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Stores selling secondhand clothes, shoes and accessories are poised to benefit from President Donald Trump’s trade war even as businesses the world over race to avert potential damage, according to industry experts. American styles carry international influence, but nearly all of the clothing sold domestically is made elsewhere. The Yale University Budget Lab last week estimated short-term consumer price increases of 65% for clothes and 87% for leather goods, noting U.S. tariffs “disproportionately affect those goods. Such price hikes may drive cost-conscious shoppers to online resale sites, consignment boutiques and thrift stores in search of bargains or a way to turn their wardrobes into cash. Used items cost less than their new equivalents and only would be subject to tariffs if they come from outside the country. I think resale is going to grow in a market that is declining, said Kristen Classi-Zummo, an apparel industry analyst at market research firm Circana. What I think is going to continue to win in this chaotic environment are channels that bring value. The outlook for pre-owned fashion nevertheless comes with unknowns, including whether the president’s tariffs will stay long enough to pinch consumers and change their behavior. It’s also unclear whether secondhand purveyors will increase their own prices, either to mirror the overall market or in response to shopper demand. A new audience courtesy of sticker shock Jan Genovese, a retired fashion executive, sells her unwanted designer clothes through customer-to-customer marketplaces like Mercari. If tariffs cause retail prices to rise, she would consider high-end secondhand sites. Until I see it and really have that sticker shock, I cant say exclusively that Ill be pushed into another direction, Genovese, 75, said. I think that the tariff part of it is that you definitely rethink things. And maybe I will start looking at alternative venues. The secondhand clothing market already was flourishing before the specter of tariffs bedeviled the U.S. fashion industry. Management consulting firm McKinsey and Co. predicted after the COVID-19 pandemic that global revenue from pre-owned fashion would grow 11 times faster than retail apparel sales by this year as shoppers looked to save money or spend it in a more environmentally conscious way. While millennials and members of Generation Z were known as the primary buyers of used clothing, data from market research firm Sensor Tower shows the audience may be expanding. The number of mobile app downloads for nine resale marketplaces the firm tracks eBay, OfferUp, Poshmark, Mercari, Craigslist, Depop, ThredUp, TheRealReal and Vinted increased by 3% between January and the end of March, the first quarterly gain in three years, Sensor Tower said. The firm estimates downloads of the apps for eBay, Depop, ThredUp and The RealReal also surged compared to a year earlier for the week of March 31, which was when Trump unveiled since-paused punitive tariffs on dozens of countries. Circanas Classi-Zummo said that while customers used to seek out collectible or unusual vintage pieces to supplement their wardrobes, she has noticed more shoppers turning to secondhand sites to replace regular fashion items. “It’s still a cheaper option than buying new, even though retailers offer discounts, she said. A tariff-free gold mine lurking in closets and warehouses Poshmark, a digital platform where users buy and sell pre-owned clothing, has yet to see sales pick up under the tariff schedule Trump unveiled but is prepared to capitalize on the moment, CEO Manish Chandra said. Companies operating e-commerce marketplaces upgrade their technology to make it easier to find items. A visual search tool and other improvements to the Poshmark experience will pay long dividends in terms of disruption that happens in the market from the tariffs, Chandra said. Archive, a San Francisco-based technology company that builds and manages online and in-store resale programs for brands including Dr. Martens, The North Face and Lululemon, has noticed clothing labels expressing more urgency to team up, CEO Emily Gittins said. “Tapping into all of the inventory that is already sitting in the U.S., either in peoples closets or in warehouses not being used, offers a revenue source while brands limit or suspend orders from foreign manufacturers, she said. Theres a huge amount of uncertainty, Gittins said. Everyone believes that this is going to be hugely damaging to consumer goods brands that sell in the U.S. So resale is basically where everyones head is going.” Stock analysts have predicted off-price retailers like TJ Maxx and Burlington Stores will weather tariffs more easily than regular apparel chains and department stores because they carry leftover merchandise in the U.S. Priced out of the previously owned market Still, resale vendors aren’t immune from tariff-induced upheavals, said Rachel Kibbe, founder and CEO of Circular Services Group, a firm that advises brands and retailers on reducing the fashion industry’s environmental impact. U.S. sellers that import secondhand inventory from European Union countries would have to pay a 20% duty if Trump moves forward with instituting reciprocal tariffs on most trading partners and eliminates an import tax exception for parcels worth less than $800, Kibbe said. A circular fashion coalition she leads is seeking a tariff exemption for used and recycled goods that will be offered for resale, Kibbe said. Trump already ended the duty-free provision for low-value parcels from China, a move that may benefit sellers of secondhand clothing by making low-priced Chinese fashions pricier, she said. James Reinhart, co-founder and CEO of the online consignment marketplace ThredUp, said the removal of the de minimis provision and the 145% tariff Trump put on products made in China would benefit businesses like his. He doubts creating resale channels would make a big difference for individual brands. Brands will explore this and they may do more, but I dont see them massively changing their operations, Reinhart said. I