekar,
for providing us an opportunity to work on the project and guiding us throughout with his
valuable experience in the field of Fashion.

Also, we are deeply grateful to Dr. Sushil Ratauri and Miss. Lipi Chaudhary,
Professors of Dept. of Fashion Management Studies who encouraged us and helped us
in coping with the problems that we faced during the course of this project.

We thank all our friends for their constant support and valuable suggestions without
which the successful completion of this business report would not have been possible.
We thank all the teaching and non teaching staff of our FMS department for their
constant support.

We are also thankful to our respondents of our questionnaire who gave their precious
time to accomplish our project.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.No Heading Page No.

1. Declaration 1

2. Acknowledgement 2

3. Table of Contents 3

4. List of Figures and Tables 4

5. Chapter 1: Introduction and Business Model 5-7

6. Chapter 2: Research Methodology 8-9

7. Chapter 3: Review of Literature 10-44

8. Chapter 4: Primary Report 45-53

4.1: Interview with Mr. Anitya Vatsal 45-49
4.2: Interview with the student organizer of 50-53
NIFT Flea Market

9. Chapter 5 : Findings 54-66

5.1: Findings 54-58
5.2: Analysis 59-66

10. Chapter 6: Conclusion and Observations 67-68

11 Recommendations 68-69

12. References 70-72

13. Appendices 73
A.1 : Sample Questionnaire 73-77

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 LIST OF TABLES & FIGURES

Figures:
Figure 1: Are you aware of the term ‘Thrift Shop’?
Figure 2: According to you what is the concept of a thrift store?
Figure 3: Have you ever experienced being in a thrift store?
Figure 4: Do you often have clothes in your wardrobe that you do not want anymore?
Figure 5: Are those old clothes in resalable/good condition?
Figure 6: Where do you usually shop from? (Can select more than one option)
Figure 7: How much are you willing to spend on a purchase of second-hand goods?
Figure 8: Why are you parting with your old clothes? (Can select more than one
reason)

Cross-tabulation Tables
Table 1: According to you what is the concept of a thrift store * What kind of thrift shop
model would you be interested in?
Table 2: How much are you willing to spend on a purchase of second-hand goods?
*Gender (female or male)
Table 3: Are you willing to part with your old clothes in exchange for a lesser value? *
Are those old clothes in resalable/good condition?
Table 4: Are you comfortable wearing second-hand clothes? * Are you willing to part
with your old clothes in exchange for a lesser value?
Table 5: Are you comfortable wearing second-hand clothes? * Gender (female or
male)
Table 6: College * Are you aware of the term “Thrift Store”?
Table 7: College * What kind of thrift store model would you be interested in?
Table 8: Gender (female or male) * On an average how much do you spend on new
clothes in a month.

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 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

With fast fashion catching up, the youth usually finds themselves with a cupboard full of
clothes but still nothing to wear. The major factor has become the urge to put on new
clothes every day and seeking constant newness, where they end up buying in greater
quantities and wearing them only a handful times before discarding them.
Especially with the girls of this generation, repeating clothes is big no-no! One often
finds themselves in a situation where clothing articles in a friend’s wardrobe are more
appealing than their own, thrift shop could pave a way to achieve different trendy look
every day.
Depending on your level of interest and integration you know it by its many names such
as vintage, thrifting, second-hand, resale, consignment, yet it amounts to the same
thing: buying and wearing someone else’s clothes. But that’s not all this growing
segment entails; for many it offers individuality, affordability, and that feel-good moment
of rescuing an item from the landfill and reducing the environmental footprint.
Thrift store clothing is also a way to sidestep so called “fast fashion”, the inexpensive
trendy clothes churned out cheaply in overseas factories. It breaks the vicious cycle of
mass production and consumption.

Concept
A store where fairly used second-hand goods are sold. Just as we already know, fairly
used products are way more affordable and far cheaper than brand new items, they can
be easily afforded by the students group who also take away home the satisfying feeling
of getting their hands on unique products.
The idea of thrift shop seems feasible considering that more often than not students are
facing pocket-money crunch and what’s better than getting a fresh trendy look at
giveaway prices. It will aim to be able to cater to the rare occasion when a single store
can appeal to style fashionistas, budget-conscious consumers and passionate
environmentalists.

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The potential consumer is the student group that is more often than not struggling to
meet their needs of variety and fashion simultaneously and contributing to
environmental damage in the process of it.

Objectives

1. To find out the feasibility of the thrift shop in college campuses Kharghar.
3. To find out the awareness about thrift shops among college students in Kharghar.
4. To study the consumer behaviour and their perceptions and preferences.
5. To understand the needs and requirements of the customers.

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 CHAPTER 2
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Methodology is an important part of the process starting from the research topic in
question to the actual answer. It represents the different ways of collecting the needed
data and giving the needed information. When choosing the approach to method, we
made the decision to use both qualitative and quantitative approach.

We have made use of the following data collection methods in our research:
Literature survey, two Interviews and a questionnaires survey.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

PRIMARY RESEARCH SECONDARY RESEARCH

1.Questionnaire Survey 1. Literature Survey
- Sample size: 250 - Research Papers
2. Interviews - Online articles
i) Personal Interview (with Miss. Lekshmi Anil Kumar) - Academic Journals
ii) Telephonic Interview (with Mr. Anitya Vatsal)

PRIMARY RESEARCH

This primary research was done based on the questionnaire survey and a couple of
interviews.

Sampling Technique: Random Sampling Technique

Questionnaire Survey:
Sample Size: 250
questionnaire survey was conducted in three different colleges, namely- National
Institute of Fashion Technology, ITM Institute of Financial Markets and A.C. Patil
College of Engineering, located in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. The survey was collected by
our respondents manually filling the questionnaire which resulted in 250 responses, of

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which 157 were from NIFT, 58 from ITM and 35 of them from A.C.Patil. The survey was
analyzed using the SPSS software which is available at our college computer lab. Using
this software, a series of cross-tabulations were performed between two or more
questions and the respective results were further analyzed.

Interviews:
Two interviews were taken with regard to our research topic. One being a personal
interview and the other a telephonic interview.

i) Personal Interview:
A personal interview was taken with Miss. Lekshmi Anil Kumar, a final year student of
Masters In Design from NIFT Mumbai, who organized a flea market along with her team
of colleagues during the 2017 Diwali Mela inside the NIFT Mumbai campus. The
interview was taken on 16th of November, 2017, in the NIFT campus itself.

ii) Telephonic Interview:

A telephonic interview was taken with Mr. Anitya Vatsal, the founder of Untried, an
online shop that sells second-hand goods. We contacted him through email, finalized a
date as per his schedule and conducted the telephonic interview on 18th of November,
2017. After the interview he also emailed us some data that facilitated our research.

SECONDARY RESEARCH:
This secondary research was done based on review of literature surveys of various
academic journals, research papers and articles written about the topic of Thrift Shop
and ideas surrounding it that would be helpful in understanding and analyzing the
various elements involved.

TOOLS FOR ANALYSIS:

The analysis has been made through cross tabulation using Statistical packages
example: SPSS and Google forms (e-survey platform).
It is then presented through graphs and texts as per standard report format. The
findings are presented in the form of pictorial charts.

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 CHAPTER 3
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Introduction
As students, most of us are struggling with either clothes that we want to buy but find
very expensive to meet out of our pocket money or wardrobes hoarded with clothes but
not finding anything interesting to wear, given our span of liking towards a piece of
clothing being very less.
Although, the online space offers a multitude of options to sell our used fashion items in
exchange for money or another item, the time lag between selling and buying and the
inability to touch and feel the product before buying hurts the credibility factor. However,
physical thrift stores seems to be an alien concept in India given the lack of options.
One may find many thrift stores in the line of cars, electronics or furniture but fashion is
a rare idea.

A study found that 66 percent of consumer chose “cheap”, 53 percent “friendly”, 36

percent “old-fashioned” and 15 percent “fun”, a word that describes thrift stores image.
Bardhi and Arnould (2005) found that consumers get both thrift and hedonic benefits
from thrift shopping. Furthermore, they found that the pursuit or practice of thrift itself
(as an outcome) provided hedonic benefits.

Christiansen and Snepenger (2005) discovered the existence of a Thrift Maven –

someone who can and does transmit information about the thrift market to other
individuals. Mavens have lower incomes and are motivated by frugality. Mavens are
both purchasers and donors to thrift stores, maybe as a means of collecting information
to disseminate. Mavens benefit from helping others. Because thrift stores spend little
money on promotion, managing Thrift Mavens and word-of-mouth communications can
enhance store performance.
The traditional image of thrift stores is one of stores with low quality and poorly
organized second-hand merchandize, and with a lack of attention to proper lighting and
cleanliness (Bardhi, 2003). However, the sector has changed and many stores,
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including the store that features better quality merchandize and greater attention to
customer service and store atmosphere (for example, jazz music is often played at
Martha’s Outfitters). As a result, thrift stores are now attracting a diversified clientele.
Beyond low income clients, thrift stores attract also the middle class (the comfortably
off) and even the wealthy or ‘urban prosperous’ in search of ‘hedonic benefits’, such as
finding the rare unexpected and at times valuable item (Alexander 2008, Williams and
Paddock 2003). Some in the clientele may actually appreciate both the thrift and
hedonic benefits from thrift shopping, and the practice of thrift may by itself provide
hedonic benefits.
A study on France, suggests that thrift shopping entails critical, economic, and
recreational aspects. The authors propose a typology of the clientele into what they call
the ‘polymorphous enthusiasts’, the ‘thrifty critics’, the ‘nostalgic hedonists’, and finally
the regular specialist shoppers. In effect, thrift stores have now for some time attracted
a broad range of customers including the middle class and well-to-do (James, 2011). In
a 2008 poll mentioned in USA Today, 70 per cent of the adult population agreed that
second-hand shopping was socially more acceptable than it a decade earlier, thereby
enabling thrift stores to position themselves well to reap benefits from the recession
(Petrecca 2008).
When it comes to clothing, O’Reilly, Rucker, Hugest, Gorand and Hand (1984) suggest
that price alone is not enough of a factor to make a consumer buy a piece of second-
hand clothing. Moreover, for a few respondents the prices at second-hand stores are
actually too high in comparison to some new clothing in regular stores (Kristoffersson,
2015). Therefore, consumers may look at the value (cost / benefit) of merchandise. The
selection available in terms of finding something the respondent likes that both is nice
and the right size are also factors that can act as barriers. Consumers also look at the
quality of the merchandise (Mitchell & Montgomery, 2010). Therefore, the perception
that there is quality merchandise at the second-hand store should increase the
frequency of visits (Darley & Lim, 1999). In clothing, this can mean that the salability of
used clothing is moderated by the condition of the clothes, along with its level of fashion
(Winakor & Martin 1963).

