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H&M launches U.S. resale platform with ThredUp to cut fashion waste

By Jeannette Neumann Bloomberg

Bloomberg

H&M is launching a resale platform with ThredUp, as global apparel companies try to make a dent in the clothing waste they produce and seize on a potential new source of revenue.

H&M will start its first resale platform in the U.S. market, H&M Pre-Loved, on Tuesday with around 30,000 items of used women’s and kids’ clothing and accessories on hm.thredup.com. The Swedish apparel company, among the biggest in the world, is the largest retailer to sell used clothing and accessories via ThredUp’s resale platform. ThredUp is already working with several dozen other brands and, since the beginning of the year, has launched resale programs with J. Crew and Kate Spade, among others.

“We need to take responsibility for the impact fashion has on climate and the environment,” Abigail Kammerzell, head of sustainability for H&M North America, said in a statement. Business models such as this can help “reduce and limit this negative impact, while continuing to deliver fashion and style for our customers,” she said.

While the resale of used apparel helps companies bolster their green credentials and diverts some items from the landfill at least temporarily, it’s too soon to say whether the programs will ultimately lead firms to produce less clothing because of a decline in demand for new goods.

For companies such as H&M, it can be easier and less costly to use the existing technology and logistics of resale platforms powered by ThredUp and its competitors, rather than creating a service on their own. “Resale-as-a-service” is a source of revenue for ThredUp in addition to what it earns selling used items on its own marketplace website. ThredUp doesn’t disclose how much revenue it generates selling its business model.

H&M didn’t reveal its forecast for potential revenue from the sale of its used items. Many companies that have launched resale platforms recently have said that initial revenue is likely to be minimal but that it will grow over time as the market expands.