Depop is widely considered to be experiencing gentrification, as the platform has shifted from a peer-to-peer secondhand marketplace to one dominated by professional resellers, curation, and inflated prices. Critics argue this trend drives up costs for vintage and thrifted clothing, reducing accessibility for lower-income shoppers and making it more of a curated fashion marketplace than a budget-friendly one.
The general consensus amongst the buyers has been that the app is alienating its initial base of consumers by contributing to the gentrification of thrift stores through poor regulation of price hikes on second-hand items, drop-shipping and frequent scamming.
Depop's 45 million users, which have tripled from five years ago, are mostly Gen Z and young Millennials. Like Payne, they are scouring Depop for cheap basics or hunting for designer deals, where they might score a pair of Supre lounge pants or a barely worn Scanlan Theodore dress.
Peer-to-peer shopping platform Depop has filed its accounts for 2024 and they show revenue jumping, although the company remains loss-making. Revenue leapt 42% to £101.6 million last year and the operating loss narrowed from £49.1 million in 2023 to £42 million this time.
One crucial aspect that needs to be considered is the Depop's algorithm, which influences how the listing will be displayed to buyers. It favors active online sellers who are always updating their listings and engaging with their followers. On top of this, the quality of listings is of paramount importance.
WHY I QUIT DEPOP & THE GENTRIFICATION OF THRIFT STORES + pros and cons to reselling w/ tips
Is Depop still good in 2025?
Depop's UK marketplace has never stood still, but 2025 is shaping up to be a particularly exciting year. What started as a niche app for vintage lovers has become one of the most influential second-hand fashion platforms in the country - with Gen Z at the wheel.
Trading on Depop means exchanging items directly with another user instead of buying or selling for money. This process is risky because Depop doesn't offer protection for swaps. Scammers often take advantage of this by agreeing to a trade but never sending their item, effectively getting free goods.
Depop also requires sellers to make their offers look more professional, which is why it's better suited for small businesses. Vinted is more transactional. It incorporates fewer categories and focuses more on a buyer experience, allowing users to make offers faster.
Hadid has, of course, shopped secondhand for years and made headlines when fans started realising that, just like us, she also frequents the resell app Depop.
The "333 rule" in clothing refers to two popular minimalist fashion concepts: the viral TikTok trend of using 3 tops, 3 bottoms, and 3 shoes to create numerous outfits (9 items total) for styling practice, and the more extensive Project 333, where you select 33 items (including clothes, shoes, and accessories) to wear for three months, excluding essentials like underwear, workout gear, and sleepwear, to simplify your wardrobe and reduce decision fatigue. Both methods focus on versatility, quality over quantity, and creating a functional capsule wardrobe.
Generation Z (Gen Z) is often labeled the "unhappiest generation," reporting higher rates of anxiety, depression, and despair than previous generations at the same age, driven by factors like intense social media use, economic instability, academic pressure, and growing up amidst global crises (pandemic, climate change) that have disrupted traditional life paths, challenging the "happiness hump" where midlife was usually the lowest point, with unhappiness now hitting young people earlier, say researchers from Dartmouth College and other universities.
Aware of this failure, Vinted was able to capitalise, placing less emphasis on aesthetic listings and curated albums, and more upon accessibility, marketing towards a more inclusive target audience and doubling down on authentic preloved (rather than overpriced and over-curated) items, hence avoiding over-saturated ...
What are red flags on Depop? Red flags include requests to pay outside Depop, unusually low prices, new accounts with no reviews, external links sent outside the app, and pressure to finalize a deal quickly.
Most fake buyer scams start with a friendly and eager message saying they want to buy your item right away. They often ask to move the conversation off the Vinted app, suggesting email, WhatsApp, or text instead. While this might seem easier, it's actually a big warning sign.
So, is Depop safe? The short answer is yes, but only when you take the proper precautions. Depop is a real and widely used platform, though the risk of scams is very real. Many issues occur when people pay outside the app or ignore the protections that Depop already provides.
The buyers are interested in upcycled items, clothing, shoes and sneakers from your wardrobe, authentic designer second-hand vintage clothes, and items in different conditions as well as sizes. Another big category that gets a lot of attention is accessories.
The "333 rule" in clothing refers to two popular minimalist fashion concepts: the viral TikTok trend of using 3 tops, 3 bottoms, and 3 shoes to create numerous outfits (9 items total) for styling practice, and the more extensive Project 333, where you select 33 items (including clothes, shoes, and accessories) to wear for three months, excluding essentials like underwear, workout gear, and sleepwear, to simplify your wardrobe and reduce decision fatigue. Both methods focus on versatility, quality over quantity, and creating a functional capsule wardrobe.
Its users skew young — mostly Gen Z and young Millennials, according to the company — and they use it to buy and sell a vast amount of product. To that end, some 400,000 items are uploaded each day.
List (and Re-List) Items Regularly. To be a really effective Depop seller, try listing a few items every day, rather than bulk listing everything once a week. New listings will show up closer to the top of Depop's algorithm, and this keeps your existing customers looking forward to new items every day.
