Don't Shame Thrifting Hauls. Celebrate Them.
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Jacklyn Wells, a 19-year-old Depop seller posted a TikTok in late January showing off “the most insane thrift haul.” The TikTok quickly went negative, really negative with more than 5.9M views inciting a moral reaction that thrifting should be philanthropic not for profit. Jacklyn was called "greedy, lazy, and parasitic." I will spare you from the most aggressive comments but the controversy created quite a bit of debate on the ethics of resale.
Sophie Benson ’s article appearing this week in British Vogue , Should You Buy From A Thrift Store If You Can Afford Not To? provided a thoughtful assessment of the debate. The majority of thrift stores operated by non for profits are job creation programs and these programs expand with more demand. As Benson rightly points out, “reselling requires hours of work including sourcing, prepping, cleaning, mending, styling, photographing and posting, and any markup must reflect and compensate for that labor.”
As Benson points out, we aren’t talking about stockpiling baby formula or toilet paper for that matter. The fashion industry produces 150 billion garments EVERY year for 8 billion people on the planet. Thrift stores are inundated with donations, turning away a majority of clothing items as they aren’t able to sell thru them. There is no shortage of clothing. The more we thrift the more items we keep in use and this undoubtedly displaces some purchases of new items.
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We have massive problems in society where many can’t afford clothing and this should create outrage, and ideally support programs designed around providing clothing such as Dress for Success or Soles4Souls. But those willing to invest in the risk, work, and curation of maximizing value for clothing should be celebrated not shamed.
Glossy asked this week, Can The RealReal’s aggressive cost-cutting help it reach profitability? My favorite part of the article was the sharp question, “So how did a company that helped usher in the massive and still growing fashion resale boom end up in this predicament?” There are only a handful of successful stand-alone retailers emerged over the past 20 years and there couldn’t be a more difficult time to break out than during a global pandemic followed by a dramatic shift in the cost of capital. It’s unclear if The RealReal will reach a point of profitable growth or will eventually be a part of a larger more established luxury retailer. However, resale is here to stay and clearly creating opportunities for brands and resale platform providers who support their resale efforts.
Hanna Anderson launched their peer-to-peer resale platform Hanna-Me-Downs, powered by Archive. The storefront is prominently displayed on the main menu navigation of the mainline site and allows sellers to list items for other customers to shop. According to the company the site launched with 1,500 items with prices averaging $18-$24. This is a seemingly great fit for resale and the peer-to-peer model given the price point. I expect over time branded storefronts such as Hanna-Me-Downs will grow consumer awareness and expectations of resale.
The So What
#1 Keeping items in use longer is essential for a more sustainable future, and those who invest their time to buy and resell clothing are doing us all a service
#2 Brands should choose the right resale model for their business and Hanna Anderson’s peer-to-peer model will work well at the lower Kids' brand price point
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Until Next Week,
Andy Ruben | Founder & Exec Chair of Trove
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Jacklyn Wells, a 19-year-old vintage dealer with almost 400,000 followers on TikTok, has incited a moral debate about thrifting after sharing a fortuitous haul that she subsequently resold on her Depop storefront, Jack's Vintage. While most people were genuinely impressed — and even envious — with Wells's finds, it's also ignited a thorny discourse about access and greed when profiting from secondhand clothing.
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Should You Buy From A Thrift Store If You Can Afford Not To?
If you were considering bragging about your latest charity shop purchase, beware: an online debate is raging. It all began with a Depop seller who showed off her latest thrift haul on TikTok, before marking the pieces up on her online store. It posed the question: what are the ethics of selling a leather trench coat for £150 if you bought it for significantly less? It’s an issue that’s been branded the “gentrification of thrift”. As more people shop second-hand, the demand is higher, and therefore prices rise. When you throw in people who “thrift store flip” (buy second-hand clothes and sell them for profit), the debate and outrage goes into overdrive. One Twitter user even declared Gen-Z thrift flippers as “the landlords of this generation”.
Resale tech company Trove adds new CFO, CTO to leadership team
Trove, a company that provides resale services for fashion brands, has bolstered its executive team with two new hires: a new chief financial officer and a chief technology officer. The US business, whose technology powers the resale services of brands including Lululemon, Patagonia, Nordstrom, Levi’s, and Eileen Fisher, announced Thursday that Natalya Davick has been appointed as the new CFO. Meanwhile, Julia Cai has been named as Trove's new chief technology officer, a role that will see her lead a team delivering tech solutions and AI capabilities to internal warehouse teams and re-commerce solutions to brand partners.
Poshmark lays off less than 2% of workforce
For the resale platform, the round of layoffs stems from a need to restructure amid a variety of factors. “We made the difficult decision to reduce the size of some of our teams to better align with our priorities for the future, the current economic climate, and our return to being a private company,” a Poshmark spokesperson said in a statement, “We are incredibly grateful for the contributions of the talented people in the roles that were impacted.”
Can The RealReal’s aggressive cost-cutting help it reach profitability?
Resale company The RealReal has been in a rough spot. Last July, it announced an accelerated plan to reach profitability — which it has yet to achieve in its 12 years of existence, including in the four years since going public. Last week, in a cost-cutting effort, the company announced plans to cut 230 jobs, close four stores including two flagships, and reduce its office space. A rep from The RealReal said the recent layoffs and store closures are meant to help bring the company closer to profitability but declined to comment further for this story.
Resale platform Open for Vintage launches in US
Europe-based resale platform Open for Vintage (OFV) has set its sights on the US market, partnering with Poshmark to power its launch in the region. Through the deal, over 100,000 authenticated, pre-owned luxury items will be made available via the OFV Poshmark closet, allowing US consumers to access the platform’s services for the first time. The vintage items descend from European boutiques from Milan to Paris, OFV said, and range from Gucci handbags to Chanel jewelry.
Kids Brand Hanna Andersson Launches Its Own Resale Site
Hanna Andersson, the children’s brand known for making clothes that become prized hand-me-downs when they are outgrown, has launched an online resale shop. It is the latest is a growing number of clothing and fashion brands looking to tap into the booming resale market with their own secondhand sales operations.
Realtor Associate @ Next Trend Realty LLC | HAR REALTOR, IRS Tax Preparer
1yThanks for posting.