The Modern Day Realities of Fashionable Sustainability

With so many opportunities for online communication in today's world, it is hard to decipher what is worth investing your time into. And especially in the world of buying and selling where there are so many different outlets for content, there are many choices for user participation. One particularly interesting and new option for online retail is Depop. In this post, I'll introduce this platform and discuss some of it's specific facets that make it unique as well as some ways that people use it that make it unique.

Depop is one of the first platforms that allows young people to explore entrepreneurial paths and build a following around selling their unworn clothing. It is creating a home for young users and sustainable resale. Not only is it simple and safe, it is ethical and becoming increasingly popular as many people discover the environmental strain of fast fashion. It has been described by many as the crossover between Instagram and eBay, which I think is fairly accurate and gives a good idea of how users interact both by purchase/sale and by 'liking' or commenting on items. 'Depop-ers' as they have become known can be followed by other users and every account has a 'feed' much like Instagram showcasing the pieces being sold. Additionally, depop has a 'featured' page with popular posts and pages which helps smaller accounts to grow and sell more. A larger following or higher quality pictures can increase the sellers chance of selling their items, but truly anyone can participate in the basic functions of the app, and that's what makes it so unique and accessible.

So what is the purpose exactly? Why not just use Instagram to show off your styling and eBay for selling? Well this platform seems more familiar and accessible to its target market. And while it is a great new place for buying and selling items (mostly clothing; a great majority of which is thrifted or altered) many also use it as a platform for fashion inspiration from people who dress like them. Because often times the specific pieces being sold have been styled into an outfit for the picture posted, it is an ideal resource for fashion specific content. Along with this aspiration aspect, Depop is unique in the way that people are able to build an entire brand around their Depop shop. One example of this is Bella McFadden aka 'I-Girl' as she has named herself online. Bella is in a unique position of being one of the first people to gain a massive following and eventually a successful brand branching out from Depop. She started by just selling her own clothing that she no longer wore, but she moved on to purchasing things from thrift stores for the specific purpose of her shop and reselling them. Soon, Bella started designing her own products and distributing only through Depop. She now has a large following on Instagram, YouTube and more and has been hailed as the 'Queen of Depop'. She has created a whole new platform of creators whose brands are all based in this versatile app.

So how easy, exactly, is this tool? This platform is incredibly simple which aids in its popularity. It's as easy as snapping a picture of the item you want to sell, posting it with a description and a price and shipping it off when you get a buyer. The app itself is integrated with PayPal (which has a security protection promise for its users), so it is incredibly safe, which is another selling point for a younger audience. If the users only exchange payment through the app, there is no way to get scammed out of a product or out of your money. Like I mentioned before, it functions a lot like Instagram, meaning that there is a lot of connection between buyers and sellers, making it feel more personal than other selling apps. Once the items are sold, they don't disappear from anyone's feed, they simply state that it has been sold underneath the picture. In this way, depop establishes itself as more than just a selling platform. Because of its easy and safe operations, it can be used by anyone for personal use, to get rid of old pieces, to get new unique pieces, or to try to live a more sustainable life and change their views on the idea of ownership. It can also be used for businesses or people looking for monetary gain in a growing market. A majority of the style influencers on depop are based in modern street fashion, so the whole platform is mostly known among those familiar with the style, but ultimately, it is for anyone. Many influencers not specifically tied with the fashion industry also use the platform to sell old clothes, which can be marked up as people want to feel closer to their favorite influencers. This trend in specific is usually used among small musical artists and many Youtubers. In this way, they incorporate a more personal interaction with their followers to create relationships and in turn, loyal fans.

People who regularly use depop often will link their shop in their Instagram Biographies and will direct people there if they post a photo in an item that they have listed. They use instagram as a supplementary tool to cultivate their following on depop.

Some pros of this platform are as follows: 1) It offers opportunities for people to find cheap alternatives to often expensive items, or items that might be rare or hard to find. 2) It is morally and ethically easier for some people to live with because it means less support for fast fashion, which is a main contributor to climate change. 3) It is easy, and safe and therefore accessible to a larger audience and one of younger gen z buyers and sellers. 4) it is a nice resource for inspiration in street fashion and unique vintage fashion. 5) It is personal and gives the buyer the ability to speak with and potentially haggle the price with the seller if it is unfair.

The short list of Cons should be addressed as well: 1) If you do not use the payment platform correctly and safely, you can get scammed out of your money or product. Often times people will target younger more naive sellers to try to get them to make payment transactions outside of the app. However, the platform is clear that if the payment is made outside of the app, they are not responsible for scamming. 2) It may be hard at first to sell any product because it requires some type of following if you are not selling the most unique pieces. 3) Obviously shipping is a hassle for everyone involved with shipping costs and the effort that has to go into packaging.

All things considered, Depop is a fine platform that is changing the conversation around online retail and giving many aspiring influencers a platform to make money.