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In Montgomery and Mitchell’s (2010) study, “An Examination of Thrift Store Shoppers,”
they explain that thrift stores are categorized as retailers who sell used items that
community members and companies have donated. The profits that are made from
these sales are raised for charity. Through their study, they explored the different
dependent variables of why people shop at thrift stores to explain the independent
variables of gender, age marital status, education, and employment status.
Through this research, they aimed at getting better understanding of donor and buyer
activity which would lead to improved store performance with the net effect being
growing resources to serve others. Study was conducted to investigate possible
differences in Thrift Store Donors and Shoppers in terms of age, gender, education,
marital status, and employment status in order to improve the collective understanding.
The data was analyzed on the bases of personal characteristics such as age, gender,
marital status, education, and employment status. They found that the top reason
people shop at thrift stores is to save money (58%) followed by the desire to find unique
items for special events (48%). This is especially true for women, possibly because
overall, they shop more frequently. The third most common reason people shop at a
thrift store is to find unusual items for daily use (31%). This was most commonly found
in younger respondents, while older respondents were more likely to shop by necessity.
However, the results of this study found that as people age they become more likely to
shop at Thrift Stores than to donate to them. A potential explanation of this finding is the
generational differences in adopting innovations. For example, many young consumers
have the latest technology, whereas, consumers from an older generation may not
replace goods unless the old one is “wore-out” new alternatives notwithstanding.
Consumers into latest technology replace goods quickly. Younger people due to social
pressure are likely to shop at Thrift Stores than their older counterparts. Younger
respondents engage more in recycle behaviour. Lastly, older people may be more likely
to engage in hoarding behaviour.

The reports result states that women are significantly more likely than men to rate
visibility of location, past experiences, word-of-mouth, and their minister as important.
This may be explained by the fact that women are more likely to shop than men in

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general. Respondents 17 and under were significantly less likely to rate word-of-mouth
important than any other age group. This finding is counter-intuitive. Generally, at this
young age one is more likely to be influenced by others than are older adults. This
finding could be explained by perception rather than reality. That is, maybe those 17
and under, think that they are not as influenced by others. While the reality may be that
they are influenced by others more than older adults. The only significant difference in
the importance of information source by education is for past experiences. Specifically,
the more educated the respondent the more important past experiences are as an
information source. There are no significant differences in the importance of information
sources by marital status. Regarding employment status and the importance of
information sources, those employed part-time are more likely than full time employees
to rate their minister as an important information source.
The potential buyers or sellers of thrift store evaluated, on the basis of ranking system,
the attractiveness of a thrift store or a second-hand store. The top three items were
Cleanliness of store and surroundings (89%), Quality of merchandise (89%) and Well-
organized displays of merchandise (88%).
Buyers visit thrift stores or second-hand stores frequently for a variety of reasons. One
as a Value Seeker (To save money), Second for a Special Purpose (In need of a unique
item for a themed event). Some buyers must shop at second-hand store to extend their
purchasing power. Others shop at such stores to fulfil special purpose needs. Luckily,
these two groups are compatible and can be served simultaneously. Women held
stronger attitudes than men towards buying motives, importance of information sources,
and store selection criteria. It should be noted men also agreed in big majorities and
constitute a valuable thrift store segment. Lastly, young respondents were significantly
more likely to shop for unique or unusual items. Promotions touting the benefit of unique
or for a special occasion targeted toward young respondents should be effective.
Buyers expect excellence from all retailers, not just “first-run” sellers. Stores (and
surrounding property) must be clean and well-organized. Merchandise must be
perceived as offering a value (cost / benefit assessment). Store personnel must be
attentive to the wishes of their customers. Otherwise, buyers will find other options.
Employee training in retail atmospherics, product presentation, client interaction, and

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other matters are important to all retailers, including thrift stores and/or second-hand
stores. Single individuals rate value, convenience, and friendliness of staff as more
important than married people. This may indicate stronger attitudes towards thrift
shopping. People have high expectations when selecting a thrift store to support with
their purchases.

Visibility of facilities is important to buyers. They wish to extend their purchasing power
by realizing the savings possible from pre-owned merchandise. Buyers are often looking
for items for themed events which are usually the items worn once and then given away
(i.e., a hat for a horse racing party, a black overcoat for a vampire look). Finding an item
like these in a thrift store has high probability, therefore anticipation of such themed
events will allow a thrift store to highlight merchandise at the appropriate time.
Promotions targeted at young adults should focus on being unique. Today’s effective
nonprofit marketer seeks to create long-term mutually beneficial relationships with
buyers. It is less expensive to keep existing buyers involved with the organization than
to constantly seek new relationships. Respondents of this report were very clear on the
matter that past experiences as buyers’ matter. And, positive word-of-mouth
communication is an effective source of information for prospective buyers. Such
communication is free to the organization and has more credibility to recipients. The
organization must encourage positive word-of-mouth communications. Additionally,
today’s thrift store shopper expects much of what they see at the mall or chain store in
their thrift Store: a clean store, quality merchandise, well-organized displays, value for
their money, convenience, and a friendly and attentive staff. This will require employee
training in customer interaction. Store leadership must recognize that shoppers
compare their store to the shopping options available to them. The results will allow
store management and organizational leaders to critically evaluate their existing thrift
store practices against buyer preferences. Report helps achieve a better understanding
of buyer behaviour and allows thrift stores to improve their operational effectiveness.
That is, they can increase the positive impact their organization has on the community
by helping more of its citizens. A majority of respondents both shopped at and donated
to Thrift Stores. Therefore, Promotions and customer service should focus on the

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interactive nature of this relationship. For example, a person who donates a certain
amount of merchandise could receive a coupon or discount for shopping at the Thrift
Store (a practice followed by some Goodwill Stores). Consumers who are satisfied with
their shopping experiences tend to become repeat customers. This shopping loyalty
may be converted into donor loyalty with the appropriate appeal.

A study was conducted by Sophia Parker Larsen of Whitman College as to “Why do you
thrift shop?” Responses ranged from financial limitations and waste-reducing efforts to
the thrill of finding great bargains and novel items to spruce up an outfit. Nearly
everyone expressed their love of thrift shopping with excitement, according to a theory
the imagination of a desired yet unattainable emotional reaction to purchasing a good,
drives consumer behaviour. While this passionate sociology approach may account for
the recursive nature of thrift shopping, it fails to explain why these college students also
expressed profound discomfort and embarrassment when confiding that buying second-
hand is ultimately a choice on their part, as they are not required, financially, to shop
second-hand. Clearly thrift shopping is not a value-neutral economic practice and
needed to be situated within notions of class, status and social difference.

The body of literature that addresses personal motivations behind people’s consumptive
choice to shop at thrift stores tends to focus on psychosocial aspects or downward
impersonation and objectification of lower class members. The research explores how
college students’ transitional class status and perceptions of class affect their
experiences with and attitudes towards thrift shopping. College students were chosen
for examination because of their unique position in our society. College campuses are
blurred lines in respect to class, both intentionally and unintentionally, as students are in
a transitional stage of life; most students are still attached to their family’s financial
support and class background, but live apart from parental supervision and therefore
communicate a personal class identity that may deviate from their inherited class status.
Many seek to establish independence through economic means (i.e. assuming more
financial responsibility for their costs of living and leisure activities) and performing and
presenting a new face (i.e. shopping at and wearing thrift store clothing). Furthermore,

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as students create a web of affiliations in dormitories, sporting events, classrooms, and
other settings within their schools, they develop a class solidarity with their peers that is
based in common beliefs and lived experiences shared over a period of time. Thus,
students’ perceptions of class are influenced by the dominant class culture on campus.
The population was small and the survey included students from three different college.
They were questioned about race, hometown, age, marital status, gender, college.
Interviews with participants revealed three categorical motivations for thrift shopping—
that is, what brought them to a thrift shop instead of a first-hand department store.
College aged participants are inclined towards thrift shopping due to its practicality, fun
and uniqueness. Extending beyond personal experiences with thrift shopping, these
three types of motivations also dominated the discourse surrounding participants’
attitudes of their thrift shopping peers in their immediate social environments. These
three aspects—as they are expressed through personal experience and perception of
others— through a class lens that considers related notions of status, distinction, taste
and identity. Before this analysis, it’s important to first address my more quantitative
findings on the level of economic independence, class self-placement, and perception of
student body class status that ground the interpretation of my qualitative findings.
In Level of Economic Independence 12/14 were independent by their parents. The
actual level of economic independence enjoyed by participants could not be pinpointed,
but what can be ascertained is that all participants assumed some amount of financial
responsibility over the expenditure most central to: clothing. Participants believed to the
fact that thrift shopping is a consumptive choice for them and not an economic
necessity.
For some respondents it was the driving factor, for others it was an added bonus to a
fun experience and permitted an affordable leisure activity. College students saw two
social aspect of it: a leisure activity enjoyed with friends, siblings, parents, or
roommates. Another element to the fun was the actual hunting process of it: sifting
through all the junk to find that “hidden gem.” Desirable items varied from participant to
participant— some were looking for joke gifts and costumes, while others found
pleasure in finding wearable, beautiful clothes. Thrift shopping also functions to
distinguish oneself as middle class. Two themes emerged from interviews: thrift

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shopping as a way to express one’s self and class identity and thrift shopping as way to
express individuality and difference—an aspirational trait valued by the middle class.
For College Students thrift shopping and wearing second-hand clothing as a way to
affordably cultivate and personalize an identity of maturity and self-confidence that
garners respect. Another attractive aspect of thrift stopping was its utilization in
cultivating a unique clothing style. These aesthetic identities do not exist in a class-less
vacuum. Although college students may have tight budgets that restrict the scope of
their consumption, the more important indicator of their social location is their attitude
towards independence and uniqueness. According to studies on the relationship
between class and uniqueness, working-class people are more likely to express
fondness of an item when others share such preference. Conversely, middle class
people prefer items not chosen by others out of their desire to appear unique and
different

Social class is a powerful force in how college students approach, experience and
discuss second-hand consumption. Social class is also as elusive as it is powerful,
making it difficult to observe and discern based on consumptive practices alone. The
advent of thrift shopping further conflates the ambiguity of social class positioning as
now traditional markers of class-based status can be acquired in historically low-class
spaces. Determining the social class of college students is complicated because of their
transitional class status that cannot be solely defined by family class background, but
has yet to be fully constructed and applied in the real world. Therefore, it is more useful
to conceptualize perceptions and performances of social class among college students
as relational to the class status of their peers and contextual to their campus culture.
Because college campuses tend to promote a middle-class ideology centered in beliefs
in the Protestant work ethic and independence, students frequently adopt and
incorporate such values into how they approach day-to-day activities. Findings that all
participants identify with the middle class supports this claim and elucidates how
second-hand consumption is conducive to the formation of such a cultural class identity.
The practical, fun and unique appeal of thrift shopping, participants demonstrated their
beliefs as consistent with middle class values in frugality, agency, and individualism.

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This indicates that economically privileged college students may understand thrift
shopping as a means to achieve a middle-class status.

