Can Fashion Resale Ever Be a Profitable Business?

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. 

Resale is growing 3X faster than retail fashion.  3X—ThredUP estimates that the global secondhand apparel market will grow 3X faster than the global apparel market.  8X—in North America, it’ll grow to $82 Billion by 2025.

Online resale is growing 4X faster than offline.  ~$37 B (50% of total)—estimated share of online sales of secondhand fashion by 2024.  ~$28 B (43%)—offline thrift & donation (Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc.).

* RaaS: Offering resale-as-a-service for brands like Everlane and Madewell. They helps merchants monetize returns. As e-commerce grows, so will this channel.

If e-commerce took away the need to go to a physical store to browse, try on and buy clothes, social commerce removes the need to permanently own them. The total resale market is expected to double in value to $51 billion in the next five years, according to a report from ThredUp. Traditional retail operates on product newness and seasonality. In c... See more