Buying Secondhand Online

Buying secondhand is one of the best ways to cut the carbon footprint of the products you buy. Giving new life to pre-loved items also helps tackle demand for water, raw materials and energy associated with their production.

Secondhand items are also often far far cheaper than their new counterparts, meaning that you could save significant amounts of money or buy a much better quality item that will work better and last you longer. 

Why buy secondhand

Many consumers will wear clothes only a handful times before discarding, or upgrade phones once a new model arrives, and swap out furniture or other items as soon as they show signs of wear and tear.

This fast rate of consumption particularly in richer countries is linked to major environmental and social harms. Each year the clothing industry, for example, is responsible for somewhere between 2% and 10% of all global emissions; the production of new electronics requires large amounts of rare minerals, the mining of which has funded armed conflict in the Congo; and new books and furniture fuel demand for timber products linked to unsustainable forestry.

By buying items like these secondhand you can ensure that your money is not directly funding these harms. You can also help tackle the massive amounts of waste associated with overconsumption, with for example, 85% of clothing eventually ending up in landfill.

Where to buy secondhand online

In the table below, we list 16 online retailers or platforms that either focus on specific products e.g. books, or are general retailers/platforms where a variety of pre-loved items are available. 

This list is not exhaustive, there are a lot of other online places; we have focused on the the more well-known ones.

Is it safe to buy secondhand items online?

Each year, many online secondhand purchases are completed without issue, but unfortunately like all online marketplaces, these platforms are open to scams.

Scams may be more of a risk for secondhand purchases than when buying new because you’re more likely to be purchasing from an individual rather than a reputable company.

A survey by Which? in 2024 found that online sales scams were on the rise, with one-third of all buyers on popular platforms having experienced at least one in the last two years. Depop buyers were most likely to be affected – impacting 57% of people, compared to 51% for Preloved, 35% for Amazon Marketplace, 29% for Gumtree and eBay, 24% Facebook marketplace, and 22% for Vinted.

Luckily, there are a few safeguards you can take, making problems when buying secondhand much less likely. Here we list a few things you might want to think about before making purchases. 

Buying from individuals

Many websites, such as eBay and Facebook Marketplace, and apps like Depop and Vinted essentially connect buyers with individuals rather than selling secondhand items directly themselves.

Most of these websites offer ‘Purchase Protection’. This means that the website is responsible for making sure that you are reimbursed if, for example, an item doesn’t arrive or arrives damaged. However, this protection does not apply if you go and collect the item in person or pay the seller directly, so it’s worth checking the small print before agreeing to the seller’s terms. We list websites offering Purchase Protection below, as well as giving some information about what the policies cover.

If you do pick up in person, going with a friend might feel more comfortable than going alone. 
Once there, check the item over for any defects. It’s very normal to ask to see something like an appliance working before you buy, just to make sure you’re happy with it.

Sellers should not ask for bank details like your account number when selling you items, and should never ask for you to make a direct payment to them before you’ve seen the item, unless it's through a purchase protected site like eBay or Depop. 

Buying pre-loved items from companies

When buying from specialist websites such as World of Books or Cex, you’re buying directly from the company itself. This may make the purchase more reliable, as these are all well-known brands with a reputation to maintain. (You will often also pay slightly more in return for this benefit.)

Products are sold through BackMarket by individual refurbishers, but you will never deal with them directly, and the platform guarantees the standard of the refurbishment (for example that the device has at least 80% battery health). Sellers like BackMarket and Cex even offer warranties of one year and five years respectively, meaning that they have to replace a secondhand item if it breaks within the set period through no fault of your own.

If you’re buying from another website or app that you do not recognise, such as an auction house or specialist seller, check their ‘TrustPilot’ review online. TrustPilot is a website that allows users to rate and review companies, flagging any difficulties they’ve faced, and is a good way to spot possible scams. 

Which websites offer ‘Purchase Protection’ for secondhand items? 

The following sites offer ‘Purchase Protection’ in the UK when buying from an individual through their platform. This means that if an item does not arrive or does not match the listing, the platform will investigate and should reimburse you the cost. Where individual sellers listed on the sites have their own returns policy, the Protection will likely also apply if they do not adhere to this.

Note that these policies only apply if you complete the purchase on the website; so for example, they will not apply if you pay cash when you pick up the item in person.

• Amazon A-to-Z Guarantee Protection for Buyers – You need to have reported the problem to the seller and given them at least 48-hours to respond, before launching a complaint with Amazon within 90 days of the latest possible delivery time.
• Depop Buyers’ Protection – You must give the seller 5 days to ship the item. After that, or if there is an issue once received, you can raise a complaint for 30 days. The policy does not cover bad smells in clothing, minor damage or material being different to how it appears in images. Note that if you used PayPal for the purchase at checkout, the issue has to be resolved through PayPal’s own purchase protection scheme.
• eBay Money Back Guarantee – You need to report the issue within 30 days. Note that the policy does not cover motor vehicles.
• Vinted Buyer Protection – Unfortunately, Vinted only gives you two days to report an issue, beyond which the policy does not apply.

Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree do not allow you to purchase the items directly through the website in the UK, meaning that they do not have Purchase Protection in place. It is therefore always best to purchase items in person and check them thoroughly before buying if finding sellers through these sites.

Preloved also does not appear to offer purchase protection. However, it states that PayPal’s purchase protection policy will apply if you choose to purchase through PayPal when you reach the checkout. 

How ethical are online secondhand retailers?

Unfortunately, there are major ethical issues with the companies that own some of the best-known online marketplaces for secondhand goods, such as Amazon, eBay and Facebook.

Amazon has repeatedly been criticised by workers, communities and campaigners for its exploitative practices. Workers have frequently accused the company of union busting. For example, in 2024, the UK-based union GMB took Amazon to court, alleging that the company had engaged in widespread attempts to coerce staff to cancel their trade union membership. Examples given included erecting QR codes in Amazon warehouses that generated an email to a union’s membership department requesting that their membership be cancelled, and holding hour long anti-union seminars. 

An Amazon spokesperson told the Retail Gazette that the meetings were “entirely voluntary” to help employees make an informed decision and that it had erected the QR codes to help those who wanted to cancel their membership.

Amazon also engages in aggressive tax avoidance. Ethical Consumer has been calling for a boycott of the company since 2012, and found in 2023 that nearly half a billion pounds (£433,000,000) could have been lost to the UK public purse from the corporation tax avoidance of Amazon alone.

You therefore may want to avoid these companies where possible.

Charity shops can be a great ethical alternative. In a separate article, we look at different charity shop options - including listing charities with links to animal testing and high directors’ pay, which some buyers may choose to avoid. 

Is it always more eco-friendly to buy secondhand? 

For the vast majority of items – including clothing, books and furniture – it will always be more environmentally-friendly to buy secondhand. However, this may not be the case for some electronic goods that consume large amounts of energy while in use.

Over the years, electronics, particularly household appliances, have become more and more energy efficient, meaning that a fridge designed in 2025 will require much less electricity than one manufactured in 2015.

If your main concern is the climate impacts from your purchase, you’ll want to think about both the carbon footprint from this use (known as the ‘use-phase carbon footprint’) and the carbon footprint from the item's production (known as the ‘embodied carbon footprint’).

This is particularly true for fridges and freezers, which are switched on 24/7, meaning that they are much more energy-hungry than other appliances. As a general rule of thumb, you may actually cut your carbon footprint if you replace a ten-year old fridge with a new energy efficient model, so think about this when considering whether to buy secondhand. If you do choose to buy a pre-owned fridge or freezer, always check the energy rating of the secondhand option to see how it compares to newer models. (We explain energy ratings and how to check them in a separate article.)

Likewise, using a new induction hob is likely to have a lower carbon footprint than a secondhand gas one if considered over a 20-year period.

For items like washing machines and dishwashers, though, hanging on to your old model, getting it repaired if possible, or buying secondhand is likely to be the more eco-friendly choice.

Is it more eco-friendly to collect or pay for delivery?

Historically, studies have suggested that shopping online was more carbon efficient than buying on the high-street. For example, a 2013 MIT study found bricks-and-mortar shopping to have double the carbon footprint of online shopping. Deliveries were essentially more efficient than everyone driving to and from their chosen shop, as they collated journeys in a given area.

Whether this logic also applies to buying secondhand goods, though, is less clear. Driving a short distance to collect a table yourself will likely be more carbon efficient than getting one delivered from the other side of the country. And cycling or walking to collect items will certainly be more eco-friendly. If you’re able to, ordering items to a central pickup point (e.g. a local cornershop or postoffice) will also have a lower carbon footprint than getting them delivered at home.

The vast majority of the emissions from a product, though, are very likely to be associated with its manufacture, rather than miles travelled. By buying secondhand, you’re already significantly cutting your carbon footprint – an important choice whatever delivery option you go for. 

Packaging and buying secondhand online

Many of us will have had the experience of buying the more eco-friendly secondhand option only for it to arrive in masses of plastic packaging. Unfortunately, there aren’t any easy solutions for this: none of the websites listed in this article appear to offer filters for plastic-free, recycled or recyclable packaging.

If you’re buying from an individual, you could message and ask them about this: it may put the issue on their radar, if they don’t already have a solution they can offer you.

World of Books states that it uses ”recyclable plastic packaging with a high proportion of recycled material” as well as cardboard packaging. 

Buying secondhand on the high street

If buying secondhand items online is not for you, it’s still possible to buy pre-loved items in person, through local charity shops, vintage clothes shops, antique shops and auction houses among other places. For items like bikes and cars, visiting a local shop can be a great option.