Sisters of the people is a gift and thrift shop, in Lajpat Nagar in New Delhi, at least 20-
years-old. It’s loosely based on a charity sale model, just more intimate and feel-good,
and stocks clothes, home decor, shoes, jewelry and artifacts that are either factory
seconds or donated by people.
There is stuff for 30 Bucks too. Run entirely by volunteers, this store is in a constant
state of flux. On one day, you’ll see racks of clothes put out in the sun with INR
200/300/500 tags. The next time, you might see them all taken inside, dusted and
showered, with party dresses by the dozen.
This confusing state of affairs is exactly what makes it so endearing. The sorting
process in the backroom means new stuff is tossed in every now and then, with
volunteers flying around trying to bring some semblance of order to this shop. Another
amazing thing: All the money from the things you buy goes for charity. It’s either used to
provide nutritious meals and other school supplies to kids in anganwadis or to an old
age home in Dwarka.
If you believe in recycling, you can pick up a lot of really cheap stuff that can be
washed/dry cleaned and used. You can also discover Fabindia necklaces with tags on
for as little as 100 bucks. So, one hurried trip here is never enough. You have to stay
long enough before something piques your curiosity or is so pretty that you can’t leave it
behind.
One would also find beautiful tops, dresses, sarees, heels, crockery, men’s blazers,
Indian clothes, lamps and home knick knacks. There were also super sturdy bags they’d
made out of all the INR 30 clothes; they were strong enough to be joined together but
didn’t find many takers.
They have a room which they call “China Bazaar”. It’s a small room full to the brim with
odds and ends, mismatched home stuff and quaint things that have made their way
from across the seven seas.

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Robyn Hobbs in his research has tried to understand the influencers of second-hand
apparel shopping behaviour. In today’s globalized world consumers are no longer
geographically confined to make a purchase decision. The second-hand apparel market
is considered a space where clothes that have been previously owned or used, are
resold by the owner, for charity or a profitable cause. This secondary market helps
diverting materials that otherwise would find a place in landfills. It is sought after by
consumers meeting their needs, or those who enjoy the excitement of the hunt and
novelty of second-hand apparel shopping. It is growing every year and the percentage
of the population involved in this market also
continues to increase.
Robyn Hobbs, in this study, explores shopping
decision-making as mostly a structured mental
approach. He mentions in his research that
the most widely accepted consumers’
decision-making process was outlined by the
Engel, Blackwell and Miniard (EBM) model.
The process begins with the realization of a
gap between the actual and desired states of
the consumer’s needs. After identifying those
needs the shopper looks for information to
assess his/her options to satisfy their needs which results in a group of desired options.
The consumer will employ internal information from their memory, and external
information from various sources to establish their own set of criteria. This criterion will
aid in evaluating the shopper’s options and lead to the purchase decision which is made
based on the selected alternative. Finally, post-purchase evaluation is completed to
assist in future decision- making.

It has been established that while making buying decisions, consumers are driven by
majorly heuristic or utilitarian purposes. Aesthetics and consumer emotions are a major
motivator under heuristic purposes. This could include finding a good deal, or an
expensive item that a consumer wanted since a long time and finally purchased it, or in

14
order to further societal status. Meanwhile, utilitarian decisions are based on the
functionality of the products. Novelty also plays a role among certain individuals for
shopping decisions (Chen, Shang, and Kao 2009).

Social influence is another factor that recognizes the influence of our peers, reference
groups, recommendations from stranger and other social circles. Consumer need for
uniqueness has been defined as “the trait of pursuing differentness relative to others
through the acquisition, utilization and disposition of consumer goods for the purpose of
developing and enhancing one’s social and self-image”.

Robyn Hobbs states that growth in the second-hand fashion market has been driven by
women. Research indicates than 35% of women and 25% of men say they bought more
used products in 2013 than they had in 2012 (Chahal 2013). The main reason for
shopping second-hand is to save money, particularly in the 18-24 cohort. Older
consumers are more likely to favour supporting a charity while purchasing something for
themselves. Women are more likely to enjoying searching for bargains, supporting a
charity, and promoting environmental choices in comparison to men.
However, the consumers shopping in the second-hand retail market may perceive an
increased probability of risk. The clothing may have previously belonged to a smoker, or
it may have other attributes that may influence the consumer in their decision-making
process. The literature establishes price and brand as strong indicators in purchase
decision-making.
The second-hand clothing market has grown in recent years as consumers become
more price sensitive and environmentally conscious. The many reasons for shopping
are best captured in motivation theory which stimulates need recognition. This theory
suggests that human motives can be classified as cognitive or affective. The former is
based on factual knowledge and to serve a purpose, whereas the latter stems from
emotions and feelings. However, both are primarily geared towards individual
satisfaction. This provides the theoretical basis for examining the underlying reasons
why people shop. Shoppers can be motivated by a number of different factors including
convenience, opportunities of social interaction, the shopping experience itself,

15
information seeking, in search of variety and immediate possession of goods
purchased.

Hedonistic motives are prominent throughout second-hand retail that can stem from the
perceived value, uniqueness and rarity of the item or the feeling of eco-consciousness.
The recreational aspects which are at the core of the second-hand apparel shopping
experience include social contact with friendly and passionate salespeople, the
entertaining aspects of the shopping activity and the “serendipity ensuing from the
unexpected encounter with certain objects”, also known as the thrill of the bargain hunt.

Over the last decade, an eco-fashion movement has been on the rise. The concept of
reusing and recycling clothes prolongs the lifespan of products and thereby reduces
waste (the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) Acceptance for second-hand apparel
shopping, which is motivated by saving money and recycling or 'upcycling' is now a
growing factor.

An article published on Forbes by Richard Kestenbaum offers an insight into the

ThredUp report that gives the data for 2017 retail trends. ThredUP is a fashion resale
website for consumers to buy and sell second-hand clothing online.
The article recognizes the changing business dynamics with the millennial customers
complimenting the booming online stores.
Second-hand apparel, offline and online, is an $18 billion industry and forecast to grow
by about 11% per year and become a $33 billion industry by 2021. In a world where
apparel sales are declining for the big retailers, that's huge growth in market share.
Clothing, footwear and accessories account for about half the resale market.
It reports second-hand apparel to be an $18 billion industry and forecast to become a
$33 billion industry by 2021.
The age window of 18-24 and women over the age of 65 are most likely to shop for
second-hand apparels. They are both keen savers and the younger group is
environmentally conscious.
The article further explores that the stereotype that customers at the thrift stores aren’t

16
necessarily financially tight but even well off who wish to explore the thrill of thrift
shopping.
Shopping has now become more of an entertainment packed experience that is viewed
holistically. The number the users shopping online is only increasing by the second.
However, the second-hand apparel industry is posing a threat to the big retail giants
selling these items fresh. Customers are replacing their purchases more and more with
discounted second-hand clothing given the maximized value for money. For the last four
years, they've been growing at over 100% per year, if they keep that up they'll certainly
reach the hundreds of millions soon.
Online retailers like Amazon, eBay have stepped aside due to lack of logistics and
technical equipment to support second-hand retail. The future has a lot of scope for this
business model of bargains.

Frida Haraldsson and Sonja Peric conducted a study to examine what it is that drives
and motivates consumers to purchase second-hand products. Interviews with
employees and volunteers conducted at second-hand stores and a focus group with
second-hand customers is used to assess the various factors that act as motivators.

This thesis explores that second-hand buying has become a natural part of people’s
consumption pattern, and that today’s consumers are aware of the trends and also the
environmental concerns. The report studies that in the present world scenario, ethical
shopping or ethical consumerism is on the rise. It describes an ethical consumer as
someone who avoids products which tread on the health of consumers, damage the
environment during the manufacturing by using unnecessary amount of energy and
water or involve unnecessary waste, products that involve cruelty to animals or products
which use materials derived from threatened species or environments.
Therefore, by shopping second-hand product, a customer is performing an ethical
action by reducing the environmental footprint it shows how ethical shopping and
second-hand shopping are associated with each other.

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The report also studies that second-hand shopping has myriad outlets ranging from
physical stores, flea markets, online based stores and even apps lately. Even Facebook
is becoming a more and more integrated meeting-point for sellers and buyers of used
products. For example, Facebook has member groups designed for helping the
members to buy or sell used products.

Further, dissonance was discussed as one important driver as well. Dissonance occurs
when an individual’s behaviour cannot match his/her core values. The conduction of a
focus group brought forward a problem faced by consumers when purchasing a
combination of both good looking and ecologically produced clothes. All customers
stated that one way to avoid dissonance was to shop second-hand. These second-hand
purchases do not support additional production of new products and the customers can
afford the second-hand products.

Voluntary simplicity is another consumer attribute which is discussed in the study. It is a

life choice where people choose to live a simple life. People usually work less, desire
less, spend and consume less and, in the process, become happier.
From the literature established by Mittal, 2015, the report talks about how self- concept.
When consumers choose products, they try to match the attributes of products with their
own self-concept. Consumers are expressing their self-concepts in their everyday life by
consuming certain products and not choosing some.

Through this research, Frida and Sonja, discuss the key motivators behind second-hand
shopping. Over the years, second-hand consumption is not limited to budget-conscious
consumers but has become a matter of choice. Based on this, they explored three
categories of motivations for the shopping of second-hand products in their study. 1)
Economic motivations including price sensitivity and price consciousness which can be
expressed n in browsing for a fair price and seeking bargain due to economic
constraints. Owing to cheaper prices of used products than new ones’ consumers who
have low incomes, second-hand consumption is a way to lighten the burden of poverty.
2) Recreational motivations involve the seeking excitement, pleasure and authenticity

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during the treasure hunting of second-hand products. These shoppers are enthusiasts
for the hunt of unexpected products. 3) Fashion motivations are concerned with the
need for authenticity and originality. These persons are trying to create a unique fashion
style by chancing upon retro and vintage items that are no longer being produced.
When discussing about the social environment as a motivator for purchase decisions,
Frida and Sonja, state reference groups and word of mouth as two most powerful
factors. The employees and volunteers at the second-hand stores and the participants
in the focus group, believed this to be an influence for second-hand shopping. The
participants in the focus group told how everyone in their social circle shops second-
hand product and this makes it easier and comfortable for them to continue shopping
second-hand as well. The economical factor showed to be more relevant depending on
the purchasing capacity of the consumer. For a newly student with low income, second-
hand stores are a good.
In conclusion, the study states that there are a large number of motivators and drivers of
second-hand shopping.

