Platforms & Apps

20 Recommerce Brands, Marketplaces, Platforms

ThredUp, the online consignment store, estimates global resale revenue will surpass $350 billion by 2027, up from $177 billion in 2022. Resale is catching on as many large retailers adopt circular business models to promote environmental sustainability and offer shoppers quality goods in a challenging economy.

Here is a list of sites focusing on recommerce — “reverse commerce.” There are resale sites from brands, marketplaces for used goods, and platforms to build branded resale sites.

Branded Resale Shops

Patagonia’s Worn Wear accepts used Patagonia clothing and gear in good condition. It provides customers with a credit of up to $100 per item, whether or not it sells, to use at Patagonia retail stores, WornWear.com, and Patagonia.com. Patagonia was an early proponent of resale. Worn Wear launched in 2013 at Patagonia pop-up events and became a permanent program in 2017, powered by resale technology provider Trove.

Home page of Patagonia Worn Wear

Patagonia Worn Wear

Ikea Buy Back & Resell launched in 2021 and became permanent in 2022 as part of the company’s effort to become a circular by 2030. The Buy Back & Resell service lets Ikea members sell back gently used Ikea furniture in exchange for store credit. The furniture is resold in the store’s “as-is” section.

Lululemon’s Like New program expanded nationwide on April 12, 2022 (Earth Day). Lululemon piloted the program in 82 stores in Texas and California. Run through Trove, the program allows customers to trade in used Lululemon clothing in exchange for an e-gift card to be used at its retail stores, online, or Likenew.lululemon.com. The program reinvests 100% of profits to support Lululemon’s Impact Agenda, including making all products with sustainable materials by 2030.

REI’s Re/Supply is a used gear program for members, who can trade in used items online, in-store, or at REI’s Re/Supply stores. Eligible trade-ins will receive 10%-40% of the original price in the form of an REI gift card. REI estimates that buying a used product avoids 50% of carbon emissions from manufacturing.

Home page of REI Re/Supply

REI Re/Supply

Rejuiced, from Juicy Couture and powered by Recurate, is a peer-to-peer resale marketplace that allows Juicy Couture customers to sell their used clothing and accessories directly through Juicy’s ecommerce site. Users submit their own product photo, description, and price for each item, which is then authenticated and approved by Juicy Couture to appear on the resale page. Once a buyer verifies the item’s condition, the seller is reimbursed with store credit.

Athleta Preloved is a partnership between fitness brand Athleta and ThredUp. The Preloved option on the Athleta website links to the Always Preloved platform, where shoppers can find a range of gently used and discounted Athleta products. Trade-in participants earn Athleta credit for eligible items that sell in the listing window. Unsold items are reused, responsibly recycled, or returned to the owner.

Conscious Closet from Bergdorf Goodman is a new program for extending the useful life of customers’ luxury goods. The program has five primary focuses — edit, repair, alter, resell, and give back — leveraging a network of strategic partners and the retailer’s in-house services to assist clients at each stage. For the resell portion, Bergdorf Goodman is partnering with Fashionphile, a platform for buying and selling ultra-luxury, pre-owned accessories. The partnership offers customers circular services by enabling personal shoppers to facilitate the selling of clients’ luxury products in exchange for Bergdorf Goodman gift cards.

Home page of Bergdorf Goodman's Conscious Closet

Bergdorf Goodman: Conscious Closet

Hanna-Me-Downs is a new partnership of kids apparel brand Hanna Andersson and Archive, a provider of customized resale marketplaces for brands. Hanna-Me-Downs is a peer-to-peer marketplace that allows customers to buy and sell pre-owned Hanna Andersson clothing through a verified platform. For the launch, Hanna Andersson offered sellers an incentive to redeem 125% of their sales via a gift card on HannaAndersson.com or receive a cash payment.

Canada Goose Generations is the recommerce platform powered by Trove for Canada Goose, the performance luxury outdoor apparel maker. Building on the brand’s mission of making quality outerwear, Generations keeps long-lasting Canada Goose products in circulation, giving them additional life via trade-ins while supporting the brand’s Sustainable Impact Strategy of minimizing waste.

