The Secondhand Industry Income Survey!
Pre-Loved is creating an income benchmark survey for independent secondhand sellers.
As a reporter and researcher covering the secondhand fashion industry, I speak with dozens of vintage sellers, collectors, and shoppers every week — and read hundreds of articles on the sector, in addition to those I write. But there’s one crucial piece of information I couldn’t tell you about our industry: what’s the average income for an independent secondhand business owner?
Chances are, most small business owners don’t know either.
That’s why Pre-Loved is launching a Secondhand Industry Income Survey!
This anonymous, 5–10 minute survey is designed to gather income and business data from independent secondhand sellers, whether you're running your business full-time or as a side hustle.
The goal is to create salary benchmarks for our industry — so we can finally start answering questions like:
What can I realistically pay myself as a vintage reseller?
How long will it take for my reselling business to support me?
How does reselling part-time vs. full-time impact your earnings?
If you're a secondhand business owner — whether a seasoned pro or just getting started — please take a few minutes to complete the survey here.
The anonymized findings will be shared in a future issue of Pre-Loved, with lots of raw data, insights, and easy-to-read charts breaking it all down.
This kind of salary transparency is essential. It’s hard enough to know what you should be charging for individual product on the secondary market — even harder to know how to fairly pay yourself for all your work.
By contributing to salary survey, you’re helping to:
Shine a light on compensation across our under-explored industry
Empower resellers to better value their time and labor
Close wage gaps tied to gender, race, and other inequities
Be sure to subscribe to Pre-Loved to get the summarized findings in a few weeks.
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey — it will be a big help!
Find me across the internet on Instagram, TikTok, and Threads! 💛 - Emily