Bridgend mum starts online shop to sell her daughter's second-hand clothes

A mother from South Wales has started an online enterprise to sell her child’s preloved clothing after buying second hand for years.

Julie Trott from, Llangeinor, Bridgend, who has always bought second hand clothing for her daughter Rae, has taken the leap and started her online endeavour ‘Rae-cycle’ after sporadically selling her daughters clothing online.

In the midst of the climate crisis, she hopes it will deter people from fast fashion options. 

“I’ve never done it for financial gain, but it’s been such a godsend being able to buy second hand clothes for her,” she told ITV Wales. 

“I want to encourage people to recycle their clothes because it’s amazing… I’m grateful to those people who were selling second hand because I was able to buy them for my daughter.”

Rae, who is on the neuro-developmental pathway, has reduced hours in school which means it is important for Julie to be available for her care. 

Julie formerly worked as an early years practitioner, and now hopes that being self-employed will give her more free time to look after her six-year-old daughter. 

According to the Office for National Statistics, the average cost of clothing went up by just under 2% to the year leading up to June 2024 and 7.2% in the year before.

Julie said: “In this day and age, it’s more cost effective [to buy second hand]. Children grow so fast, and it reduces the amount of waste that ends up in landfills.

“It reduces the need for clothing production.”

According to data collected by The Round Up, an organisation that champions sustainability and green living, between 80 and 100 billion new clothing garments are produced globally every year. In addition, 7% of the total amount of waste in global landfill space is made up of clothing and textiles. 

Julie hopes her enterprise will see a change in people’s attitudes towards purchasing preloved apparel. 

“Years ago, it was frowned upon to buy second hand clothes, but I always have and I’m trying to show people that it’s okay.

Julie will be selling Rae’s clothes on Ebay, which has the highest level of usage among UK second hand shoppers in 2024, according to the eCommerce database.

“I’d rather brag about buying second hand clothes, at least I’m doing something that’s helping.”

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