This retail sector in Costa Rica comprises about 248 importers of second-hand clothes who are now looking at the middle class market.

Although the prices of items range from $2 to $10, the large volumes handled by big chain stores make it a profitable business.

Between 2007 and 2012, used clothing imports rose by 50%, 87% came from the U.S. and 10% from Canada.

Last year alone, 21.7 million pounds of used clothes came into the country.

“The profitability of the business becomes clear when you take into account that a 20-foot container, with a capacity to transport up to 44,000 pounds of clothes, has an invoice value on average of between $5000 and $7000, according to statistics from the Ministry of Finance. That same container holds 132,000 garments which could be marketed for as much as $254,000 at weighted price”, reported Elfinancierocr.com.

“This business is like food. It will never go away because it involves goods that people will always need, even in times of crisis,” said Luis Rojas, co-owner of the American clothing importer Mavi.

For Rodolfo Molina, president of the Costa Rican Textile Chamber, these businesses compete unfairly with those who bring new clothes into the country and local manufacturers, as the law does not requires them to label their products with indications such as place of origin and manufacture, which means an additional cost for the other sectors.

Article by CentralAmericaData.com with insights from El Financiero.