Second-hand goes digital: a systematic literature review of consumer motivations and barriers in online resale platforms

The rise of online second-hand marketplaces marks a significant shift in the future of retail and consumption. Second-hand trade has re-emerged as a digitally mediated practice embedded in broader transformations toward circularity, digitalization, and post-ownership consumer models. This study presents a systematic literature review of consumer motivations and barriers in online second-hand commerce, examining how attitudes, perceptions, and evaluative factors shape engagement with these platforms. The review shows that consumers are motivated by economic savings, sustainability concerns, operational convenience, and identity expression, while facing persistent barriers related to product and seller uncertainty, psychological discomfort, and platform-related constraints. These coexisting motivations and barriers highlight structural and cultural frictions in the transition toward more circular and hybrid retail models. This paper contributes to debates on the future of retail by clarifying the mechanisms through which second-hand commerce challenges traditional hierarchies of value and ownership. It also highlights the limits of platform-mediated markets in advancing genuine circularity. We conclude by proposing a research agenda addressing ethical, cultural, and systemic questions emerging from this rapidly expanding domain.