Over the past couple of decades, it’s been interesting to watch the change in how people buy and sell used goods. When I was younger, it mostly meant trips to thrift stores, wandering through garage sales, or flipping through the classified ads in the newspaper. Now it’s a whole ecosystem—mobile apps, local Facebook groups, and online resale platforms. It’s not just more convenient. It’s changed how used goods move around, how value gets recaptured, and probably even how much ends up in the landfill.
Personally, when I decide to part with something that still has some value, I’ll usually try to sell it first on a digital platform like Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace. We recently sold a couch this way. It was straightforward, and someone was happy to pick it up. The nice thing is that if it doesn’t sell, there are still options—you can donate it to a thrift store or give it away locally. It’s not a dead end.
Even the process of giving things away has changed. It used to be pretty normal to leave something at the curb with a “free” sign and hope for the best. Now I’m part of a few local Facebook groups where people give things away directly to each other. I’ve found those work especially well for items that thrift stores might not take, but that still have some life left in them. Most things go through a few of these steps before they’re ever considered waste.
Overall, there’s more use of digital tools, but they coexist with strong in-person habits—especially here. That’s quite different from the United States, where the resale market is much more built out. There are entire platforms focused on specific niches, like fashion on Poshmark, collectibles on Ruby Lane, or even live auctions through Whatnot. Those platforms can feel more like full online stores, with shipping and payments built right in.
In Canada, it’s a bit more limited. Really, only larger centres like Toronto and Vancouver operate at that kind of scale. Everywhere else, the user base is smaller and shipping costs are higher, which makes it harder to rely entirely on app-based resale. Instead, most people end up using a mix of online tools and local options.
Garage sales are still around, but even those have evolved. They tend to be more coordinated now—larger, community-wide events that get advertised online. Even in smaller communities, there’s often an understood weekend when people will host them, like around Canada Day, instead of the one-off ads you used to see in the classifieds (if you remember those).
Of course, it’s not all positive. Apps like Facebook Marketplace make it easier to list and find items, but they also make it easier to get a dozen “Is this still available?” messages that go nowhere. There’s also a whole new layer of scams and fraud to be aware of. The old rule still applies—if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Despite all that, the overall shift has been toward keeping more items out of the landfill. The big difference now is that items aren’t just passed along through one system. They get “tested” in a few different ways—sold, given away, donated—before they’re discarded. That extra effort increases the chances that something will actually be reused.
What’s really changed is the structure of the system. Reuse isn’t just handled by centralized places like thrift stores anymore. It happens through networks of individuals, connected by simple digital tools. In a place like Saskatchewan, where local habits and practicality still matter, that’s created a pretty balanced approach. We’ve kept the in-person side of things, while adding new ways to extend the life of what we already have.
The modern resale ecosystem hasn’t eliminated waste, but it has changed how we deal with it. Instead of going straight from “I don’t need this” to the landfill, most items now go through a few more chances to find a new home. That shift—from a straight line to something more flexible—is probably the most important change of all.
