This analysis represents year-two of the only independent research on income benchmarks for vintage dealers.
This reporting is conducted by Pre-Loved, and made possible thanks to our paying subscribers.
The resale market keeps making news and setting records: large platforms land funding rounds and headlines, while pre-loved styles turn up in glossy editorial spreads and on red carpets at dazzling rates. More shoppers than ever before are choosing secondhand to make a personal style statement, with some going so far as to call secondhand shopping “a part of their identity.” This well-documented “cultural boom” portrays a shiny story about the growing cachet around vintage fashion.
But what’s less observed is the economic story, particularly for the independent vintage dealers and small business owners who power the engine of the secondhand fashion sphere. Flashy headlines don’t tell you what the average secondhand seller — the real person steaming and listing your soon-to-be-favorite cashmere sweater at all hours of the night — actually earns in this line of work.
So today, we’re covering the results of Pre-Loved’s Secondhand Sellers Income Survey. Last year I launched first-ever secondhand industry income survey, answering a question everyone in resale wonders, but nobody had yet studied: what does a vintage dealer actually earn? Enough of you found that report useful that we're back for round-two! And this year, 70+ full and part time- dealers answered our call, and — for the first time ever — this survey can now track a year-over-year trend line.
The year-over-year trends we found are, on balance, hopeful. Full-time dealers are earning a bit more than last year, and they're talking to each other about pricing and profit far more openly than before. But the main structural problems that defined this industry in year one — a slow climb toward a living wage that stays out of reach for most, and a severe gender pay gap — are both still here. The people powering resale's cultural boom are, by and large, hustling long hours to barely get by. And chances are, many of the solopreneurs surveyed here struggled to truly understand their economic reality, because it remained largely invisible to them and their peers — until now:
Thanks to everyone who answered Pre-Loved’s survey, and shared real financial numbers!
Here's what stood out this year:
Stark figures around earnings and hours worked. Full-time dealers are earning a bit more than last year, but still struggling to support a living wage. Part-time sellers still out-earn full-timers per hour worked, and fewer of them want to actually go full-time than did last year.
The business models that generate the most sustainable incomes. With most dealers building out 2-3 income streams, we found that a primary focus on brick-and-mortar overtook multi-channel as the top-earning model this year.
Familiar gendered wage disparities continue to persist, even in female-dominated industries.
Dealers who talk pricing and profit with their peers continue pulling ahead of dealers who don't — but more dealers are having that conversation than ever before.
Who Participated? 70+ Sellers Across Demographics and Regions:
Demographically, this year's survey respondents look a lot like last year. Dealers specializing primarily in vintage clothing made up 81% of respondents, with 8% in homewares, 5% in accessories, and 7% in other categories. Most respondents were millennials and Gen X: 39% between 35–44, 23% between 45–54, 18% between 55–64, 14% between 25–34, and 7% over 65.
This remains an imperfect dataset skewed by survey respondents, which skews: 1) white — 86% of total respondents — with Hispanic, Black, multiracial, Asian, and self-described sellers making up a small minority and 2) and female — women made up 83% of total respondents, men 11%, and 4% identified as nonbinary or genderqueer, similar to last year’s responses.
Geographically, respondents operated across varied regions and cost-of-living environments: 27% in major metros like NYC and LA, 7% in mid-sized cities like Chicago and Denver, 25% in smaller cities like Milwaukee or the Twin Cities, 25% in suburbs outside major metropolitans, 11% in international markets, and 5% in rural areas.
Why This Work is Paywalled:
Championing women valuing their work while giving mine away for free would feel hollow and inconsistent. This survey took months of design, outreach, and analysis,—costs I absorbed personally to provide the industry with insights it has never had before. For resale professionals who subscribe to Pre-Loved to read this report, your $5 investment in a subscription is likely a tax-deductible business expense (plus, it costs far less than comparable market research!)
Now, let’s dive into what we discovered:
