Second-hand clothing in the Netherlands:

The fashion industry is one of the world’s most polluting industries. Through the years, more individuals have become aware of this matter and here commenced the growing interest in a more sustainable approach toward the fashion industry. One way in which consumers can play a role is by trading in second-hand clothing. Trading second-hand clothing can be done on recommerce platforms. Recommerce platforms work as a mediator between buyers and sellers of second-hand clothing. As these platforms urge consumers to participate as buyers and sellers, this can partake as a manner to increase the circular economy, to decrease the amount of textile waste that is caused by fast fashion companies. A country where the use of recommerce platforms has grown over the years is the Netherlands. However, this country is faced with an imbalance between the amount of buyers and sellers. As there are more individuals offering second-hand clothing, than buying second-hand clothing, this is not optimal for the circular economy. Therefore, the research questions to be answered in this thesis are “To what extent are individuals in the Netherlands motivated to buy and sell second-hand clothing on online clothing platforms?’ and to extend this question more in-depth “What are motivational factors for individuals in the Netherlands to buy and sell second-hand clothing on online clothing platforms?”. The thesis was performed with a quantitative approach utilizing an online survey. The findings of this thesis conclude that individuals living in the Netherlands (buyers, non-buyers, sellers, and non-sellers of second- hand clothing) are certainly willing and motivated to buy and sell second-hand clothing online. Individuals in the Netherlands have a fairly positive attitude towards buying and selling second-hand clothing. However, this attitude can be improved by stimulating certain motivations such as recreational, economic, and critical, as they have proven to be significant in this research. Additionally, the buying and selling intention can be increased by assuring individuals have a positive attitude towards the behavior, a positive subjective norm, and a high perceived behavioral control. By creating campaigns with these motivations incorporated, it would persuade individuals to participate in trading second-hand clothing. This would increase the circular economy and eventually decrease textile waste.