think theyre going to be figuring out how to survive. And I dont think resale helps you survive. Rebag, an online marketplace and retail chain that sells used designer handbags priced from $500 to tens of thousands of dollars, expects tariffs to help drive new customers and plans to open more physical stores, CEO Charles Gorra said. Gorra said the company would analyze prices for new luxury goods and adjust what Rebag charges accordingly. The two historically rose in tandem, but Rebag could not match Chanel’s 10% price increase last year because of lower resale demand, Gorra said. That has nothing to do with the tariffs, he said. Consumers are feeling priced out. Norah Brotman, 22, a senior at the University of Minnesota, buys most of her own clothes on eBay. She also thrifts fashions from the 1990s and early 2000s at Goodwill stores and resells them on Depop. If tariffs upend the economics of fast fashion and discourage mindless consumption, Brotman would count that as a plus. I would love if this would steer people in a different direction, she said. Anne D’Innocenzio, AP retail writer
Category:
E-Commerce
As any investor will tell you, the past month has been absolutely brutal when it comes to the markets. In the past 30 days alone, the Nasdaq is down 9.5%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 7.8%, and the S&P 500 is down 7.8%. But in the same period, one asset has surged: gold. As of the time of this writing, the price of an ounce of gold has surged over the past 30 days by a remarkable 14.4%. And gold isnt just surgingits hitting all-time highs. This morning, gold peaked above $3,506 per ouncea record for the precious metal. As of the time of this writing, the commodity has pulled back slightly to around $3,453 an ounce, according to Yahoo Finance data. However, even that price is still striking. Thats nearly $800 an ounce higher than gold was at the beginning of 2025. Since then, the metal has surged 32%. Gold’s biggest jump has happened in the past five days alone. During that period, it has surged 7.78% But why? Gold is a historic safe haven during chaotic economic times When the economy is in turmoil or investors fear an economic downturn is coming, they tend to park their money in what are known as economic safe havensassets that have historically been less likely to decrease in value during greater economic downturns. As Investopedia notes, historic safe havens include cash; some currencies like the Swiss franc, the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen; U.S. Treasury bills; and precious metals, most notably, gold. However, investors of late seem to feel that some of these historic safe havensthe U.S. dollar in particulararent as reliable now as in past times. Instead, they seem to be throwing their money into gold, hence the recent rapid surge in price. As for why investors are turning to safe havensand sending gold surging in recent weeksit mainly comes down to two President Trump-related reasons, notes the Wall Street Journal. Trumps chaotic tariffs The first reason is no surprise. Ever since Trump announced his new chaotic Liberation Day tariff policies on April 2, investor confidence has plummeted as the tariffsand their implementationhave spread uncertainty throughout the economy and business world. While many of the tariffs are now paused for 90 days, the ones Trump levied against China are still active, as are Chinas retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. These tariffs mean that Americans are paying more for many common goods, and they are impacting the volume of goods that American businesses export to customers in China. And given the Trump administration’s chaotic implementation of the tariffs, its mixed messaging surrounding them, and the lingering uncertainty of whether deals can actually be reached with other nations before the 90-day pause expires, people are beginning to lose faith in the U.S. economy, and recession fears are rising. If a full-blown recession does hit, it’s likely stocks and other assets may continue to fall, which is why many investors are now seeking safe havens like gold. Trumps attacks on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell But maybe even worse than Trumps chaotic tariffs is his recent and increasing attacks on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Trump wants Powell, who oversees Americas independent central bank, the Federal Reserve, to lower interest rates. The reason Trump wants power to do this is that Trumps tariffs have pummeled the stock markets and consumer confidence. When the Federal Reserve chooses to lower interest rates, the stock markets generally rise and consumer spending increases, as MSNBC points out. That’s because its cheaper to borrow money for things like homes and cars. It can also lower credit-card interest rates, further boosting spending. But Powell has so far refused to acquiesce to Trumps demandsand for good reason. While lower rates can help the economy in the short term, they can have a negative impact in the long term by giving it a temporary artificial boost. As MSNBC notes, if rates are already lowered, and things do get worse with the economy in the future, the Federal Reserve will have one less tool in its arsenal to help fight the economic downturn because it has already lowered rates. But Trump seems to care more about the short term. Thats likely why he has increased his attacks on Powell, whom he has threatened to fire, which most legal experts agree the president cant do anyway. As a matter of fact, the central banks of most countries, including the United States, are set up to be independent of the government precisely so that leaders cant pressure the banks to do something that is beneficial for political reasons instead of being rational for economic ones. Still, Trumps very public beef with Powell is enough to make some investors leery that Trump may indeed be willing to undermine what is seen as a critical pillar of the U.S.s economic credibility. That beef is leading to uncertainty, which is leading to some investors now looking for more stable, safe-haven assets like gold.
