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Thanks to increased consumer consciousness around sustainability, the circular economy, and fair labor, resale has become fashion’s hottest sector—and brands want in. But scaling and making resale profitable isn’t easy, and with increasing competition in the space, it’s only going to get harder. 

Then there are new shopping and buying models entirely, such as Stitch Fix’s human-and-algorithm-personalized recommendations, and Rent The Runway’s subscription rental concept, to compete with.

At surface level, Shein and Depop are polar opposites, but this is more about the what and the how of their business models. Diving deeper, we see that both Shein and Depop address a similar who and why. Both Shein and Depop meet the same underlying consumer needs for trendy, cheap fashion.

California e-tailer Revolve did $499 million in sales last year but spent $531 million on returns, after accounting for processing costs and lost sales. The number does not account for the retailer also covering the shipping costs of returns. Revolve declined to comment on whether it’s working to resolve this discrepancy.