With close to 260,000 items listed, brand operated resale platforms are surging in popularity. I wanted to take a closer look at the reasons why as well as the platforms that are helping to power this growth, so let’s great straight to it.

The appeal of brand operated resale programs centres on a few critical points:

• Higher prices. Resale brand programs are arguably able to charge higher prices as consumers have higher confidence.

• Trust. Buyers confident in the authenticity of the items and brands as owners can streamline authenticity and listing.

• Loyalty. Consumers who resell are more likely to stay loyal to the brand as they remain engaged with the brand and purchase more products.

Why now?

The confluence of macro trends that are driving preloved marketplace growth are also at play here - cost of living pressures, sustainability awareness, the necessity to grow, and tariffs now mean that despite its challenges, this feels like a requirement in 2025. Thredup regularly list the top 100 reecommerce brands, Its fascinating to see how this list has grown with brands like Athleta, American Eagle, and H&M making up the Top 3. Putting this in the context of their firsthand or new businesses, this is still small showing the growth and headroom ahead of us.

White label platforms have advantages

Companies like Treet, Archive Resale and Trove provide white-label resale service platforms for brands.

These customisable white-label platforms are re-imagining how brands approach resale, offering tailored solutions that integrate smoothly with existing e-commerce systems. These platforms provide a seamless way for brands to introduce resale options while maintaining their unique look and feel, ensuring a consistent brand experience. By leveraging advanced technology and logistics partnerships, they handle the complexities of reverse logistics, including intake, inspection, refurbishment, and resale, reducing operational burdens. With data-driven insights, these platforms enable brands to optimise resale strategies and better understand customer preferences. This shift supports sustainability efforts, as it allows brands to extend product lifecycles and reduce waste, aligning with growing consumer demand for eco-friendly shopping options. Brands can tap into the profitable resale market without heavy upfront investment, as seen with companies like Portland Leather Goods, which generated $2 million in resale revenue in in 10 months working with Treet. By offering features such as store credit, these platforms can help increase customer loyalty and retention, while also giving brands control over pricing and the customer experience. We’re also seeing successful businesses, like (Re)vive, emerge to focus on returns resale with similar advantages for brands.

You could get all of this from doing this yourself. But these platforms have an edge. They are typically more cost-effective, faster to market, easier to scale, and lower risk.

What’s next… will branded resale hit 50% of the market?

This growth is not going away. If anything, it’s likely to accelerate given the very latest impacts from tariffs. In the U.S. resale fashion will more than double in size to reach $44 billion by 2028. And it will grow over six times faster than the broader retail clothing market (Thredup 2024 Report).

The question is more around the market dynamics – 20% of the market is branded resale programs. Internal appetite and external factors will play a role with more regulation a possibility in Europe and the internal appetite of brands playing a key role in spite of governmental policy in other regions. Patagonia has an objective to hit 40% of its sales in resale.

The short of it – this surge is just getting started and is poised to keep growing. 

Until next week.