A research was conducted by Nick Bennett called “On Campus Thrift Store” to discover
new ways to maintain the waste generated by the students of Western Michigan
University. The waste that they generated included many things that can be recycled or
reused such as clothes, furniture, appliances, etc. This is when the idea of a having an
on-campus Thrift Shop emerged. Instead of throwing their things, they could denote it
and can be reused by someone else. The reason for this starting a thrift shop on college
campus was not to make profit but to reduce waste in the campus and to promote a
sustainable atmosphere/culture on campus. This would allow students to gain class-
room credit by working at the thrift store. They would also be able to apply their
classroom knowledge to real world problems. A business major could get real life
experience running a business and a marketing majors could use their skills promoting
the shop. Opening a Thrift Shop would also foster school spirit among the students.
He collected his primary data by contracted school that had an already existing on
campus Thrift Shop and sent questionnaire to the ones who were in-charge of the store.
Through his survey he found out that there were already 9 campuses with on campus

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Thrift Shops, though their models were different from one another, their basic principle
was the same. Such as, most schools had a low startup cost, they were completely
backed by their school in terms of providing them with free space to open the shop and
also providing other necessary items, and almost all surveys indicated that student
response to the businesses have been tremendous and non-were a failure. The most
consistent result of the research was the importance of the of the location. The two
largest problems faced by almost all the school with the shop was that, that they were
not being accessible enough for the students and were not big enough to accommodate
the demands of the students. Their stores had to be moved as the demand increased
and hence they were not able to find a permanent place in the campus that was easily
accessible.

While conducting this research he came across a lot of flea markets/ thrift shops
organized by students in the college campus such as “Trash to Treasures”, “Saints
ShareWear” in Santa Fe College, “ReCellar” in St. Lawrence University, “First
Impressions” in Northampton Community College, “SmiThrift” in Smith College and “The
Sacred Heart Thrift Store” in Sacred Heart University.

He concluded his research by recommending Western Michigan University to consider

opening an on-campus thrift shop so as to move towards a sustainable future of the
university. He also provided a blueprint for the store, in which he stated that instead of
employing people to work they should hire volunteers. This would greatly reduce the
cost of operations and would put more money back into the community. He also
suggested to split the profit evenly between scholarships, donations to nonprofits and
education. The promotions and advertisements could be done through the internet
(Facebook pages, Instagram, Snapchat and announcements online) and through
posters on campus. He also stated that instead of only accepting clothing as donation,
they should also accept other gently used items such as bed sheets, rugs, tables,
bedside stands, etc. He also found out that having a standardized price across the
board would be easier and much more organized. This would greatly reduce the hassle
of figuring out prices for the items in the store and make work much simpler for the
organizers.

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His idea need not be followed thoroughly but can be used for reference and it can be
opted by not just WMU but also other colleges/universities. The two main purpose for
the creation of on campus thrift shop is to spread awareness and promote sustainability.
The other purpose would include reducing waste and raising funds for charity.

The article published by Sarah Dunford on the benefits of thrift shopping art talks about
the originality of thrift shopping and how one can find best of the bestest deal at a thrift
shop. You are more likely to find a unique piece of clothing in a thrift shop than in any
major chain store. Especially all the vintage styles coming from different time period that
the thrift shops offer. She herself found a cozy plaid pea coat straight from the forties
while shopping in a little vintage thrift shop. She believes that thrifting is a great option
for anyone trying to develop their own sense of style as they can mix and match
different items instead of following the usual latest fashion trends. She also talks about
how in today’s world people are so caught up trying to follow new trend and styles that
they do not think about what happens to the outdated items they don't use anymore.
Donating old clothes at a thrift shop is a good way to do away with those unwanted
items which might be useful to someone else. And lastly, Thrift shop is the place to shop
for people who doesn't want to spend much on clothing. It is the only place where one
can find nice clothes, sometimes even designer clothes, for a very affordable price.
Since many thrift shops such as- Housing Works, Goodwill and many more are
charitable organizations. By shopping regularly at these stores and not from some
department store owned by a large corporation means supporting a business that needs
its community to thrive

Fleura Berdhi in her research paper, “Thrill of the Hunt: Thrift Shopping For Pleasure”
basically, challenges the utilitarian conceptualization of thrift and thrift shopping in
marketing. It is basically defined as shopping of second-hand goods by its participants.
It is conceptualized as a shopping process with an economic value that takes place
under formal retailing. One can imagine a thrift shop to be dark, smelly, junk jumbled all
over in a tiny room. Furthermore, in the marketing literature on the concept of thrift, the
research found out that a thrift consumer is always portrayed as a rational human being

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who only wants to spend on his money to fulfil his basic needs. Thrift is only studied
from economic point of view that it is for those who want to save or are on a budget.,
that is thrift consumption means sacrificing to achieve long- term goals.
The hedonic outlook in this study is influenced by the work of Miller (1998) and
Campbell (1987) argues that shopping is all about savings: consumers shop to have an
experience of saving money! Also Miller & Campbell suggested that thrift should be
studied in the experience of spending (shopping) as an end in itself. Whereas
Campbell’s theoretical conceptualization of pleasure as a quality of experiential
consumption derived by consumers’ imagination and fantasy is also used in analyzing
the process of thrift shopping. Led by these two perspectives, thrift shopping and thrift
are examined through a qualitative study conducted through observations and
interviews in a thrift store in a Midwestern town. The data collection process and data
interpretations is guided by Burke’s dramaturgical framework. Overall, the data
mentioned in the research paper was collected through twenty hours of observations
and 3 in-depth interviews. The overall findings of this study means thrift shopping is a
money saving activity from which consumers derive experiential and social benefits.
Burke’s dramaturgical framework is based on the findings of the study which has three
stages. The first stage represents the ways in which the retail store, through product
placement, item categorization, product supply, and price strategies, arranges the
shopping activity and consumers experiences within the store. Thrift stores display their
items in broad generic categories. Items are first categorized on gender, then item type
(e.g. coats, pants), and lastly on size. Further items are thrown randomly sometimes in
the store one over the other. Disorder is also created by placement of products of
different categories next to each other, e.g. glassware next to women’s wear.
Debranding, the basic categories of product display, and the disorganized settings
create a unique retail environment which hides certain aspects of a product (e.g.
brands, styles) representing the products as anonymous. Furthermore, anonymity
becomes useful in a thrift shop setting in order to eliminate the 'past history’ of its resale
items and present them as neutral and new. Consistent with Campbell’s (1987) the
neutralization makes it possible for the product to always serve as novel stimuli, hence
providing experiences not previously encountered in reality. Price is the one of the most

22
important factor in thrift shopping. Thrift stores are a formal retail environment and their
prices are preset and non-negotiable. Giving huge discounts is counted as sales
promotions in the thrift shopping process.
The second stage is the process of thrift shopping. Engaging in activities such as
searching, examining, evaluation of products aesthetically, being price sensitive,
socializing are certain characteristics of a thrift shopper. There are two main thrift
shopping activities where consumers engage themselves in endless and systematic
search of item’s material, brand, style, colour, price, etc. The disorganized, anonymous
ambience in the thrift stores makes thrift shopping as a search activity for what
Campbell calls the "unknown object of desire" that is hidden among the garbage. Thrift
shoppers search every corner of the store each time they shop. The different price
discounts offered weekly by the store provide the stimuli for 'price hunting games’. Thrift
shoppers engage in what they call "hunting for the jewel" where searching, examining,
and illegal hiding of clothes is a part of the thrift shopping experience.

Shannon Zhao in his article, ‘Thrift shops becoming favourable fashion after years of
disinterest’ talks about how thrift stores provide the perfect solution to developing one’s
own unique style with one-of-a-kind pieces at affordable prices. Many shoppers also
find interest in thrifted items because they carry the story of the previous owner, and
therefore have more character and life. Clothes whose only journey is from the
manufacturer to the store lack this appeal. It is also a way of expressing individualism
and flair. Television shows have also helped in changing people’s perceptions of
thrifting and the idea of buying used clothes. People are swarming to thrift stores to hunt
for clothes and furniture to upcycle into DIY (do-it yourself) projects. The famous song
“Thrift Shop” has also contributed to the popularity of thrift shops among the younger
generation. Many thrift stores donate a significant portion, or even all, of their proceeds
to charities supporting both local and global causes. The “Out of the Closet” non-profit
chain of thrift stores, operated by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, donates their
revenue to provide medical assistance to patients with HIV/AIDS and offers free HIV
testing in their stores. Other thrift stores such as “Community Thrift” support their

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neighborhood on a smaller scale. According to “The True Cost,” a documentary that
aims to raise awareness for the environmental cost of the retail market, the average
American discards 82 pounds of textile garbage each year, totaling up to 22 billion
pounds of clothing from the U.S. alone. A very important thing was also mentioned that
most of these textiles are not biodegradable and many sit in our landfills for over 200
years. Thrift stores are also the best way to save the environment. Resale is eco-
friendly and keeps clothes from filling up our landfills leading to sustainability. By
shopping at a thrift store, we are supporting local business, donating to charities and
saving Mother Nature, all while looking stylish.

The research project, ‘Measuring consumer preferences for thrift stores’ focused on the
Montana Rescue Mission which operates three Bargain Center (thrift stores) in the
Billings, Montana area. The goal was to increase profits, by improving the customer
shopping experience. A survey was conducted in all Billings area thrift stores, to help in
primary survey, at all MRM locations. Two hypotheses were proposed, and the results
of the survey rejected the first hypothesis that; prices alone influence the thrift shop
customer. However, the second hypothesis was accepted, because it concluded that;
customer service is more important than product diversity. From this initial step, MRM
Bargain center is now in a better position to analyze their customer preferences, and
tailor any marketing strategies toward them.

On analyzing, it was determined that majority of area thrift stores rank average in many
of Billings, Montana(MRM) area. Two significant issues that were revealed after
conducting the survey were; the lack of employee-consumer interaction, and the lack of
merchandise displays. This survey was conducted to determine: Demographic
information, Frequency of customer visits, Customer preferences, Customer attitudes of
MRM employees, Visits to competitors by customers. Also significant marketing
information was obtained from the survey result that Customer that price is not the most
important factor, there are other factors which now hold more importance than it.

Demographics determines that the average shopper was a married woman, between
25-60 years old, and had a minimum of two household members. Also, gathered

24
important information such as staff friendliness, store location, atmosphere are ranked
higher than store product prices. It concluded that Price does not affect the Likelihood of
returning to the store but it’s the customer service that is more important. This research
has also attempted to understand the most important aspect that is needs and wants of
Thrift store shoppers. From their statistical analysis results, it is a customer service
which is more important than merchandise variety, and prices alone do not affect the
Likelihood of returning to the store. Another good thing about this survey is that it is a
good initial attempt at finding primary data, for a business that is on a shoestring
budget. As MRM area had a very little previous consumer information to act on, it now
has a good basic understanding of some of its customer's needs and wants for a thrift
store. Another important yield of the consumer information gained from this survey is
that it is concerned with the customer demographics. It is from basic information like
this, that MRM can tailor their marketing strategies to meet consumers' needs and
wants. This survey was a good initial step to analyze.

‘Driving Forces Towards Shopping for Second-hand Clothing’ was a thesis by Anna-
Adeline to investigate the driving forces towards shopping for second-hand clothing. In
particular, this research looked upon the motivations and moderating factors and how
they might be affected by life-courses or be linked to each other. To make it more
precise the study was only concerned with second-hand stores/charity shops and was
conducted in Sweden in the city of Lund.

