Resale retail comes of age

As online resale grows in popularity, retailers are becoming more innovative within the space.

According to a recent survey of 400 U.S. consumers from resale commerce startup FloorFound, more than nine in 10 (92%) respondents already have purchased a resale item online in the past. An even higher percentage (95%) would purchase resale items from brands at a discount. In addition, eight in 10 respondents said they expect brands to deliver more sustainable options. Meanwhile, just 5% said sustainability in general was not an important factor.

Another Tomorrow – Transparent authentication
Another Tomorrow is bringing the authentication and resale process in-house. The digitally native, sustainable luxury apparel brand recently introduced “Authenticated Resale,” a program for authenticating and reselling its products. The process for the seller is consignment-based and offers both cash and store credit upon sale.

A seller can initiate the sale process by either scanning the QR code on the care/content label; or by using the Another Tomorrow website. The retailer assigns each product a unique digital identity which provides immediate transparency on its provenance and lifecycle in partnership with Evrythng, a Digimarc company.

Every garment comes back to Another Tomorrow for authentication and quality control, and is shipped through the brand to the buyer. Pricing and proceeds are designed to be transparent, with sellers able to access a dynamic estimate for each item based on stated condition, which is verified by the Another Tomorrow team upon receipt. The prices include both an estimated listing price and estimated proceeds for the seller, which the seller accepts prior to listing. 

Rebag – Digital auction block
Rebag is introducing a service called Auction. Every week, Rebag will list over 2,000 new items in two Rebag Auction cycles Members of the Rebag Rewards loyalty program are able to participate in a VIP auction, during which bidding is open exclusively to them.

Subsequently, all customers will be able to bid on remaining items in a second cycle. Following the two auction cycles, any unsold items in the collection will be available for immediate purchase on Rebag.com and at Rebag store locations. Auction participants will not have to pay any buyer’s fee.

Customers will be able to set a maximum bid and allow Rebag to automatically bid on their behalf. Shoppers who win an auction will be able to checkout as usual for 48 hours, using any form of regularly accepted payment. According to Rebag, part of its motivation for the new program is to redefine what is considered a collectible in the luxury resale space.

Dick’s Sporting Goods/Out&Back – Omnichannel partners
Dick’s Sporting Goods is diving into resale. The nation’s largest sporting goods retailer is launching an in-store buy-back pilot with Out&Back, an online platform that buys and sells new and used outdoor and adventure gear. The program will allow customers to bring select outdoor gear (including hard and soft-goods) into participating Dick’s Sporting Goods and Public Lands stores (on Fridays through Saturdays) and receive a cash payment from Out&Back.

The pilot is initially taking place in two key outdoor markets:  Denver and Pittsburgh. The amount of the payment that customers receive for their goods will depend on the condition of the merchandise. The returned will be sold on the Out&Back website.