"Underconsumption Core" Is Driving a 40% Drop in Haul Content Views

The haul video is having a crisis. For years, the format — creator unboxes and tries on a large quantity of recently purchased items — was one of the most reliable high-revenue content types on YouTube and TikTok. Affiliate links alone generated an estimated $1.4 billion in creator revenue in 2024. That pipeline is fracturing.

Haul content views are down 40% year-over-year, according to data from influencer analytics platform CreatorIQ. The drop correlates almost exactly with the rise of a counter-aesthetic: "underconsumption core," a visual philosophy built around using items until they fall apart, buying second-hand only, and explicitly rejecting the aspirational acquisition loop that fuels haul culture.

"It's not anti-capitalist, exactly. It's anti-performative-capitalism," said sociologist Dr. Elise Yamamoto of UCLA. "People are still consuming. They just don't want to watch other people perform consumption anymore."

The Affiliate Revenue Reckoning

The financial consequences for creators who built their business on haul-linked affiliate revenue are significant. Several prominent "fast fashion" TikTokers who declined to be named told SocialSeconds their affiliate revenue has dropped 60-70% in the past year. Some are pivoting to "de-influencing" content — ironic, since the de-influencing trend itself has attracted substantial brand sponsorship dollars from slower, more premium consumer goods companies.