In our globalized society massconsumption is widespread. However there is a trend showingthat people are starting to re-use clothes instead of buying newly produced garments. Reasonsfor buying secondhand clothing are many. During the 1950s people strived to look likeeveryone else but in the 1960s this changed. Subcultures grew stronger. People wanted toseparate themselves from the masses. Secondhand clothing became a way to showindividuality. The development of secondhand clothing has been fairly slow until about 10years ago when a shift in attitudes happened.The growing awareness of the environment has contributed to the expansion of thesecondhand market. Press and media’s focus on how the textile industry has affected theenvironment has made people aware of the consequences. This has led to an increasedtransparency for the commercial companies, but it has also increased the interest forsecondhand clothing. In a society where values like individuality and authenticity has becomemore important than ever before the secondhand market fills a need. The customers’ strive tobe unique can be satisfied by providing garments that are one-off pieces.The secondhand market is yet rather unexplored. We became interested in finding out who theactors on the secondhand market are and how they run their businesses. The problem that thestudy is based upon is; What is the business model for secondhand clothing? In this study thebusiness model is defined as the way a company organizes their resources to create business.To answer our question we did a field study in Buffalo, New York State (USA). The reasonfor choosing Buffalo was that the city has an interesting economical background and arelatively large variety of secondhand shops. Buffalo lost its heavy industry during the 1960sand 1970s. Because of that, the population declined. Parallels have been drawn betweenBuffalo as a “secondhand city” and the secondhand market.The study has had a qualitative method of research. The empirical part is based on semistructuredinterviews. The selections of respondents have been chosen after type of shop toget a broad perspective. During the interviews both film- and audio recording has beenconducted, which has later been analyzed and interpreted.Theory and empirical facts were connected in the analyses. Our conclusions are that thedifferent types of shops selling secondhand clothing have got different business models. Whatseparates the business model of vintage- and consignment shops from the model of thrift- andcharity shops is that they focus on the customer when they organize their resources. Thebusiness model of thrift shops is to offer value creating processes. The customer becomes aco-producer in the consumption process.The changing attitudes towards secondhand clothing have increased the demand for usedclothes. Tendencies show that companies have started to acknowledge this and thereforeadjust their offer, store locations and promotion. Because of this thrift shops have started toapproach the business model of the vintage- and consignment shops where the customer is infocus. This change has been more evident on the Swedish market, however we think that thiswill happen on the American market as well. This shows that when garments start to beselectively chosen and sold in central locations the price increase which in turn decrease thecustomer’s part of the value-creating process. / Program: Textilekonomutbildningen

<div><div><div><p>The purpose of this project was to investigate and propose a solution to gaps identified in existing paradigms for buying and selling secondhand goods online. Through a review of existing literature, the secondhand market was explored together with the variety of reasons for individuals’ participation. Different modes of collaborative consumption and some of the challenges unique to peer-to-peer markets were also examined. A computational approach to identifying items and actions within digital media was reviewed in support of the proposed solution. Research discoveries uncovered through directional surveys, semi-structured interviews, and an analysis of peer products were summarized. These discoveries were consolidated into a list of requirements, including 1) being able to sell many items at once, 2) disbursing items quickly and with minimal effort, 3) making lower value items worth selling, 4) establishing and maintaining trust by designing for safety and encouraging quality, and 5) reducing the need for communication between buyers and sellers by managing the sale, condition, and inventory status. After multiple rounds of concept development, a principal direction based upon the “make me move” concept in the real estate industry was selected. Combined with panoramic images, the resulting solution relied on computer-driven tagging of items for sale. This allowed many items to be listed at once through a single image while making it possible for buyers to find and place offers. Offers were suggested in lieu of bids or an immediate checkout process to avoid some of the negative, bid-related behaviors and minimize the communication required to complete a sale. An interactive prototype was created to evaluate the concept and usability via online user testing, which included surveys and cognitive walkthroughs. The results were analyzed and prioritized to refine the final details of the solution. Overall, I demonstrated a unique concept for buying and selling secondhand goods which supports selling many items, efficiently and safely, while eliminating much of the back and forth communication required to facilitate transactions on many existing platforms.</p></div></div></div>

Hållbarhet är idag ett välanvänt begrepp som förekommer inom flera områden. Vad hållbarhet anses vara må uppfattas som självklart, men hur begreppet och diskursen konstrueras, är inte lika självklart. Genom att se till två aktörer, med olika ambitioner, inom andrahandsmarknaden undersöker studien hur reklam bidrar till konstruerandet av uppfattandet av hållbarhet på olika sätt. Tidigare forskning visar att medierna formar och speglar samhället och att uttryck av hållbarhet idag används som täckmantel i form av grön retorik. Den visar även att kapitalism och ekologi har naturliga motsättningar, att vi måste konsumera mindre och lära oss se ”skräp” som resurser, något som andrahandsmarknaden kämpar med att förhålla sig till. Vi undersöker i denna studie Tradera och Myrornas förmedlade budskap av hållbarhet, med bakgrund i aktörernas intressen som vinstdrivet och ideellt. Syftet är att se hur reklam inom andrahandsmarknaden bidrar till konstruerandet av hållbarhetsdiskursen. Detta genom en multimodal kritisk diskursanalys av reklamfilmer från respektive aktör.   Resultatet visar att de olika aktörernas förmedlade budskap bidrar till hållbarhetsdiskursen på både traditionella och kreativa sätt. Traderas reklamfilm visade sig uttrycka underliggande budskap av ekologi som dessvärre hamnar i skuggan av kapitalistiska och materialistiska värderingar. Myrornas reklamfilm utmanar på många olika sätt dessa traditionellt kapitalistiska och materialistiska värderingar. Dessa olika uttryck av hållbarhet utgör till viss del konstruerandet av hållbarhetsdiskursen. Det visar även att särskilda budskap kan verka ideologiskt gynnsamma och att detta är något som aktörer utnyttjar. Vi drar slutsatsen att hållbarhetsdiskursen innefattar svårtolkade budskap som samexisterar och problematiserar vår relation till ett hållbart agerande. / Modern use of the term ‘sustainability’ is broad and varies across multiple industries. The general idea of sustainability is perceived as certain, yet sustainability discourse and the pillars of the term remain fluid. By looking at two stakeholders, with different ambitions, within the second hand market, the study is examining how advertising contributes to the different ways sustainability perceptions are constructed. Previous studies show that media both shapes and reflects our society, highlighting today’s use of the term sustainability is often to “green wash” communication. Studies also shows that capitalism and ecology have natural contradictions. Second hand markets face the challenge of raising awareness to change perceptions for society's to consumer less and begin to see “waste” as a resource. In this study we examine the message of sustainability, mediated by Tradera and Myrorna, in relation to their role as profit-driven, versus not for profit organisations. The purpose of the study is to examine how advertisement within the secondhand market, contributes to the construction of sustainability discourse. This is carried out through a multimodal critical discourse analysis of commercials. The results show that the different stakeholders' messages contribute to the sustainability discourse in both traditional and creative ways. Tradera’s advertisement expressed underlying statements of ecology, shadowed by capitalistic and materialistic values. However, Myrorna’s advertisement in many ways challenges these traditional capitalistic and materialistic values. To some extent these different expressions construct the discourse of sustainability. This further highlights that ideologically specific messages could work, however this is often exploited by businesses. The conclusion drawn from this study displays that the sustainability discourse involves messages difficult to interpret, which infers parallels to the convoluted relationship of society’s aim to advance sustainable development.