All the opportunities behind reselling

Reselling is great for customers, companies and even for the planet

Consumers across all generations are willing to spend more for sustainable products. It doesn't matter if they are new products or second-hand ones. In this context reselling used items is becoming a more and more interesting opportunity.

The great thing is that this activity is not limited to consumers as companies can do it too. Let's find out about some of the benefits.

The many benefits of reselling

1) Benefits of reselling for people who buy pre-loved fashion

The main reasons why reselling is beneficial for anyone who wants to have a fashionable closet are two:

• They can get access to designer clothes at a fraction of the cost: Reselling makes it possible to get designer clothes at a reasonable price, which is especially important for customers in countries with higher prices and taxes, or for students, and those who can't afford the price of the new products.
  
  
• They can find unique and vintage items that are no longer available in stores: Reselling gives people access to old collections, limited edition pieces, as well as vintage clothing that has been hard or impossible to find otherwise.

2) Benefits for people who want to resell fashion items

The world is populated by a very high number of people whose closets overflow with clothes that have never been used or are still in excellent condition. These people can benefit from reselling because:

• It's a great way to make some extra money: Reselling can be a great side gig to make some extra money, as many resellers end up making more than they expected. People don't need to have any marketing skills: reselling doesn't require any previous knowledge about fashion or retailing.
  
  
• It is in line with the eco-friendly trend: Many people are willing to reduce their ecological footprint by changing their behaviour, even when it comes to purchases. Reselling helps these people to create a circular economy and to reduce the amount of waste they produce.

3) Benefits of reselling for companies

Companies can resell their items too, and this is a great idea under many aspects. For example:

• Reselling gives more control over the second-hand market: The second hand market is threatened by counterfeiting. Consumers often don't have the certainty that the product they are buying is original or fake, while companies until now cannot intervene in the second life of their products. However, brands that deal with the direct reselling of their products are able to cut counterfeiters out of the market and guarantee the authenticity of the products to the buyers. By adopting digital product authentication, brands can actually gain back some control over the resale of their products, even on third party market places, which we will explore later in this artcile.
• It provides an additional revenue stream: Companies can resell their old collection or used products at a lower price, still making some profit
• It helps to get rid of excess stock: As said before, reselling is a great way to get rid of items that haven't sold in stores or online, instead of destroying them. This saves money and reduces a brand’s environmental impact.
• Reselling can help companies improve their image, gain visibility, and attract more customers: It helps companies reach out to a wider audience, more attentive to sustainability. It's also an excellent way of creating brand loyalty and building trust with customers.
• It improves waste management: reselling clothes helps to reduce waste, thus reducing the cost associated with waste management and disposal.
• Reselling allows companies to reuse materials and reduce their ecological footprint: It helps reduce the negative environmental impacts associated with the manufacturing and distribution of new clothes, including water consumption, energy use, and gas emissions.

The benefits of reselling

How to start reselling your old items

If you want to sell your used fashion item, you can start with flea markets, garage sales and thrift stores. However, today many online marketplaces help you reach a broader audience and increase your chances to sell. Some of these reselling platforms are Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Poshmark, Depop, and apps like Vinted or similar. 

To resell on the online marketplace, you will need to create an account, upload photos and descriptions of your items, and determine the prices. You can also search for reselling groups on social media platforms or join reselling communities like a reseller collective where you can find tips and advice from more experienced resellers.

What companies can do to resell their second-hand products

Companies can resell second-hand items on existing online marketplaces or create their own reselling platform. This could be a great way for them to benefit from this activity without depending on third parties.

If they want to sell products owned by their customers, they should give them the option to sell on the property platforms. Otherwise, they should start a take-back scheme to collect the garments in exchange for incentives.

In any case, a key hygiene factor for resale strategies is to implement a digital product authentication system that enables a product to certify that a product is original and in a good state. This is particularly important for luxury brands, who must protect their customers from scam resellers and fake products. Brand's that use Certilogo's platform put instant authentication into the palms of their consumers hands, and give them the power to certify the authenticity of their purchases when the want to sell them in future, which makes them easier to sell and for a higher price than un certified products. The unique aspect of Certilogo's solution is that it enables brand to not only authenticate their own products, but also to intercept and deal with fake products. As consumers connect to authenticate they can also engage with brand content, services and experiences, directing consumers to the most relevant resale platform and make it easy for the consumer to resell their products.

In conclusion, the reselling market is here to stay and it can represent an incredible opportunity for both customers and companies both from an economic and an environmental point of view. Digital innovations certainly contribute to giving a big boost to this phenomenon. Therefore, in the future we will certainly see further interesting developments.