Sleek concrete interiors, curated racks of unique garments, oversized sofas and statement benches. We could be describing a bespoke concept store. But there’s a catch: every item has been previously owned by someone else.

Consignment stores and shops buying and selling second-hand clothing are becoming more popular with fashion-conscious consumers who don’t want to buy new clothes from high street stores, and who don’t have the time and patience to trawl through op shops.

Seventy-three per cent of Australians are already buying pre-loved clothes, and the avenues for doing so are growing rapidly. From tech platforms like eBay and Depop, to suitcase rummages and clothes swaps, options are plentiful. And in the past decade bricks-and-mortar consignment and resale stores have been opening in major cities, challenging the way most of us perceive second-hand clothes.

Goodbyes, Swop and Mutual Muse are some of the biggest players in the space, respectively owning six, three and three locations each. Each brand’s mission is to keep clothes in circulation for longer while empowering people to sell their own.

Goodbyes co-founders, Olivia Mangan and Monique Thomas, opened their first store in 2015 on Sydney Road in Brunswick, Melbourne. “At the time, terms like ‘resale’ and ‘consignment’ were relatively new to Australia – it felt like online marketplaces or smaller high-end consignment stores were the only options,” Mangan tells Broadsheet. Now, Goodbyes is the largest resale bricks-and-mortar service in the country, and re-homed over 180,000 pieces last year alone.

The term “consignment store” used to describe sleepy, charming shops that typically specialised in vintage luxury brands and apparel for older demographics. That’s changed, so much so that when Mangan and Thomas were working on the fit-out of their third store, a stranger yelled out to them – “overpriced Vinnies!”.

Swop opened its first store in West End, Brisbane in 2013. Emma Regolini, Swop’s communications and content manager, says that in the past 11 years, “the second-hand resale market [has] become mainstream”. “With the steady rise in the cost of living, we think that this market will only grow and evolve,” she says.

Kirsta Hawkins, the founder of Mutual Muse, grew up in the United States and moved to Melbourne 12 years ago. Back home, consignment stores were common. Spotting a gap here, she started selling clothes at markets before opening a bricks-and-mortar store in 2014.

“There’s such a need for it in Australia, especially because we’re 10 years behind, say America, or maybe even 20 years behind,” adds Beth Wicks, the founder of Newtown consignment store Reunion in Sydney.

While each store’s processes vary slightly, they all follow a similar method. All stock is bought from sellers, which can be anyone from locals and stylists to students. In some cases, sellers can even post items if they’re from out of town. On a same-day timeframe, a seller brings in their goods, a staff member inspects and takes in pieces they think are suitable and sellable, and then the seller can choose between a percentage of profits (either on the spot or when pieces sell, depending on the business’s process), or accept their funds as store credit.

It’s community driven, and a win-win for whoever is pocketing the cash or walking away with a new-old piece. Jessie Norman, who co-runs the Flinders Street Station photo booth with her partner, has been selling at Swop for 10 years and goes in four-to-six times a year. She says it’s easier than selling pieces online herself.

Daniel Cumbo, who owns their own archive store, consigns at Goodbyes about once a month. "My motivation is to move things on and make way for more. I believe reselling comes naturally to people who collect. It’s [a] necessity,” they say. The most expensive item they’ve sold in a consignment store was a 1997 Comme des Garçons Robe de Chambre duvet coat for $700. “I occasionally see my pieces re-consigned. It’s cool to see their longevity and inherent value continue, even grow.”

Coveted brands at Goodbyes include Miu Miu, Blumarine and Bottega Veneta. At Swop, Comme des Garcons, Paloma Wool, Miu Miu, Acne Studios, Diesel and Carhartt are popular. Across the board, good quality wardrobe staples like vintage denim and slouchy sweaters are in demand.

For better or worse, customers tend to reflect the sellers. “I feel like some of the other stores can be very youth leaning, which is great, but the rest of us need cool clothes too,” says Hawkins of Mutual Muse. “If you’re not a really a cool inner-city 20-year-old, you can come to us. We are size inclusive as well.”

A common gripe with consignment stores is the lack of bigger sizes. As a frequent shopper at consignment stores, Brisbane-based Domi Lowik is familiar with this. As a size 16 to 18, Lowik says most places don’t cater for her. [It’s] a whole community-based issue but something I’d love to see [change].”

To combat this, Reunion (which, like Mutual Muse, has dedicated racks of plus-size pieces) connects with external businesses like Radically Soft, which runs plus-size clothing markets. “We actually set up buy-and-trade days where people come and sell to us, so we [are] able to connect directly with the plus-sized community,” Reunion’s Beth Wicks says.

The appetite for resale stores only seems to be growing. It seems that sometimes the best solutions are the most obvious: love what you wear and care for your clothes before passing them onto their next owner.

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