Savings are backalthough this time it has a technological touch.
A whole new generation has discovered the joy of rummaging through other people’s discarded clothes in the hopes of finding the perfect piece. Hoping to capitalize on this trend, companies have been adopting resale platforms, allowing them to capture some residual value while burnishing their sustainability bona fides.
If it sounds too good to be true, at least it is for now. Brand resale still has some problems to solve if it wants to transform retail.
Few companies have embraced reselling as much as Patagonia, the outdoor gear provider. Is Distressed wear The program, which started as a used clothing section in its retail stores, is now a full-fledged e-commerce site offering discounts on high-end items. For brand fans, it also gives you access to back catalog items that are no longer available. It has been a decade-long experiment showing what a future circular economy could look like.
For companies like Patagonia, reselling private labels is attractive for several reasons. The private company’s clothing has a “buy it for life” reputation and its items tend to last for years, even decades. Furthermore, for a company that has opted for sustainability, selling used clothing is a logical extension of the brand.
For other companies, even if sustainability is not a key differentiator, private label resale sites can help capture some of the value that would otherwise go to secondhand marketplaces like eBay, Poshmark, Mercari and others.
To fill Worn Wear’s virtual shelves, Patagonia pays people for their old clothes. Not as much as they could get if they sold them directly on other resale sites, but it promises to be a simpler process: drop off the clothes at a Patagonia retail store or send them by mail. treasuretakes care of the rest.
Once an item arrives at Trove’s California warehouse, a team of workers inspects and photographs it. It also compares the item ID to a database it maintains to determine if the piece is authentic. For items that cannot be identified (perhaps the item ID is unreadable), the company uses computer vision to narrow down the possibilities. Workers record descriptions of the condition of each item so that once they appear on the resale site, which Trove also runs, customers have a decent idea of what they’re buying. Since each item that passes through Trove’s warehouse has different wear patterns, they all receive unique SKUs. Partners can monitor the performance of their reselling platform through dashboards, reports, and CRM integrations.
Trove has ridden the resale wave, raising more than $150 million in total, including an initial investment from Tin Shed Ventures, Patagonia’s venture capital fund. It is not the only reselling platform that works directly with brands, but it is generally considered a leader. However, recently Trove seems to have stumbled. Its Series E round, which closed in July, added another $30 million to its coffers but also cut its valuation in half, according to PitchBook. Still, the resale company has managed to attract a dozen outdoor clothing and equipment companies to its platform, including not only Patagonia but also REI, Levi’s, Lululemon, Allbirds and others.
