PRICE STRATIFICATION AND POSITIONING OF SECOND-HAND APPAREL ON UKRAINIAN ONLINE MARKETPLACE PLATFORMS
Abstract
Online trade in second-hand clothing and footwear offers Ukrainian households an additional way to adjust their consumption amid wartime risks, unstable incomes and changing budget priorities. The presentation of a used item situates it within a particular set of price comparisons and a particular tier of the secondary market. This study examines price stratification across ordinary resale, vintage positioning and brand-oriented listings on OLX, Shafa and Kidstaff during wartime. A purposively balanced web corpus was analysed at listing level. The three positioning types were associated with distinct price profiles: ordinary resale occupied the lower tier, vintage the intermediate tier, and brand-oriented listings the upper tier. This ordering persisted after product category, gender targeting and platform were taken into account. The findings provide a basis for more appropriate price comparisons as platforms can select comparators within the same product category and positioning type when generating price ranges and identifying atypical listings.
References
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Derwanz H. Clothes in affluence: Material culture studies and the anthropology of economics : habilitation thesis. Bremen : Universität Bremen, 2021.
Diachkina A. Russians destroy Ukrainian online marketplace’s warehouse near Kyiv. Ukrainska Pravda. 2026. 5 August. URL: https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/08/05/8047323/
Dissanayake K. Fashion re-commerce: A state-of-the-art review and future research agenda. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management. 2026. Vol. 54. № 3. P. 253–273.
Eggert F., Rahm I., Fuentes C. Digital platforms for circular shopping: Slowing down and speeding up second-hand clothing consumption. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research. 2025. Advance online publication. P. 1–20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09593969.2025.2516682
Fajardo R. Settling secondhand sales: Pricing symbolic items in an emergent online marketplace environment. The British Journal of Sociology. 2025. Vol. 76. № 2. P. 260–277. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.13168
Fuentes C., Hedegård L. Recirculating products: Valuation practices and the socio-material making of second-hand products. European Journal of Marketing. 2025. Vol. 59. № 13. P. 391–418.
Gu W., Luo J., Yu X., Zhang W., Li B. Dynamic decisions between sellers and consumers in online second-hand trading platforms: Evidence from C2C transactions. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review. 2023. Vol. 177. Article 103257. P. 1–16.
Hur E. Rebirth fashion: Secondhand clothing consumption values and perceived risks. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2020. Vol. 273. Article 122951. P. 1–11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122951
Kidstaff : сайт оголошень України. URL: https://www.kidstaff.com.ua/
Kneese T., Palm M. Brick-and-platform: Listing labor in the digital vintage economy. Social Media + Society. 2020. Vol. 6. № 3. Article 2056305120933299. P. 1–11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305120933299
Koay K. Y., Lim W. M., Khoo K. L., Xavier J. A., Poon W. C. Consumers’ motivation to purchase second-hand clothing: A multimethod investigation anchored on belief elicitation and theory of planned behavior. Journal of Product & Brand Management. 2024. Vol. 33. № 5. P. 502–515.
Lopushnyak G., Poliakova S., Kohatko Y., Ryabokon I., Fomenko O., Mylyanyk R. Consumer behaviour of Ukrainian households: Factors, strategies, changes under the influence of war. Financial and Credit Activity: Problems of Theory and Practice. 2025. Vol. 1. № 60. P. 522–542.
OLX : сервіс оголошень України. URL: https://www.olx.ua/uk/
Shafa : онлайн-сервіс оголошень. URL: https://shafa.ua/
Sihvonen J., Turunen L. L. M. As good as new – Valuing fashion brands in the online second-hand markets. Journal of Product & Brand Management. 2016. Vol. 25. № 3. P. 285–295.
Soloviy I. Principles and criteria of sustainable fashion in scientific discourse: A contemporary Ukrainian context. Art and Design. 2025. Vol. 8. № 1. P. 69–79. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30857/2617-0272.2025.1.5
Taylor M., White K. M., Caughey L., Nutter A., Primus A. Unique and cheap or damaged and dirty? Young women’s attitudes and image perceptions about purchasing secondhand clothing. Sustainability. 2023. Vol. 15. № 23. Article 16470. P. 1–21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su152316470
Turunen L. L. M., Pöyry E. Shopping with the resale value in mind: A study on second-hand luxury consumers. International Journal of Consumer Studies. 2019. Vol. 43. № 6. P. 549–556.
ul Hasan H. M. R., Lang C., Xia S. Investigating consumer values of secondhand fashion consumption in the mass market vs. luxury market: A text-mining approach. Sustainability. 2023. Vol. 15. № 1. Article 254. P. 1–20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010254
Williams C. C., Paddock C. The meanings of informal and second-hand retail channels: Some evidence from Leicester. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research. 2003. Vol. 13. № 3. P. 317–336.
Zharun O. V., Blenda N. O., Nepochatenko O. A., Driga A. S., Savunin O. S., Tsvyk V. V. Development of e-commerce during the war in Ukraine. Collected Works of Uman National University of Horticulture. 2025. № 106. Part 2. P. 356–363. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32782/2415-8240-2025-106-2-356-363
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