The overall research questions and its components had been determined as follows:

What are the driving forces towards second-hand shopping for clothes among
consumers?

i. What are the motivations and moderating factors for buying and wearing
second-hand clothing?

ii. How do the motivations and moderating factors differ depending on the
consumer life course which can be seen from two perspectives: career life-stage
and family life-cycle? iii. How are the driving forces linked?

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With this thesis, they strived to confirm the current literature as well as expand on it or
even develop a new framework based on the results. Therefore, we undertook
qualitative research by conducting 18 interviews with participants who belonged to
different life-course groups. The review started from the broad perspective on the
motivations for shopping in general proceeding with motivations and moderating factors
for shopping second-hand in particular, bringing in the aspect of life-course changes at
the end. By summarizing and structuring the given material they were able to put it
together into a descriptive framework that provided all the important facts at once. The
findings indeed confirmed most of the literature. More importantly, they were also able
to expand the theory and add new categories to the motivations as well as to the
moderating factors. For instance, they obtained a deeper insight into the economic
motivations and specifically into the gratification role of price as the interviewees were
mentioning different aspects of it very often. Furthermore, they have discovered several
other utilitarian motivations beyond the specific purpose like the question of need or
exhibiting a type of carelessness with second-hand clothing. The most interesting
finding concerning utilitarian motives was the aspect of second-hand clothing containing
less chemicals than new apparel. Moreover, in the area of critical motivations they were
also able to uncover important personal ideologies like the importance of charity, other
priorities over clothing and the ideology of living cheaply. Additionally, their findings
provided them with deeper insights into the moderating factors expressing the
significance of such factors as the selection at second-hand stores or the importance of
need, which also already gave them the first hints of an existing linkage between
motivations and moderating factors.

On the basis of the results of their study, they managed to draw several fundamental
conclusions. First of all, their research provided evidence for the motivations being
linked to each other. For example, the economic motivations are connected to the
hedonic and utilitarian motivations as by paying less money, treasure hunting (hedonic
motivation) or the carelessness for the items (utilitarian motivation) can increase.
Moreover, the critical motivation of living cheaply also already contain an economic
factor in it. Other linkages to utilitarian and hedonic motivations could also be drawn
from critical motivations. For instance, when consumers wanted to buy something

26
specific (utilitarian motivation) or go for adventure shopping (hedonic motivation), they
were guided by the underlying motivation of ethics and ecology (critical motivation/
personal ideology) to go into a second-hand store rather than a regular store.

The most important finding at this point was that the motivations did not occur in
isolation. At least two of them, but mostly even all of them were mentioned by the
respondents at the same time. Therefore, they were also able to point out that if people
were looking for something specific (utilitarian motivation) that did not necessarily mean
that they could not enjoy the whole process of shopping (hedonic motivation) which
most actually did. The utilitarian moderating factors seemed to affect all of the four
overarching motivations where, for example the quality factor affected economic
motivations, the need factor affected the utilitarian motivations, the price factor affected
the critical motivation and the selection factor affected the hedonic motivation.

There might have been a slight reorganization of what motivation was more important
over time, but in general the motivations themselves remained stable. This finding lead
them to the conclusion that the motivations are rather connected to values and personal
ideologies than life-courses as values represent central beliefs that are not bound to
specific situations (Solomon, Bamossy & Askegaard, 1999).

They can conclude from the research and analysis that there are significant linkages
between motivations, and moderating factors with the values at their core which we
have portrayed in a framework providing another angle on how to look upon driving
forces and other factors.

Managerial Implications
Finally, the research findings can also be used by managers of second-hand clothing
shops to better understand their customers.
First the findings regarding motivations allows the managers to understand what drives
consumers to the stores which then gives them the ability to better tailor messages to
the consumers.

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Second, knowing what moderates their motivations, and what the consumers are
looking for enables managers to better adapt their offerings to satisfy the shoppers.
Here they give some specific examples of what a second-hand shop manager could
consider based upon what the participants of our study discussed. Consumers say that
store characteristics are important and therefore managers of thrift-stores need to utilize
commonly known retail techniques as much as possible. Furthermore, when it comes to
the organization inside, the manager should consider the store layout and where the
products are placed, but more importantly, how they are displayed.
In addition, managers of the second-hand stores need to reconsider their product
offerings, or at the very least ensure that the clothing that they offer the consumers have
been thoroughly checked for quality. As noted, many of second-hand shoppers were not
alone in their social circle to shop second-hand. This brings us to the implication that
managers of second-hand shops have potential sources of people who will ‘advertise’
for them through word-of-mouth, which is a powerful advertising tool. This is something
that managers could take advantage of as it is a source that would reach an audience
that is more likely to be the right target market (i.e. people who already have someone
in their network who second-hand shops for clothing). Moreover, word-of-mouth is an
inexpensive tool which is a benefit for shops whose focus is on charity and many of the
consumers seemed willing to encourage others to buy second-hand.

While it is impossible due to the very nature of second-hand shops to have complete
control of the offering, educating consumers about the benefits of second-hand
shopping may appeal to those consumers who have personal values or ideologies
related to not wasting resources, sustainability, the environment or helping others. The
benefits that can be mentioned are things like how much resources are consumed when
producing new clothing and then in comparison how much resources it saves when a
consumer buys a piece of already used clothing. An approach like this can appeal to
those who are ethics and ecology motivated and perhaps even to those who want to
distance themselves from the system.

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According to a research on ‘Buying Clothes from Thrift Stores: An Analysis of Young
People Consuming Second-hand Clothing in Rio de Janeiro’ by Silvia Borges and
Veranise, there are clearly two types of motivations for the consumption of second-hand
clothing. One motivation refers to the objective of saving money when purchasing
clothing items, namely, the individual is primarily looking for cheaper articles and these
second-hand articles represent in some cases an important part of the total set of
clothes he or she has. It should be noted that not always is this objective related to an
unfavorable financial situation on the part of the consumer since some second-hand
items cannot be considered cheap in absolute terms, but only in relative terms, which is
compared to new clothes. The other motivation relates individuals who consume
second-hand clothes in search of articles that are unique and that complement their
attire. These articles are generally vintage or retro items that would make a modern,
cool look.

The research pointed to the combination of these motivations— price, exclusivity, and
quality. The considerations made by consumers about what they value and how much
they are willing to pay for “thrift store clothes”, which is how they refer to second-hand
clothes, include the relationship between consumers and merchandise, about the
construction of the value and the concept itself of merchandise. Based on the idea of
value, in a clear reference to the work of Georg Simmel, Appadurai (2008, p. 15) affirms
that “the value is never an inherent property of objects, but a judgment that people
make about it.”

The data presented in this study supports the perspective pointed out by Hansen (1994)
concerning the valuation process through which the second-hand clothing underwent
beginning in the 1990s. The growing interest in second-hand clothing was highlighted
by consumers surveyed who claim that the retro or vintage look “is in style,” particularly
among young people. This interest is also evident on the business side as we see new
thrift stores opening up, especially beginning in the 2000s, in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

It was also found that for most respondents, to know the story of the clothing and have
information about their former users was not a relevant issue. What is important for
them is the story that they will now build with these clothes; clothes that gain meaning

29
and new significance from the moment that they become part of their personal
wardrobe. For the consumers, the clothing does not bring with it nor does it establish a
historic relationship with the former owner. The uses that will be made, the
combinations with other garments, the occasions when it will be dressed, all this will
depend on the appropriations that these new owners will do, which will follow specific
cultural logic and serve multiple purposes. The uses made by the former owners are
ignored or subverted from the moment that these clothes get into their closets.

The research that originated this article has shed light on the consumption of second-
hand clothes and accessories among young people ages 19 to 22 living in Rio de
Janeiro. While the focus has been this age group, during the research it was possible to
notice that the consumption of this type of clothing is not exclusive to young people.
This realization became clear during the field work, particularly with regard to
observation work in the different thrift stores visited. There are children’s thrift stores,
thrift stores for designer clothes and luxury brands, thrift stores specialized in women’s
work clothes (known as “female suits”), vintage thrift clothes, and in these thrift stores
circulate different consumer profiles. It would be interesting for new research to broaden
the scope of the work both with regard to the location, because it is possible to imagine
that other cities have different aspects and configurations, as well as about the different
economic and socio-demographic profiles of the second-hand clothing consumers.

Coutloot, an online platform, helps people sell their branded clothes to buyers who’re
interested in buying used, affordable, branded apparel. Jasmeet Thind, co-founder of
Coutloot says, “We wear only 20% of what we own. What about the remaining 80%,
which we hardly used? Which is the exact problem ‘CoutLoot’ is trying to solve, ie. the
problem of “excess”. CoutLoot is a curated marketplace service for the people to buy
and sell authentic, pre-loved and pre-owned fashion, where the seller can earn easy
cash for their unused branded items and the buyer can buy the best brands for more
than 70% off. As Everything is hassle free and in great condition.”
“CoutLoot provides free pick-up service to the seller selling his/her items on
coutloot.com. On receipt of the product, CoutLoot’s on board stylists personally

30
authenticate each item for quality purposes and then propose a listing price to the seller,
post which CoutLoot puts the product up on the website for sale. Once sold, CoutLoot
handles the shipping and delivery for the seller. “The idea is very personal and inspired
from everyday arguments with my own mom over my wardrobe. With the boom in online
shopping, I used to buy new things every week without getting rid of my old stuff. My
closet started overflowing and I didn’t have the space to stock my new buys. I didn’t even
want to give away my older shirt, t-shirts or shoes. That’s when the idea of CoutLoot
struck, what if we could sell things from our own closet for some money?” says Jasmeet.
CoutLoot works like a white glove service for sellers that provides start-to-finish services
for the seller.

Future Plan

Coutlook has been doing really good, from September till present Coutloot has done
more than 500 pickups. And during this time period their order have reached a high of
200. Further They want to provide the service all over India, and then take it global.
CoutLoot delivers products all over India. Jasmeet says “We have also started sourcing
celebrity pre-loved fashion and will be selling fashion from celebrity closets in a few
months from now.”

He adds, “We are building an Android app, which will be launched soon and will have a
first-of-its-kind selling experience in the country. Tackling scale and quality service are
the two main objectives for us at CoutLoot. The vision is to lead the fashion re-
commerce platform in India within the next couple of years. CoutLoot, currently
bootstrapped, will also open itself for the first round of funding post the app launch and
build a team that delivers the best selling and buying experience for the crores of
existing and new Indian internet users.

This for That, a mobile-only fashion swapping startup is an attempt at resolving this
everyday problem women face through some online clothes sharing platform. Varun
Arora explains

31
This for That is a peer to peer service available on Android and iOS phones which helps
women to swap their closets with other like-minded women. Women can use this
service for a wide variety of items including clothes, shoes, bags, accessories and
cosmetics.

To begin with, one needs to upload the picture of the product one wants to swap along
with assigning a value for their product. Customers can use the in-app messaging and
discuss the swap details, such as fit, size, condition, and then accept or reject the
requests. Once the request is accepted, both users pay a convenience charge, which
includes pickup, drop and on-spot hygiene and condition check, for their respective
products.

