The Chairish Second Annual Resale Report Reveals Vintage Home Furnishings Are the New Norm

Furniture World News Desk on 9/28/2022

Chairish recently released the Chairish 2022 Home Furnishings Resale Report, marking the brand’s second annual study on the state of recommerce in the home furnishings industry. The report reveals the continued supercharged growth of the resale home furnishings market. Given ongoing global supply chain, inflation, and environmental issues, consumers across all ages and income levels have embraced resale and vintage furniture. Buying resale furnishings for the home is here to stay. 

The report found online resale is expected to grow 86% across all categories from 2021-2027. Within resale, home furnishings is the fastest growing category with $22.2 billion in estimated spend by consumers within the next five years, outpacing traditional retail by 3x. 

This accelerated growth of the resale market shows no signs of slowing down, especially as past concerns about buying secondhand have mostly evaporated, with 97% of shoppers saying there is no stigma associated with buying resale furniture. The popularity of resale home furnishings has also increased due to factors including: 

• Resale home furnishings offer better value in the face of inflation
• Vintage home furnishings unique and one of a kind style are more popular than ever
• Immediate availability circumvents supply chain drive delays
• Increased awareness of the circular economy and environmental benefits of buying pre-owned items for the home

Surging inflation prices, which have increased 15.4% year over year, according to the Consumer Price Index, are particularly impacting newly made living room, dining room and kitchen furniture. Though prices for home goods have increased at an even faster rate than inflation, Chairish found that vintage items aren’t subject to the same economic forces; the listing prices of items on Chairish have remained steady. 

Survey results from the report show 70% of interior designers are buying more vintage products today than at the same time a year ago, and 98% of designers use vintage furniture and art in their projects. 

“When we started Chairish, our focus on vintage and antique furnishings was motivated by our own personal passion for great, one-of-a-kind style. Now, nine years later, I’m thrilled to share that the adoption of vintage furniture is embraced across all age groups and demographics,” said Gregg Brockway, Co-Founder and CEO of Chairish. “Resale is the sustainable, stylish, and practical way to shop. In short, buying vintage just makes sense and is now mainstream.”

The report also highlighted a passion for sustainability as a key factor in the wide adoption of resale with 54% of consumers agreeing that shopping secondhand is good for the environment. 

Other key takeaways from the report include: 

• 82% of U.S. consumers bought home furnishings in the past year, marking a two-fold increase from the previous year. 
• 87% of shoppers plan to spend more or the same on resale home furnishings this year
• 81.3% of people are at least considering buying pre-loved home furnishings over the next year

In addition to Chairish internal sales data, Chairish partnered with Global Data, a third-party analytics firm for the research of the report. Global Data’s assessment of the secondhand market is determined through individual retailers, official government data, industry data and other sources. These inputs are used by analysts to model and calculate market sizes, channel sizes, and market shares. Additionally, GlobalData conducted a survey in April + May 2022 of 2,500 American adults over 18, asking specific questions about their behaviors and preferences for resale home furnishings. 

About Chairish

Founded in 2013, Chairish is the leading emporium where designers and tastemakers shop for exceptional home furnishings and art. Named the #1 “can’t live without decorating app” that “will change the way you shop for furniture online” by Architectural Digest, Chairish delights millions of shoppers with its expert curation of exclusive and diverse inventory, refreshing shopping experience and award-winning customer care. As a marketplace, Chairish is committed to building a more sustainable home industry that’s kinder to the planet and supports the circular economy through the buying and reselling of vintage and antique pieces. Entrepreneur lists Chairish as one of the “best entrepreneurial companies in America'' and USA Today readers named Chairish the "best place to shop online for furniture and home decor." Chairish has raised funding from investors such as Tritium Partners, Altos Ventures Ltd, Azure Capital and O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures. Chairish Inc. is the San Francisco-based parent company of Chairish.com and Pamono.com.