If apparel companies’ sudden embrace of used goods sounds like an about-face from an industry that has long promulgated, and profited from, the idea that shoppers must have the latest fashions, that’s right. “It made them nervous until they realized they could get into the business too. They don’t always have to sell new, new, new,” says Dana Thomas, author of Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes. The trend has even spawned its own marketing-friendly new word: re-commerce.
“In a lot of ways, our re-commerce business checks all the boxes around what we are hoping to achieve, which is providing products to more and more customers while lowering our environmental impact,” says Ken Voeller, who manages second-hand sales for REI, noting that the segment doubled for the recreation cooperative last year-fueled by customers 10 or 20 years younger than its traditional member base and twice as valuable. One of them is Kevin Griffen, a 25-year-old legislative intern from Indianapolis. While shopping for Black Friday deals last year, Griffen went to Patagonia’s site hoping for a sale that might make the normally costly items more affordable. What he found was a banner on the homepage urging shoppers to buy used versions of their clothing and gear. He paid $80 for a zip-up blue sweater that costs $140 new. He received it within a week, unblemished by rips, tears or stains.
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