The swapping platform will be competing with companies such as Coutloot, Envoged,
Elanic, Zapyle and Spoyl which allow users to buy and sell fashion on their platforms.

This for That has chosen credits as the currency for the exchange platform. All
transactions, including shipping, happens in credits. If users can’t get someone to swap
their items for what they like, they can always propose a credit swap.

The company is currently operational in Delhi-NCR and would soon be launched in

Chandigarh and Ludhiana. The platform has 1700 active users on the app and has
done an average of 150 transactions a month in the past three months of its existence.

“At the moment scale is important but the transaction potential in smaller cities will be
immense. Smaller cities have huge brand awareness but limited access. So, inter-city
swaps will be a hit,” Bhasin said, adding that: “We are focusing on building the
community base and team right now. Funding is definitely on the charts.”

This for That is also planning to launch in Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore by the end of
2016. It is looking to reach 500 transactions per month by end of 2016 and targeting
36,000 users.

32
Thrift stores have traditionally been associated with the idea of thrift, which refers to the
careful use of money in order to avoid waste and thereby also to behaviour oriented
towards savings. Thrift stores were perceived as poorly organized, smelly and dirty,
poorly lighted, and catering to the low-income group only. If thrift stores were supposed
to attract mostly customers with limited financial means, then their clientele must be
highly price sensitive. If such were the case, one might in turn expect that low prices, or
at least a high price to quality ratio, could be one of the most important drivers of client or
customer satisfaction at thrift stores. But the thrift industry has changed in the last two
decades, so these assumptions may not be correct. Thrift stores have become less
stigmatized and have grown at a much faster rate than other retail stores. It's true that
those living in poverty often do rely on thrift stores for necessities but others come out of
choice and the driving forces vary from desire to recycle to ‘thrill of the hunt’ to find
vintage items or even antiquities.

With broader social acceptance, the demand for thrift stores also increased
simultaneously which had an impact on the supply of thrift stores and economic
conditions like recession has due to which some non-profits have started operating thrift
stores with the aim to reinvest the potential earnings from the sales of the stores into
other programs for the people having low income levels. As stated earlier by Parsons
(2002), income from charitable retailing can be allocated by nonprofits where they need
those funds the most and are crucial for expanding services for the poor; which is the
strategy adopted by Martha’s Outfitters. The store is open to the general public, and its
clientele is mixed, with low income individuals as well as the well-do do coming to the
store. In addition to the clientele that purchases merchandize, the store also welcomes
individuals referred by local social agencies who can receive a few items of clothing for
free every month.

The research paper concludes by saying that in a booming thrift store industry it is
beneficial for thrift store operators to better understand the drivers of client satisfaction.
While in the past clients may have been concentrated among low income individuals and
families who tend to be highly price sensitive, today’s clientele is more diverse and

33
appreciative of other aspects of the thrift store experience beyond low prices. Using a
survey of the clientele of a thrift store located in Washington, DC, we have shown in this
paper that customer service may well be a more important driver of client satisfaction
than pricing or other characteristics of a store. Of course, without good quality
merchandise and low prices, thrift stores may not be able to be successful. While the
results of this research paper may not hold necessarily for other thrift stores /models in
other geographical locations and different demographics but it provides useful insights
for the management and smooth running of other thrifts stores.

The research paper by Divya, Naina, Quentin Wodon on “Opening a New Nonprofit Thrift
Store: Performance, Competition, Pricing, and Financial Sustainability” talks about how
the thrift store market in United States is flourishing and how the stereotypes and
perceptions about the same are changing. As a result, some nonprofits are considering
expanding their thrift store operations, often with the hope that earnings from new or
expanded thrift stores may help fund other programs for low income individuals and
families. The research paper states that, before opening a new thrift store, it is however
important to conduct a detailed analysis to assess whether a new store is likely to be
successful and such an analysis should focus among others on likely performance,
including versus the competition, the choice of location, and financial sustainability etc.
From this paper it can be studied how to conduct an analysis using program and
competitor information as well as a client survey of the current clientele of an existing
store (online/offline). The analysis in this study is carried through a case study of a
competitor (Martha’s Outfitters, the thrift store of Martha’s Table in Washington, DC.)

The traditional stigma of thrift shopping has faded in recent years. While this is not
universal and some people still reject the idea of wearing clothes that were previously
used, there are now 25,000 resale and consignment stores in the United States, with
total sales of the order of US$13 billion according to NARTS2. This relatively healthy
market has led some nonprofits to open up thrift stores, or expand existing operations,
with the hope that net earnings from sales could be reinvested into programs for the
poor. The objective of the aforementioned paper is to analyze one such initiative by
Martha's a non-profit organization in Washington DC. Mainly, the aim is to illustrate how

34
simple research and analysis may be conducted in order to maximize the likelihood of
success and reduce risk before actually opening a new thrift store. The research paper
assists with a competitive and financial sustainability analysis, which are the two core
components of any business model, whether it relates to opening a thrift store or any
other store. Under competitive analysis, the paper covers, quite a few different topics like
identification and assessment of competitors, competitors SWOT Analysis, an
understanding of the market and its outlook, assessing key drivers of success for the
various competitors in an industry which relates in part to how competitors manage to
respond to the needs and motivation of customers. Other topics, such as cost and
pricing assessments, an analysis of the barriers to entry in the industry, and an analysis
of the promotion and marketing strategies used by competitors may also be considered.
Data regarding competitor’s location is also crucial for retail markets since location plays
a major role in success of a retail business. The financial sustainability in a retail
business deals with the expected revenues from a business and the cost of operating it
which should also include the potential risks.

This paper aims at a detailed competitor analysis to find out how well the competitors are
serving its customers in terms of satisfaction and how well is it succeeding in the same
as compared to the existing competitors it has. It also focuses on determining whether
the planned location of the new thrift store in comparison to the competing thrift stores is
viable or not. And lastly to set the targets so as to what might be expected revenues of
the new store and will it be financially sustainable and generate positive earnings or not .

The paper revolves around in-depth analysis of various sub heads, i.e, performance of
the existing store, location of the new store and competition, revenues, ability to raise
prices and costs and all these analysis leading to the final conclusion.

As discussed above location is a crucial decision, it should be based on keeping in mind

some reliable data and facts regarding the socio-economic characteristics of the
population in the new location, its potential competitors, neighborhood, travel friendly etc.
The analysis of location shows that the place where new branch of Outfitter is opening
has relatively poor demographics in terms of socio-economic characteristics of the
population which will have a high demand for the services that will be provided. The

35
chosen location is 0.4 miles away from the metro station, hence easily reachable. Also,
the competition is less and the neighborhood is busy except for the Sundays. The
existing store and the new prospective store are in two different parts of the city, hence
eliminating competition from each other.

The conclusion of this paper on a positive note suggests that the second thrift store
could indeed be launched. While there is always a risk in opening a new store even after
doing all the analysis and research and things can turn out differently than anticipated,
the competitive and sustainability analysis in this paper suggests that risks are relatively
low while the potential gains for the low-income population in the new location could be
substantial.

The research paper, ‘’The State of the Retail Thrift Industry, prepared by Sophia Bennett
for the Cascade Alliance, suggests that even after the growth in economy and low
unemployment rates there is evidence that the retail thrift industry will continue to grow in
the United states and maintain an upward trend

NARTS states that thrift shops and consignment stores combined, represent one of the
fastest-growing segments of the retail industry. There are more than 25,000 resale
shops in the United States, and growth in the number of stores was 7 percent for two
years in a row (since the survey was conducted in 2010, the two years are presumably
2008 and 2009). Some resale chains, such as First Research and Goodwill, have over
$1 billion in sales annually.

As published on NARTS website by ' America’s Research Group', a consumer research

firm, about 16-18 percent of Americans shop at a thrift store during a given year. For
consignment/resale shops, it’s about 12 to 15 percent. And during the same time frame;
11.4 percent of Americans shop in factory outlet malls, 19.6 percent in apparel stores
and 21.3 percent in major department stores.”

While spending on resale items is a very small part of the economy (less than 1 percent,
by their calculation) this is still a welcome trend. Certain niches within the resale industry
have always done well and continue to do well now. Used book sales remain strong,
36
even with the influx of eBooks and audiobooks in recent years. Second-hand children’s
clothing stores are popular in many communities. It is also reported that Americans
spend over $7 billion per year on Halloween costumes and decorations, which is second
only to Christmas. Many of the Halloween shoppers visit thrift stores in search for distinct
costumes at giveaway prices.

The research paper states that the thrift shops were considered for poor people, college
students and serious bargain hunters but lately, even if those groups are still a major
part, but they aren't the only ones anymore. Research by St. Vincent de Paul of Lane
County indicate that the average shopper in thrift stores is lower to middle-income
woman between the ages of 35-55 who is seeking primarily clothing for herself and her
family, and household and decorative goods.

According to the paper, 'treasure hunting' is one of the customers favorite part of the
thrift store experience and many people just do it for the fun of it. To sum it up, thrift store
shoppers are ever increasing, most of them are young and stigmatization and
perceptions of thrift stores is fading away for the good.

The stigma is fading only because the thrift industry is becoming more professional. The
thrift stores are no more, dirty, smelly, unorganized and shabby. They're becoming more
and more like any other retail stores and are focusing on overall customer satisfaction
and experience. Since thrift stores are becoming nicer places to shop, more people feel
comfortable to go there.

37
 CHAPTER 4

PRIMARY REPORT
Our primary report is based on an interview we conducted with the founder of Untried
shop, Mr. Anitya Vatsal, also a NIFT alumni (2006-2010). Untried shop is based on a
similar idea as that of a thrift store where they sell good-quality branded pre-owned
clothes burning a hole in your pocket.

● 4.1: INTERVIEW WITH MR. ANITYA VATSAL

Untried shop is an online website to shop and sell high-quality pre-owned clothes and
new surplus goods under a shoestring budget. It was founded in 2017 by Anitya Vatsal
as a pilot for peer-to-peer online sharing of men's close. Except for the second-hand
clothing they also deal in surplus garments. In broader terms surplus garments mean,
garments which are manufactured for the purpose of export but are either left out of the
shipment or are rejected during inspection. Usually, factories manufacturing branded
clothing manufacture around five more than the quantity required to complete the export
shipment. After a complete shipment is sent off the remaining branded garments are left
with the manufacturing companies who usually have the liberty to sell the same to
retailers for the purpose of sale in the open markets. This is where the sourcing is done
from after proper quality checks.

In a telephonic interview with the founder himself, following information was gathered: -

38
About Founder

Name - Mr. Anitya Vatsal

Graduated from National Institute of Fashion Technology (2006-2010), he worked

with various fashion houses for seven years before starting this venture in 2017.
After shifting to Bangalore in 2006, he got a lot of exposure of back end scenario of
the retail industry and was intrigued to see how low is the cost of making the
products as compared to the prices that they're being sold at in the stores. He
started buying a lot of products for himself. One day he decided, what I've been
doing for myself, why not give it to other people as well because who doesn't like
wearing branded clothes, without burning a hole in their pockets? That's how it all
started.

