“When you shop second hand, as well as saving money, you’re also saying ‘enough is enough, I care about waste, and I care about climate change”

Jo Spolton, CEO Rumage

‘I used to be a professional sailor and I’ve been in the middle of the ocean, thousands of miles from land, and I’ve seen islands of plastic caught in the seas. The biggest one is between California and Hawaii, and it’s called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and it’s three times the size of France – the world’s biggest ocean waste repository, but not the only one. There are 5 such islands around the world, carrying billions of pieces of floating plastic waste and it kills many thousands of marine animals every year. Sea plastic is only one issue but it brought the problem home to me. Pollution, energy use, the mining of rare materials, manufacture, transportation all contribute to the environmental crisis. It is no news that it is running away from us. The one thing we can all do to help reduce waste, reduce emissions, save resources is buy second hand – that’s why I set up Rumage in the first place.

Choosing to buy things second hand is one of the most environmentally conscious things you can do. Every bit of furniture given a new life, every bit of tech re-sold, every tool re-sharpened and used again keeps one from being made. And it keeps one out of landfill.

 “I wanted my children to grow up knowing that as consumers they have a choice. Fast fashion, our disposable economy, always buying new is unsustainable. Buying second hand means less resources being used up, less energy, less manufacturing, less shipping, less landfill. The choice is ours.”

Jo Spolton, CEO Rumage

Making second hand first choice

When we launched in 2020 we were very clear about one thing: if we want to make second hand first choice, it’s got to be easy. That’s why we’ve invested so much in our search engine. It’s super smart and it searches all the top second hand stores all at the same time.

It’s something like 50 million items across 31 partners (latest count!). Ebay carries millions and millions of second hand items, so does Shpock, so too does Gumtree. And with rumage, you search all these results from every single store, all in one go. So if you’re looking for a new dress you’re not just searching the thousands of dresses on Depop. On one webpage you’re searching the combined tens of thousands of dresses on Depop, Vestaire, Preloved, Preworn, Oxfam, Ebay, Gumtree, Shpock and more. So you have a much better chance of getting the dress you want. and if you’re after computer or gaming console, you get to search all the usual sites plus real specialists like Dell Refurbished, Macfinder, Stone Refurb…that’s how we are making second hand easy. And once you start using our filters you can get really specific, and very local. We want to make second hand as easy as going on Amazon or Compare the market or Skyscanner.

‘I want to make second hand a viable first choice for more people. It’s the one thing we can all do about the environmental crisis. Because buying second hand is not just about saving money – it’s about saving the planet”

Jo Spolton, CEO Rumage