Category:
E-Commerce
A commercial airliner was on final approach to San Franciscos international airport in November when the crew spotted a drone outside the cockpit window. By then it was too late to take evasive action, the pilots reported, and the quadcopter passed by their windshield, not 300 feet away. A month earlier, a jetliner was flying at an altitude of 4,000 feet near Miamis international airport when its pilots reported a close encounter with a drone. In August, a drone came within 50 feet of clipping the left wing of a passenger jet as it departed Newark International Airport. The incidents were all classified as near midair collisions any one of which could have had catastrophic consequences, according to aviation safety experts. They were also not isolated encounters. An Associated Press analysis of an aviation safety database reveals that drones last year accounted for nearly two-thirds of reported near midair collisions involving commercial passenger planes taking off and landing at the country’s top 30 busiest airports. That was the highest percentage of such near misses since 2020, when air traffic dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first reports of near misses involving drones were logged in 2014, the AP found. The number of such encounters spiked the following year. Over the last decade, drones accounted for 51% 122 of 240 of reported near misses, according to AP’s analysis. Passenger jets have long been subject to risks around airports whether from bird strikes or congested airspace as was made clear by the January collision between a military helicopter and commercial jet near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people. The threat has become more dire The threat from drones has become more acute in the last decade as the use of quadcopters and remote-controlled planes has exploded in popularity. The FAA estimates that Americans are operating more than a million drones for recreational and commercial purposes. If you have the money, you can go on the internet and buy a pretty sophisticated drone that can reach altitudes they really have no business being at, said William Waldock, a professor of safety science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The risk is most acute near airports because that is where the flight paths of drones and airplanes most overlap, experts said. The incidents represent only a portion of such close calls because the database NASAs Aviation Safety Reporting System relies on voluntary submissions from pilots and other aviation workers. A separate FAA program, which includes reports from the public, tallied at least 160 sightings last month of drones flying near airports. The FAA recognizes that urgency, and we all know additional changes need to be made to allow the airports to go out and detect and mitigate where necessary, said Hannah Thach, executive director of the partnership, known as Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence. FAA says it is taking steps to improve safety The FAA said it has taken steps to mitigate the risks of drones. It has prohibited nearly all drones from flying near airports without prior authorization, though such rules are difficult to enforce, and recreational users may not be aware of restrictions. The agency requires registrations for drones weighing more than 250 grams (0.55 pounds), and such drones are required to carry a radio transponder that identifies the drones owner and broadcasts its position to help avert collisions. Additional rules govern commercial drone use. The agency has also been testing systems to detect and counter drones near airports. Among the methods being examined: Using radio signals to jam drones or force them to land. Authorities are also weighing whether to deploy high-powered microwaves or laser beams to disable the machines. Experts said the FAA and other authorities could do more. They suggested creating a system similar to speed cameras on roadways that could capture a drones transponder code and send its pilots a ticket in the mail. They also said the FAA should consider regulations that require all manufacturers to program a drones GPS unit to prevent it from flying near airports and other sensitive areas, a method called geofencing. Drone manufacturer ends mandatory “geofencing” DJI, a leading drone maker, used such geofencing restrictions for years. However, it eliminated the feature in January, replacing it with an alert to drone pilots when they approach restricted areas. Adam Welsh, head of global policy at DJI, said managing requests from authorized users to temporarily disable the geofencing became an increasingly time-consuming task. More than one million such requests were processed last year. We had around-the-clock service, but the number of applications coming in were becoming really hard to handle, Welsh said. They all had to be reviewed individually. With no other manufacturers enabling geofencing, and without government rules requiring it, DJI decided to end the practice, he said. The FAA declined to say if it is considering whether to mandate geofencing. Drone users can face consequences Experts said authorities should take more aggressive action to hold drone users accountable for violating restricted airspace to highlight the problem and deter others from breaking the rules, pointing to recent arrests that they hoped might send such a message. In December, for example, Boston police arrested two men who operated a drone that flew dangerously close to Logan International Airport. Police reported that they were able to find the drone flyers, in part, by tracking the aircraft thanks to its FAA-mandated transponder signal. A month later, a small drone collided with a Super Scooper plane that was fighting wildfires raging through Southern California. The drone punched a hole in the plane’s left wing, causing enough damage that officials grounded the aircraft for several days to make repairs. Authorities tracked down the 56-year-old drone operator, who pleaded guilty to a federal charge of recklessly flying his aircraft. The man, who has yet to be sentenced, admitted he launched his DJI quadcopter to observe fire damage over the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, despite the FAA having restricted drone flying i the area, according to court records. The operator lost sight of the drone after it flew about 1.5 miles from where he had launched it. And that’s when it struck the Super Scooper.” Aaron Kessler and Michael Biesecker, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
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