Initial Response
People are not well aware about thrift, second-hand and surplus stores in India.
Even if they're aware, they don't like to talk about it. Everyone likes to wear cheap
branded products, be it second-hand or surplus but are ashamed to say that they
got it from a thrift store. So as far as initial response is concerned it's not
overwhelming but it's not bad either. It's only been 5 months since the website is
being operational and with only blogging and social media marketing, they're
receiving good traffic on the website.

39
Investment
The initial investment for this website is approximately INR 2 Lakhs which is wholly
funded by the founder himself. As far as further investment or expansion is
considered, the founder feels that putting any further money without first creating a
community is pointless. There is nothing more than just a platform right now. Lots of
blogs, content and information has to be put up to spread awareness, educate
people and market the website in the right way. The purpose of all the groundwork
is to first create the buyers, have people thinking and talking about it, so that there is
enough curiosity and then put in more money.

Challenges faced
The major challenge faced is to eradicate the social stigma from the word thrift.
There is an image of thrift stores as passed on from the west in the minds of the
people, i.e., shady looking, poorly lit, dirty shops where you might find unique pieces
at cheap prices. People don't know them as brands, they know these stores as
shops. So the main challenge is to broaden the people's horizon on the term 'Thrift'
and to make awareness and do branding of the online portal so as , the people
recognize it as a brand giving excellent customer service and not just any other
second-hand store or consignment shop. People like to wear cheap branded clothes
from thrift shops but are ashamed to admit that they got from one. The challenge is
to normalize thrift shopping. The aim is to make people look and feel good and
confident about themselves in thrift clothes, because that is what shopping and
dressing up is all about. It is to show people that it is not a thrown over garment
,rather it comes from the same factory, is of the same high quality material as that in
the branded stores or on websites like myntra, jabong etc. and sometimes even with
the authentic tags on, which because of the loopholes in production cycle is
reaching to you with the help of certain business models at cheaper rates and which
you should be proud to wear and talk about, just like any other garment you buy .

40
Marketing
Right now, there is only online marketing and not any offline marketing. The focus is
on platforms like Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter among other social media
platforms. Through these, the aim is to target the right people whose demands align
with their supply like college students who have to live on a shoestring budget. To
do this it is important to have the right people for the job who understands the
platform and the goals that are being worked on, so that the essence of the
organization could be seen in the content that is posted across social media
platforms. Right now, untried.com is a small team of 3 people trying hard to spread
awareness about the concept. Once the right following is achieved across the social
media platforms and substantial visitors on website, then the founder plans on
investing in better ways of marketing. Following images indicate the analytics of
their Pinterest account:

41
Initiatives
Workshops in partnership with third parties are being organized to spread
awareness regarding the concept. These workshops take place in a cafe in
Bangalore, whose tickets can be bought on 'Book My Show' and various other event
websites. The workshop educates people about what fashion is, how to reuse,, tips
and tricks and sharing inputs that they can use in their daily life for a better, cheaper
and fashionable living. This is one way of interaction. Anitya also plans on
conducting workshops in stores, residential apartments, colleges etc. to reach out to
the masses - to aware, educate and market at the same time.

42
  4.2: INTERVIEW WITH THE STUDENT ORGANIZER OF FLEA
MARKET HELD IN NIFT CAMPUS
An interview with the students of Nift was conducted who organized a flea market
inside the campus which included a 2-day collection drive.

When we hear the word “sustainability” we tend to think of renewable fuel sources,
reducing carbon emissions, protecting environments and a way of keeping the
delicate ecosystems of our planet in balance. In short, sustainability looks to protect
our natural environment, human and ecological health, while driving innovation and
not compromising our way of life. It helps considerably reducing the carbon
footprints. This can be achieved through recycling and reusing things.
Keeping this in mind, the Department of Design Space at the National Institute of
Fashion Technology, Mumbai organized ‘The Flea Market – The First Edition 2017’.
It was during the panel discussion on sustainability held on 22nd of September
2017, Dr. A K Khare, Professor, Bachelor of Fashion Technology, proposed the

43
idea of a flea market. The idea was taken ahead by the Department of Masters of
Design, under the guidance of Mrs. Rupa Agarwal.

The concept of flea market was to collect all the unused clothes, stationeries,
accessories and electronic equipment, which are in good condition and sell them at
a considerably low rate, to increase the life cycle of the product and hence reducing
the carbon footprint. An immediate call was made to all departments for the initial
volunteer’s meeting with an agenda of drafting the whole process of the event. Two
volunteers were selected from each department. There were around forty volunteers
in total. They were categorized into different teams based on their responsibilities
like, Communication design team, Fashion design team, Cleaning and ironing team,
Sales, marketing and statistics team

A 3-day collection drive was run by the students wherein they accepted products for
resale from the students of the campus. The committee decided to give discount
coupons for the givers if they are giving more than five items and cash back once
their items are sold, with an intention of encouraging participation. With every 5
products donated, a 25% discount coupon was given which could be redeemed at
the store itself along with a 25% cashback to the donor if the products they gave got
sold.

44
The products weren’t just limited to clothes but were open to all categories.
It was decided that the event will keep sustainability in mind at every stage. That
was when the committee decided to use the hardboards and unused old yarns to
make the price tags for the collected items. The assignment sheets which are
printed on one side were collected and used for data entry. The extra patches of
clothes used for the department installation were stitched together to be used as a
table cloth. The only major chunk of investment went into putting up the stall and
advertising which included printing flyers, posters etc. They also collaborated with
Big FM under one of their students’ initiative.

The t-shirts were priced 150 on an average and the most expensive item was an
unused Zara perfume for Rs 700. On the day of Diwali Mela, the stall of flea market
was put up from 4:30 to 9:00 pm. 70%of the items got sold and more than 100
people purchased from the stall. It turned out to be one of the biggest and busiest
stalls at the NIFT Diwali Mela.

And although, the responses during the collection drive were just satisfactory, a
huge number of people turned up on the day of the flea market. The market
wrapped up at 6.30 pm with most of their items being sold out, and the remaining
which were in proper condition were returned to the givers. At the end of the Flea it
was however, felt that the products could have been quoted at a higher price.

45
Even though, overall the flea market was a huge success, the major challenge was
the ambiguity of business model which influenced the footfall as word of mouth was
the primary promotional tool. It left people confused about how the flea market
worked. However, the students are already enthusiastic about setting it up again on
a larger scale for a bigger target/ customer group, as the overall experience was a
good one.

46
 CHAPTER 5

DATA ANALYSIS
The data analysis is done on the basis of the information gathered from the responses
collected through the Google forms (e-survey) portal and SPSS analysis software. Thus,
from the resultant content gathered the following graphs, histograms, pie charts and
cross tabulations are interpreted.

The data was collected through colleges in Kharghar, namely National Institute of
Fashion Management, ITM Institute of Financial Markets, A.C. Patil College of
Engineering. The sample includes disproportionately more women than men, but this is
closer to shopper practices (i.e. more women shopping in such stores). The data was
collected through questionnaires that were filled manually across colleges and then
analyzed. A total of 250 responses were received.

47
5.1 FINDINGS

Based on the responses of the survey conducted

AWARENESS (PROMOTION STRATEGY)-

Figure 1:

The response shows that 62% of the respondents are aware of the term thrift shop.

Figure 2:

The response shows that 60.4% of the respondents understand a thrift shop as a
second-hand clothing shop.

48
Figure 3:

The response shows that 68% of the respondents have never experienced a thrift store
before.

PRODUCT STRATEGY:

Figure 4:

49
Figure 5:

The above two responses show that maximum respondents i.e. 85.2% have clothes that
they do not want anymore and they are in good resalable condition.

PLACE STRATEGY:

Figure 6:

50
The response shows that maximum respondents prefer buying shopping from a physical
store than buying online. Thus, the idea of a physical thrift store seems customer
friendly.

PRICE STRATEGY:

Figure 7:

According to the responses recorded it shows that the price range demanded falls in two
categories. First range is Rs. 200-300 and the second between Rs. 300-500. So the
products offered will have to be made available keeping in mind these two price
brackets.

51
5.2 ANALYSIS

The following cross tabulations were done in order to come to a conclusion and study
the nature, and potential buying preferences of the customers.

Table1:

According to the above table 1, 151 of our respondents which is 60.4% were aware of
the concept of a thrift shop as a second-hand clothing shop. Whereas 95 of our
respondents that is 38% of them preferred buying and selling articles in exchange for
money.

After performing cross tabulation, we conclude that 63 (majority) of our respondents are
interested in the model “buy and sell” and also think of Thrift shop as “A second-hand
clothing shop”, thereby giving us our prospective business model.

52
Table 2

We analyzed from the above crosstab table 2 that 43.5% of the female respondents are
willing to spend Rs. 300-500 on second-hand goods. Whereas only 20% of the male
respondents are willing to spend in the same price bracket. It can also be easily studied
that females are much more willing to spend on second-hand products than males,
which would comprise our major customer base. Table 3

From this table it was studied that 137 of our respondents that is 57.8% showed
willingness to part with their clothes for a lesser value. On further analysis it was found

53
that 213 respondents that comprises of 85% of them have clothes which are in good
resalable condition.

On performing cross tabulation, it is now safe to say that 50.8% of our total sample of
250 are our prospective customers since they are willing to give away clothes that are in
good reusable condition.

Table 4

According to the survey, it can be analyzed that out of 250 respondents, 57 i.e. 22.8%
are comfortable wearing second-hand clothes and 72, i.e., 28.8% might be comfortable
depending upon various circumstances, whereas 121, i.e., 48.4% are not comfortable in
wearing second-hand clothes .
Survey responses also states that 137 people i.e. 54.8 % are willing to part with their old
clothes in exchange for a lesser value and 77 i.e. 30.8 % might be willing to part,
whereas 36 people i.e. 14.4% do not wish to part with their old clothes for a lesser value.
From cross tabulation of above two responses, it can be said that out of sample size of
250, 46 (18.4 %) people are our potential customers who are willing buy as well as sell
second-hand clothes and 75 (30 %) people are our prospective customers who might be
willing but are unsure as of now whereas 22 (8.8%) is not interested in either selling or
buying pre-owned clothes.

54
Table5

Survey Respondents are 80% Female and 20% Male .

Survey results indicates that, 57, i.e., 22.8% are comfortable wearing second-hand
clothes and 72, i.e. 28.8% might be comfortable depending upon various circumstances
whereas 121 i.e. 48.4% are not comfortable in wearing second-hand clothes .
From cross tabulation of above two responses, it can be said that out of sample size of
250, 45 (18%) Females and 12(4.8%) Males will be our actual customers and 57
(22.8%) Female and 15 (6%) Male will be our prospective customers

55
Table 6

From the above table we analyzed that 106 of our total respondents from Nift, i.e.,67.5%
are aware of the term thrift shop and 30 of the total respondents from ITM, i.e., 51.7% of
them are also aware of the term thrift shop. Similarly, 19 respondents of the A.C. Patil
College, i.e., 54.3% are aware.

