There are billions of dollars of used luggage sitting in closets that will never be used again. There’s a market for used bags, but most never gets sold into it. And the reason why used luggage isn’t a bigger industry, except in niche cases, is an interesting one.
Why isn't used baggage a bigger business?
— Kumar🇺🇸 (@datarade) June 6, 2026
There are currently over 72,000 results on eBay for ‘used luggage’. That includes 5,961 results for Tumi luggage listings and 2,889 Rimowa listings in the category (that doesn’t make all of these bags real or in reasonably sellable condition, of course).
That’s a snapshot in time, not everything sells, but over the course of a year transaction volume is higher and we’re probably talking about more than $25 million in luggage sales on that platform but less than $100 million – very back of the envelope.
For bulky, mid-value items like most luggage Facebook Marketplace is probably a bigger factor. And of course there are other sites like Craigslist, and offline thrift sales. There’s clearly a real secondary market in luggage, especially for premium brand luggage like Tumi, Briggs & Riley, and Rimowa.
In total it looks like at least a $500 million – $1 billion market, maybe one-third in the United States? That compares against $43 billion for new luggage in 2025.
But there’s also probably 70 – 140 million pieces of luggage sitting unused in closets, implying a resale value over a billion dollars. Globally there could be 10 times that much. That’s just one bag per five people. Not everyone is a traveler, but that’s also the point, non-travelers may have traveled at one point but don’t really travel any longer or again but still have that bag sitting unused.
And that’s precisely the issue: there’s tremendous value in total, billions of dollars, sitting dormant. Some of the higher value individual items get resold, but most of the items are low value on an individual basis. People don’t bother going through the transaction costs (especially including effort) to learn how to sell and actually sell over $30 in proceeds, with platform costs coming out of that gross.
- Clean the item, photograph it, list it
- Answer questions from the broader internet
- Depending on the platform, meet a potential buyer
- Or pay boxing and shipping costs
- Deal with complaints
Shipping costs are going to be a significant portion of the value of the lower end of the market (and it makes sense then to buy those items locally new from Target or Costco). The Alchian–Allen theorem explains that when a fixed per unit shipping cost (or similar cost) is added regardless of quality, the higher-quality good becomes cheaper relative to the lower-quality one.
High quality wine gets shipped rather than sold locally. Apples aren’t better in Washington State than elsewhere. Oranges aren’t actually better in Florida. You get great coffee beans in the United States even though the best coffee isn’t grown here.
Reportedly U.S. households sit on 21.1 billion unused items worth about $560 billion with most used items never being sold into re-use. They sell 13.7 billion used items per year. Most consumers have bought used items while a majority have sold them.
So there’s a robust two-sided market for used items, including used luggage. But much of it is too low value to be worth the transaction costs, or to overcome option value (the notion that you might need the item some day and need to replace it, and you think of the cost as new precisely because used items aren’t high enough value to be sold much of the time).
Slow day? Ive got $20 of unopened toothpaste I cann sell you.
I’m all for selling/donating things we don’t need, but, also, don’t warranty, credit card benefits, etc. help with replacing defective bags. Also, aren’t domestic airlines in the US on-the-hook if they damage, lose your bags, like up to $4,700 (recently adjust for inflation.) See 14 CFR part 254. Montreal Convention for international.
I just throw away or donate old luggage. Not cheap enough to try and get a few bucks by reselling. Don’t frankly understand people that are that cheap or needy. Too much effort so just clean house when I want to get rid of something.
@1990 – don’t be cheap – just buy something new when it gets damaged. Luggage is intended to be damaged and protect what is inside. Those that go after airlines for harming their luggage are, IMHO, petty and cheap.
@Retired Gambler — How is actually using the benefits and protections of the various premium credit it card(s) you pay hundreds of dollars on every year ‘being cheap’? How is holding accountable those who damage your items that you entrusted to them ‘being cheap’? Sounds like you’re squandering your winnings, retired gambler….
I found there was a demand for used luggage from decorators and people wanting lightly used items for storage. Never underestimate the value of your stuff.
Can confirm. My Zuca Pro probably retains $200+ in value after several years of abuse. Replace the cloth portion for $50, get $200 or even $300 if desired.
Makeup artists love the things.
“there’s also probably 70 – 140 million pieces of luggage sitting unused in closets”
Definitely! And I think about half of it is in our house! 🙂
Some time ago, there were charities which asked for old/used luggage, not sure exactly what they did with it, but it was a way to get rid of stuff we no longer need/use, and also feel good about it. But they’re no longer around, at least in our area. So old bags just sit there, collecting dust. 🙁
Clean the item, photograph it, list it
Answer questions from the broader internet
Depending on the platform, meet a potential buyer
Or pay boxing and shipping costs
Deal with complaints
Yeahhhh…no. Not worth the hassle. I just give the old stuff away.
If my bag is good enough to sell, it’s good enough to donate. And, it’s not worth my time/effort/potential headaches (complaints) for the cash I could get.I replace my checked bag every 3 years. The bag could last me longer, but I find it easy to obtain decent enough quality (to never have a problem in 3 years) at a good price. I figure I really just rent at a bit less than $50/yr.
There is a great place for carry on bags and etc DCYF children need to leave their home and go into foster care they are given a Trash bag to back thier stuff in.
YES GARBAGE BAGS.
They then move from foster home to foster home living out of a Garbage Bag.
thus donate your carry on bags to DCYF so they can have kids move to a foster home with a little respect.
I have a couple of pieces of original Tumi Alpha – a packing case and a 2 wheel garment bag. Used maybe 2-3. times. Listed on FB Marketplace. We’ll, in my area there are 2 more garment bags k more heavy used) and none are selling. Not interested in ebay selling. It’s not so easy as you make it sound.
tomri, I second your post about donating still-usable luggage to a charity that repurposes the bags to foster care kids. It gives them some much-needed dignity when not having to carry around their belongings in trash bags. We recently cleared out some of our no-longer-needed luggage and donated to a local charity that supports foster care kids as well as women’s shelters. They were thrilled to get our older Travelpros that were still in decent condition. Ditto for backpacks. Giving these away was a lot more meaningful to us than making a few bucks in resale.
I always buy used Tumi luggage. If it gets damaged, I care less than if it were new.
Old luggage can find a use as storage. However, I think I have a system that reduces buying luggage. One of my large pieces of travel luggage is a travel backpack put inside of a military style duffel bag. It is harder to throw and has seemed to fare quite well. The backpack can be pulled out and put on with the duffel bag folded and strapped on. My other large piece of travel luggage is a Samsonite softside suitcase. It is a two wheel one so there is less chance of the wheels getting damaged. It will be replaced soon due to wear from many trips.