Goodwill Hunting #06: how aggregation theory applies to resale fashion

* 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.

As shoppers divest from retail and shift to secondhand, they must commit to building something better. Rather than disengaging from secondhand shopping, they should instead engage with the industry more: use their position in this space—their access and ability—to help create opportunities that benefit all people in the secondhand supply chain. Bec... See more

The secondhand industry is complex and opaque, and many consumers, even secondhand consumers, lack understanding of how most charity thrift stores function in our current society. Charity thrift stores have been around for centuries. The secondhand clothing industry has long been marketed to consumers as a form of charity but it has always been a b... See more

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. 

Because aggregators deal with digital goods, there is an abundance of supply; that means users reap value through discovery and curation, and most aggregators get started by delivering superior discovery.

When we look back over the past 100 years, traditional commerce (and the culture it indirectly endorsed) was primarily curated by a single person’s point-of-view. Even when commerce moved online, to places like Amazon or Farfetch, retailers still controlled the types of things consumers purchased. Online commerce didn’t innovate a new shopping expe... See more