Since almost one fourth of our total sample size are not aware of the term Thrift Shop,
the advertisement and promotional activities should be done accordingly, targeting
mainly those who fall under this group.

Table 7

From the table above we derive that, 63 out of 157 Nift respondents i.e. 40.12%
preferred a buying and selling in exchange for money model. 22 out of 58 i.e. 37.9%
respondents from ITM preferred barter system.

56
On the other hand, 14 out of 35 respondents i.e. 40% from A.C. Patil preferred buying
and selling in exchange for money.

Table 8

From the above crosstab, we analyzed that 109 out of 200 female respondents i.e.
54.5% were shopping in the bracket of Rs 2000-5000 whereas 24 out of 50 male
respondents i.e.48% shopped in this bracket. The total responses in this bracket were
133.

57
Figure 8

It can be concluded from the above graph that the three major reasons behind students
parting with their clothes are:

1. Out of Fashion
2. Worn a lot
3. Wrong Purchase
Thus, the products that are being donated are mainly in good and resalable conditions
as 41.8% of our total sample size opted for the first option, i.e., out of fashion.

58
Figure 7:

The pie chart above shows that maximum number of our respondents are willing to
spend within the price bracket of Rs.300- Rs.500. Also, a considerable number of them
would spend Rs.200- Rs.300 while shopping from a second-hand store. On the other
hand, only 10% of our respondents are willing to spend above Rs.500- Rs.800.

59
 CHAPTER 6

CONCLUSION AND OBSERVATIONS

The aim of our research was to find out the feasibility of setting up of a thrift store in
colleges around Kharghar. So, it can be concluded from the analysis done that 85% of
our prospective donors have clothes which are in good resalable conditions which gives
us a considerable amount of products to start with. However, it is analyzed from the
survey only 37.2% of our respondents expressed comfort in wearing second-hand
clothes. While conducting the survey we personally asked the respondents the reason
behind their discomfort and it was found that a huge number of them were sceptical
about the hygiene and good condition of the clothes. However, if the thrift shop offers
clean clothes in hygienic condition then they were willing to buy the clothes.
Furthermore, referring to the personal interview with the students who organized the
flea market in the college campus, we got to know that it was a very successful and
people turned up in large numbers to buy the second-hand products which were given
in the good condition.

In addition, since the percentage of consumers who would convert into 100 percent
customers for a thrift store is 37.2% the model and concept can be taken further and
includes risk. Any business model with 33%-66% of customer convergence can run but
has its risks.

It can be safely concluded on the basis of this survey that Rs.200- Rs.500 was the most
preferred price bracket. Referring to the analysis from the personal interview the student
organizers expressed that they could have easily quoted a much higher price for some
of the products after experiencing the willingness of the shoppers.

From the survey analysis, a majority of the respondents choose buying and selling of
products in exchange for money. However, considering the huge investment involved in
it, it would be safe to start up on a barter system basis. Also from the interview we
concluded that consignment model of business was also a big success with low

60
investment. Since the items are taken on consignment, you don't pay anything for your
inventory until it's sold, which makes this business ideal for the startup entrepreneur.

61
 RECOMMENDATION

From the above analysis, we recommend opening an on-campus thrift shop based on
the following business model.

The business model will include:

Product: The products will Include, clothing, accessories, footwear and other fashion
items in decent and usable condition. The givers will need to ensure that the products
are washed and cleaned to uplift its usability.

Price: The second-hand goods being fairly used and not being brand new will be priced
much less than the original worth of the items, completely depending on their condition
and functional value. The broader price brackets will be as follows:
Clothing- Rs. 100-800
Footwear- Rs. 100-600
Accessories- Rs. 30-200
Note: The prices may vary after the screening of the product based on personal
discretion regarding the quality of the product.
If the products displayed at the store, got sold, 50% of the revenue will be shared with
the respective owner. The cashback will not be applicable when an item is not sold.
Such items will be returned to their owner.

Place: A physical outlet in the college campus.

Promotion: Through the above analysis, clearly, as a majority of the respondents

expressed discomfort about wearing second-hand products, it is imperative that the
consumers be appropriately educated about the thrift store. The preconceived notion of
a thrift shop being a poorly organized, shabby place selling used goods needs to be
changed.

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Promotions will be carried out through circulating flyers and pamphlets inside the
college campus, and through the internet (Facebook pages, Instagram, WhatsApp,
Snapchat) and putting up posters outside most frequented cafes in Kharghar to increase
visibility and buzz creation. A sample flyer is shown below.

Physical Evidence: The thrift store intends to create a space which a one stop
destination for stylish fashionistas, value-conscious consumers and passionate
environmentalists. In addition to all other features, it aims to be that approachable
option to branded clothes for students who belong to not so economically privileged
backgrounds.

People: People may be hired to run the daily operations and manage the store
depending on the scale of the store. In a college campus, students can be asked to
volunteer in exchange for credits or certificates. It would also help cut down the cost to a
great extent.

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Process: Being a physical store, the products will be displayed to the customers. The
products purchased will be handed over to the customer at the store itself. The
customers selling their product will be given their share of the price and if not sold, the
items will be duly returned.

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 REFERENCES

Bardhi, Fleura (2003), “Thrill of the Hunt: Thrift Shopping for Pleasure”, Advances in
Consumer Research, Vol. 30, pp. 375-376

Sophia Bennett for The Cascade Alliance; (2014), “The State of the Retail Thrift
Industry”-https://ilsr.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/.../2014- thrift-store- white-
paper.docx

Christiansen, Tim and David Snepenger (2005), “Information Sources for Thrift
Shopping: Is There a Thrift Maven?”, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 22, (6), pp.
323-331.

Guiot & Roux 2010, “A Second-hand Shoppers’ Motivation Scale: Antecedents,

Consequences, and Implications for Retailers”-
http://isiarticles.com/bundles/Article/pre/pdf/4947.pdf

Mark Mitchell, and Rob Montgomery, “AN EXAMINATION OF THRIFT STORE

SHOPPERS”- http://www.mmaglobal.org/publications/MMJ/MMJ-Issues/2010-
Fall/MMJ-2010- Fall- Vol20-Issue2- Mitchell-Montgomery- pp94-107.pdf

Sophia Parker Larsen, Whitman College, From riches to rags: the sociology of thrift
shopping among college students-
https://arminda.whitman.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1096&context=theses

Jinhee Han, Iowa State University, (2013), “Understanding second-hand retailing: A

resource based perspective of best practices leading to business success”

While Economy Dives, Thrift Shop Thrives- By Goodwill, Salvation Army report healthy
year- to-date sales increase

Sisters Of The People: a thrift store in Lajpat, Delhi By LBB

Robyn Hobbs, “Understanding the Influencers of Second-Hand Apparel Shopping

Behaviour”- http://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2993&context=etd

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Richard Kestenbaum , “Fashion Retailers Have To Adapt To Deal With Second-hand
Clothes Sold Online”,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardkestenbaum/2017/04/11/fashion- retailers-have- to-
adapt- to-deal- with-second-hand- clothes-sold- online/#41ddc49d1a7f

Frida Haraldsson and Sonja Peric, (2017), “Drivers and motivations for second-hand
shopping: A study of second-hand consumers“ - http://www.diva-
portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1138322/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Nick Bennett- On Campus Thrift Store, ENVS 410: Appropriate Technology and
Sustainability- The campus as a Living Laboratory Spring 2010-
https://wmich.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/Thrift%20Store%20Final%20Report%2
0S P2010.pdf

Sarah Dunford, (2016), “On The Benefits Of Thrift Shopping”,

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/benefits-thrift- shopping

Shannon Zhao, (2017), “Thrift shops becoming favourable fashion after years of
disinterest”- https://thecampanile.org/2017/05/19/thrift-shops- becoming-favorable-
fashion-after- years-of-disinterest/

Anna-Adelaine Hansson Evgenia Morozov -Driving Forces Towards Shopping for

Second-hand Clothing
http://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=8878267&fil
eOId=8878269

Sílvia Borges Corrêa and Veranise Jacubowski Correia Dubeux – “Buying Clothes from
Thrift Stores: An Analysis of Young People Consuming Second-hand Clothing in Rio de
Janeiro- revistacmc.espm.br/index.php/revistacmc/article/download/804/pdf_57

Ratin Nautiyal- “Coutloot’s pre-loved fashion platform is second to none”

https://yourstory.com/2015/12/coutloot/

Varun Arora- “This for That, a platform for women in constant search of newness”-
http://techcircle.vccircle.com/2016/08/04/this-for- that-a- platform-for- women-in-
constant-search-of- newness/

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Divya Wodon , Naina Wodon and Quentin Wodon; Nonprofit Research Project; (2013)-
“Opening a New Nonprofit Thrift Store: Performance, Competition, Pricing, and
Financial Sustainability”- https://mpra.ub.uni-
muenchen.de/56943/1/MPRA_paper_56943.pdf

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 APPENDICES

A.1 : SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE

OBJECTIVE: To find out how comfortable customers are in college campus in selling
out their clothes for resale and also how willing are they to purchase second-hand
clothes.

1.Are you aware by the term 'Thrift Shop' ?

O Yes

O No

O Maybe

2. According to you what is the concept of a thrift store?

O A place for poor people to shop

O A second-hand clothing shop

O A shop offering low quality products

O A treasure hunt where one can find gems at dirt cheap prices.

3. Have you ever experienced being in a thrift store before?

O Yes

O No

4.Where do you usually shop from? (Can select more than one)

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O Flea Markets

O Malls

O Online

O Private stores

5. On an average how much do you spend on new clothes in a month?

O Less than 2,000

O 2,000 to 5,000

O 5,000 to 10,000

O More than 10,000

6. Do you often have clothes in your wardrobe that you do not want anymore?

O Yes

O No

7. Are those old clothes in resalable/good condition?

O Yes

O No

O Not Applicable in my case

8. Are you willing to part with your old clothes in exchange for a lesser value?

O Yes

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O No

O Maybe

9. Why are you parting with them?(Can select more than one)

O Out of Fashion

O Worn a lot

O No storage space

O Wrong purchase

O Money Crunch

O Recycling

O Not applicable in my case

10. How often do you forward your less used clothes for free?

O Once a month

O Once a year

O Twice a year

O Never

11. Are you comfortable wearing second-hand clothes?

O Yes

O No

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O Maybe

12. How much are you willing to spend on a purchase of second-hand goods?

O 200-300

O 300-500

O 500-800

O Not applicable in my case

13. What kind of thrift shop model you would be interested in?

O Buy and sell articles in exchange for money.

O Barter system- Give an article , in exchange pick anything of the same value.

O Showcase your product at the shop . If sells , take the money , else take back your
product.

O None of the above

Name :

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Gender:

O Female

O Male

O Other: ……………………………

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Age:

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Contact No./ Email:

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

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