While the price tags on their favorite brands of clothes can lead shoppers to disappointment, there’s another option where people can wear the designers and brands they like. Second-hand clothes are considered a good business that became common among families of limited income, with many women adhering to used clothes of known fashion designers because they can’t afford to buy them firsthand.

For Saudis, however, used clothes are not for sale (or purchase), but for charity. Many pack their old garments, drive them to charitable societies and organizations like the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), where they donate them to the needy in different parts of the world.

Businesswoman Asma Al-Zahrani says that the Saudi used clothes market is an attraction to limited-income expats working in the Kingdom. “The market is crowded with used European items as well as shops and toys. Any person can buy their needs of good-quality products that come in reasonable prices that are way cheaper than their price in the brand new market,” Al-Zahrani told Arab News.

Used clothes have a high competence as they can help customers save money. With the price of one new piece in the regular market, customers can now buy several used ones which can help direct their finances to other domestic issues.

Majed Abdullah, a shop owner, says that this market has become a very popular trend in many countries in the world. “Countries with high production allocate marked bags in different neighborhoods for people to donate their excess clothes. These bags are then collected and sent to charity institutions which in turn sell them to merchants to sell mostly outside the country,” Abdullah explained the process. He noted that when his shops or other local shops received the products to sell, they receive two kinds of clothes, ones that were used by the original owners and others that were never used and still hold the tag. “The second kind we call ‘Sell’, and it comes in higher prices,” Abdullah added, saying that this kind of clothing has its own customers while others prefer the low-price materials.

Nariman Mohammed said she would never buy from the used clothes market. “I can’t wear these clothes even if I see the tag that suggests that its new,” she told Arab News. “The mere feeling that someone might have used this piece makes me never want to buy it,” she said, explaining that she can buy new designs in affordable prices in Saudi markets.

However, Saudis have more tendency to buy old products, as long as they are not clothes. Shop owner Khaled Ali said that Saudis are more keen on buying used furniture and electronic home appliances rather than used clothes.