eBay has purchased British second-hand fashion resale app Depop from Etsy for around $1.2bn (£890m). eBay’s chief executive, Jamie Iannone, said the acquisition of Depop – expected to be completed in the second quarter of the year – would enable it to “reach a younger demographic across the expanding recommerce landscape”.
The changing face of recommerce
Once the undisputed giant of the preloved landscape, eBay has faced growing competition from rivals such as Vinted and Depop, as well as retail behemoth Amazon. The second-hand fashion market is booming in the UK and Europe – Vinted is now the third-largest fashion retailer in the UK, behind only Next and Primark – and is heavily driven by younger buyers, particularly Gen Z and Millennials, who are adopting recommerce more quickly than older demographics.
Recent Statistica and Traid research found that over 80 per cent of British consumers aged 18-34 report wearing second-hand clothing, compared to approximately 50 per cent among those aged 55-64. Roughly one-third of 18-34-year-olds purchase second-hand clothing at least once a month, spending an average of £50 monthly.
Depop has around 7 million active buyers, 90% of whom are under 34. It recorded annual gross merchandise sales of about $1bn in 2025 and is growing rapidly in the USA, with almost 60% YoY growth last year, according to reporting by the Guardian. As Vinted currently has less penetration in the USA than in Europe, this represents a clear opportunity for eBay.
How eBay can win
The real threat – and opportunity – for eBay isn’t that younger consumers are moving to platforms like Vinted and Depop, it’s that they’re moving toward a fundamentally different cultural relationship with clothing. It’s not cost alone that drives Gen Z to purchase preloved clothing – they buy it because it aligns with identity, ethics, aesthetics, and sustainability. Platforms like Vinted and Depop were built around this mindset from day one, while eBay was built for a different era of ecommerce entirely.
Acquiring Depop – which is expected to retain its name, brand, platform, and culture – gives eBay access to this dynamic market, but what makes this moment pivotal is that the U.S. market is entering a cultural shift that Europe experienced years ago. The USA has long had a thrift store culture, but it was largely based on cost rather than values. Now, however, second‑hand is becoming aspirational.
This gives eBay a narrow but meaningful window. If it can evolve from a transactional marketplace into a cultural brand with relevance, community, and aesthetic identity, it can leverage its massive infrastructure to regain momentum – although it faces stiff competition from Vinted, which is also eyeing expansion in the USA. Otherwise, it risks becoming the “parent brand” that everyone grew up with but no longer visits – not because of functionality, but because of vibe.
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