A secondhand Christmas: How the cost of living crisis means business is booming for one ‘up-cycling’ charity

More than half (52%) of consumers are turning to second-hand shopping this Christmas to reduce expenditure during the cost-of-living crisis – and for one furniture ‘up-cycling’ charity, business is booming.

A study by GoDaddy found as consumers row back on spending, almost two-thirds (62%) say they more likely to “upcycle” items they already own instead of buying them brand new.

Upcycling is the process of transforming unwanted products into items of perceived greater quality and the study found clothing (48%), furniture (46%) and furnishings (33%) are the most popular items being refurbished.

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However, rather than always looking to do it themselves, 46% of people prefer to hire a professional to breathe new life into their belongings.

Charity RECOVER – a social enterprise that specialises in teaching vulnerable adults the skills of furniture upcycling – has seen a 30% year-on-year increase in turnover as customers seek its services, visiting its workshop to learn how to refresh their items.

It works with materials either donated or reclaimed from the local area.

When the pandemic first hit, with lost footfall to their workshop showroom, the charity seemed on the brink of folding.

“We initially worried that we wouldn’t be able to weather the storm, but we soon started seeing an uptick in online sales and customers contacting us to get ideas while they were stuck at home and looking to keep busy,” co-owner Holly Brunsden told Sky News.

“People are maybe making do with what they have and changing it themselves,” she added.

“Certainly sales of paints and the number of inquiries that we receive have increased, but also people want to know they are buying quality and they want to support smaller businesses.”

For Ms Brunsden – who learned to sew on her grandmother’s machine, and learned carpentry in her grandfather’s workshop – one of the most memorable upcycled items was a camelback Victorian sofa.

“I was speechless about how beautiful it was,” she said.

“It was in pinks, and purples and tropicals, velvet and it was an absolute triumph. And everything she learned, she learned here, which gave us all a massive buzz.

“And it was a thing of beauty.”

Ian Block added: “The cost-of-living crisis has given people more awareness of not only reducing waste but also how older items are often better quality, one-of-a-kind pieces that have their own story.

“We’ve seen a nervousness about buying new, so much so that September and October have been our best months on record for sales since we started 10 years ago.”