UK Families Spend Less on Halloween as Second-Hand Costume Demand Climbs

Some Halloween costumes now sell for as little as £1.50 at UK charity shops, as families cut spending on one of the country's biggest seasonal celebrations while demand for the holiday keeps growing.

The shift is measurable. A survey cited by the BBC found 36% of shoppers planned to celebrate Halloween this year, up from 27% in 2025. Businesses told the broadcaster earlier this month that Halloween has become more important than Christmas for some attractions and retailers.

Yet the spending boom has a counter-movement. Parents are increasingly turning to costume swaps, second-hand outfits and homemade creations rather than buying new each year, according to families interviewed by the BBC in Coventry and Birmingham.

What does this change for household budgets?

For parents, the savings are concrete. Mandy Thomas, a mother from Birmingham, said multiple Halloween occasions per child — a school event, trick-or-treating and a friend's party — pushed her to find cheaper routes.

"I figured out really quickly that I needed to cut costs where I could when Halloween came around," she said. "They didn't want to dress up as the same thing every time."

A friend pointed her to Facebook groups where people swap or sell costumes cheaply. For specific characters, she searches eBay or Vinted. The result: "I usually spend a quarter of the original price," she said.

That's the practical frame for readers. A costume that retails at £20 costs her roughly £5, and with multiple dress-up occasions per child each October, the annual saving compounds quickly across a family.

The second-hand market also answers a waste problem. Many costumes are worn only a handful of times before being packed away, which makes swapping and reselling a natural fit for parents who want value without discarding barely-used outfits.

Charity shops have prepared all year

Charity retailers saw the demand coming. At the RSPCA charity shop in Coundon, Coventry, manager Ellya Hayden said staff set aside sellable costume donations throughout the year to prepare for the season.

"We know that at Halloween and Christmas there's going to be lots of buying going on, and people prefer to cut costs by shopping in charity shops," she said.

Pricing is aggressive. Some costumes sell for as little as £1.50, Hayden said, and items still in their original packaging are often priced at about a quarter of their retail value — the same discount ratio Thomas reports on resale platforms.

"It's really important to reuse and recycle costumes. We try to repair items where we can so they can have multiple lives," Hayden said. She added that kids coming into the shop get excited, and there's always someone who needs a last-minute costume.

The DIY route: old tights and cereal boxes

A third option costs almost nothing. In Coventry, Adele Harrison runs workshops through her not-for-profit organisation Cov Cloth, teaching children and parents to turn unwanted textiles and household items into Halloween costumes, decorations and accessories.

"Our Halloween workshops are especially popular," she said. "Young people have a great day and leave with homemade Halloween treasures, including accessories, costumes and decorations they've made themselves."

Families pay to attend the sessions, but Harrison stressed the methods work at home for free, using old tights, cereal boxes and unwanted clothing.

"Our message is: before heading to the shops, use what you already have," she said. "Get creative, save some money and let your children see how brilliant they are."

She acknowledged the framing isn't purely financial on the day. "The families may not necessarily see it as a money-saver on the day, but the practices we promote are money-saving creative habits," Harrison said.

The so-what for retailers and resellers

The pattern matters beyond family budgets. If a rising share of the 36% of shoppers celebrating Halloween buys second-hand or makes costumes at home, growth in seasonal spending flows increasingly to charity shops, resale platforms like eBay and Vinted, and community workshops rather than mainstream costume retailers — a reallocation the RSPCA shop's year-round stocking strategy is already built to capture.