The Benefits Of Secondhand Clothing

Have you ever wondered to your clothes once you donated them? Probably not, since you gave them away you are hoping that someone else likes them as much as you did. Is it possible that selling secondhand clothing can hurt a country 's economy? The Global Trade of Secondhand Clothing isn’t a new thing, we have all donated old clothing to places like the Salvation Army, Goodwill and other charities. You would think that donating your clothing is better than throwing it away, but at the same time donating clothing can have a negative impact. Even if you donate it doesn’t mean it will also be donated companies have to make money so they sell them. What happens to the clothes that cannot be sold, the ones that are ratty and worn? Wholesalers

The selling of secondhand clothing or ‘oboni wawu ’ in Ghana has only negative affected the country. Employment in textile and clothing has fallen by 80% between 1975 and the 2000s (Rodgers,2015). It seems strange that the selling of secondhand clothing can have such an effect on a country 's economy. Here in the U.S, everyone has bought secondhand clothing but at the same time the buying for the clothing hasn’t put a dent in the economy. It is almost parallel to what happened in the past, jobs disappeared in order find cheaper ways of making things. In the US, many clothing factories shut down or moved overseas leaving many unemployed and in Africa markets are selling used clothing in the effect many jobs have been lost in the clothing industry. The biggest difference, the clothing that we buy is brand new and no one has worn it whereas in Africa, they are buying the ratty, unwanted used clothing. "The long-term effect is that countries such as Malawi or Mozambique or Zambia can 't really establish or protect their own clothing industries if they are importing second-hand goods," says Andrew Brooks from King’s College (Kermeliotis,2013). The problem is there isn’t a way for the companies to compete with the second-hand trade especially if they come in at such a high volume and are sold cheaper. In order to protect their nation’s textile industries many African countries have banned the import of second hand clothing (Kermeliotis,2013). The clothing industries aren’t able to compete with the used clothing market because it is sold for