(re)Wear Good, a new program from shoe company Toms in partnership with ThredUp, offers gently-used shoes and accessories. The resale program is part of Toms’ environmental efforts. Customers wishing to resell items on Toms’ resale platform can request a free clean-out label via the company’s website. Based on the items, sellers will get an e-gift card to use at Toms.com.

Home page of Toms (re)Wear Good

Toms (re)Wear Good

Resale Platforms

ThredUp is a resale-as-a-service vendor that enables brands to run clean-out programs and resale shops. Brands can provide customers with clean-out kits to turn gently used clothing and accessories into shopping credits. ThredUp handles the processing, from onboarding to single-SKU pricing and order fulfillment.

Reflaunt is a resell technology service for brand-powered circular models wherein customers can resell items. Brands can join the Reflaunt distribution network or launch their own recommerce platform.

Archive helps brands launch customized resale programs and build circularity into their business models. Archive offers custom peer-to-peer storefronts, in-store and mail-in take-back programs, and second-life programs for in-house inventory. Archive integrates with repair, upcycling, and recycling partners, as well as nonprofits for clothing donations.

Home page of Archive

Archive

Trove began as a peer-to-peer platform but pivoted to offering resale services to brands. Those services include pricing, trade-in programs, integrated storefronts, systems integration, analytics, and reverse logistics for resale programs at scale. Trove provides sustainability metrics at the item level and powers the resale sites for Patagonia, Lululemon, and Canada Goose.

Recurate was launched in 2020 to make resale easier for brands and customers. Recurate supports three resale models: a peer-to-peer resale marketplace, a take-back program to receive inventory from a seller and ship to a buyer, and brand supply to resell returns and imperfect merchandise. Recurate has a customer service team to approve listings, resolve disputes, and more. The platform integrates with Shopify, BigCommerce, and other ecommerce tech vendors.

Poshmark is a social peer-to-peer marketplace for new and secondhand goods for women, men, kids, pets, homes, and more. Poshmark states it has 80 million registered users across the U.S., Canada, and Australia, with more than 200 million items for sale. The marketplace features easy listings, virtual shopping parties, PoshPost for pre-paid and pre-addressed shipping labels, and Posh Protect for buyers. All orders of $500 or more are eligible for Posh Authenticate. Poshmark recently launched Posh Shows, a social-shopping live-stream service.

Home page of Poshmark

Poshmark

The RealReal, launched in 2011, is an online marketplace for authenticated luxury resale and consignment. The company also has 12 retail locations in the U.S., and, according to its website, 32.5 million registered shoppers all told. The RealReal authenticates and prices consigned items; sellers can earn up to 85% of the selling price. The RealReal has launched sustainability partnerships with luxury brands Stella McCartney, Burberry, and Gucci to support biodiversity and reforestation.

Fashionphile is a reseller of pre-owned luxury handbags and accessories and an exclusive recommerce partner of Neiman Marcus. Fashionphile offers sellers full buy-outs on nearly every item, with immediate payment processing after the item is authenticated. Fashionphile offers free shipping and returns and “Reserve Luxury Layaway” to buy an item via installments.

Depop, a subsidiary of Etsy, is a social resale marketplace for clothes with a diverse community of sellers. Users can follow friends and favorite influencers on trends and styles. Price negotiation is a feature of Depop with its streamlined Make Offer option, which previously took place informally via direct messages. Depop charges sellers a 10% fee on sales.

eBay launched in 1995 and is now in 190 markets globally with approximately 1.8 billion live listings. eBay’s first sale was a used laser pointer, and recommerce remains central to the company’s sustainability impact goals. eBay recently acquired Certilogo, a provider of authentication tools to increase consumer trust in brands. Its eBay Ventures division has invested in Sideline Swap, a new and used sports equipment marketplace, and The Volte, a peer-to-peer platform for luxury dress sharing.

Home page of eBay's Sustainable Commerce

eBay Sustainable Commerce

Sig Ueland
Sig Ueland
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