While some shoppers are concerned about the threat of tariffs on clothing imports, one San Francisco-based secondhand online marketplace said they are seeing a surge in customers.
“We are at a little bit of a competitive advantage when comparing ourselves to fast fashion brands where shipping relies on their clothing from overseas,” Jack Miller, the founder and CEO of Raveival, told CBS News Bay Area.
Raveival is a website where music festival aficionados can not only buy but also sell their rave and festival outfits across the country.
“Right now, we have enough clothing to clothe the next six generations of people on this planet. So, there’s already way too much in existence. Specifically in the festival space, we’re seeing about 27 million brand new music festival outfits being purchased every single festival season,” Miller, who has a master’s degree in environmental science, said.
And that is why he launched his platform in October of 2023.
“I was really bothered by this waste inequality that we were seeing around our globe and now I’m using Raveival as an upstream approach to address the waste issue,” he added.
He hopes that his business can become a community that not only supports the rave community, but also provides more environmentally sustainable and affordable clothing.
Additionally, with the concerns of tariffs, mainly imports from Asia, Miller said he is one step ahead of the game. Although President Trump paused tariffs for 90 days, he has imposed tariffs on Chinese imports as high as 145%.
Miller said, however, that price hikes will not impact his business as Raveival is only operating in America.
“We cover the whole United States. So, anyone could be a buyer or seller if you live within the U.S.,” he said.
Miller also added that he has about 500 to 600 sellers on his site, and said there has been a recent influx in online traffic.
“Secondhand, I think, is going to have a very big surge just in general because you don’t have to pay this extra amount, we can limit the amount of waste that is happening and who says you cannot love a very cute that’s been thrifted? So I think it’s changing the mindset for people who aren’t used to thrifting,” Ivy Vasquez, a returning customer, told CBS News Bay Area.
In a time when living costs are high, Miller hopes to help festival goers like Vasquez without having to break the bank.
“Create these spaces, we can come together and have community-based experiences. It is also just getting more expensive, and when we’re constantly being pushed for fast fashion and these changing looks, I understand that these companies are trying to make their dollar, but I also think there are more sustainable ways to achieving the same goal,” Vasquez said.
Miller shared that his vision is to cultivate a space, not just for rave or music festival goers, but for all shoppers nationwide.
“We’re trying to make a community where everybody and everybody feels supported and feels like they can find an outfit that fits their body type,” Miller said. “Wear each other’s outfits and share one big community closet.”
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