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Purpose
The study examines how the perceptions of Indian international students towards second-hand clothing change after coming to the UK under the lens of acculturation.

Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative approach was employed through semi-structured in-depth interviews with ten current Indian international students from varying academic backgrounds and levels at the University of Edinburgh.

Findings
The findings illustrate a definitive impact of acculturation on Indian international students’ motivations and barriers towards SHC in the UK. Further, the study proposes a framework that illustrates the role second-hand shops play in an Indian International student’s UK experience at the intersection of SHC motivations. This role of second-hand shops at the intersection of the motivations was never identified in previous studies.

Limitations
The main limitation is the lack of diversity in the sample. Although the concentration of second-hand shops in Edinburgh is moderate compared to other UK cities, the insights from considering only the University of Edinburgh students might vary for Indian International students in other UK universities.

Practical implications
Retailers in the UK are becoming attentive to catering to ethnic minorities. Given the massive surge of Indian international students in the UK, the study provides implications to retailers in catering to Indian international students.

Originality/value
This work is the first to study the SHC of international students under the lens of acculturation. Further, this study is the first to use Aladegbaiye et al.'s (2022) acculturation motivation in an international learning environment (ILE) to study motivations and barriers to consumption. Previous studies on international students’ consumption did not consider the ILE that these students operate in. This consideration is crucial as the ILE is more academic and international than the host culture.