Levis, Patagonia, Eileen Fisher, REI, Arc’teryx now cleaning & reselling customer-submitted clothing in US

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Feb 6th, 2021 1:15 pm

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Feb 5th, 2021 10:30 pm

lecale [OP]: Deal Guru; Nov 15, 2008; 11727 posts; 6620 upvotes

Feb 5th, 2021 10:30 pm

Levis, Patagonia, Eileen Fisher, REI, Arc’teryx now cleaning & reselling customer-submitted clothing in US

I just thought this was really cool & think it is a really hopeful idea. US only right now, but a great way to catch a deal on someone else's past regrets.

There is a company called Trove http://trove.co that is working with premium brands to take back new & unworn or barely-worn clothing & resell it. They clean it, document any wear or issues, photograph it & put it back up for sale on subsites for each brand.

https://www.secondhand.levi.com/
https://wornwear.patagonia.com/
https://www.eileenfisherrenew.com/
https://www.rei.com/used
https://www.usedgear.arcteryx.com/

Imagine if they could handle all the stuff that is sent back to Amazon.

13 replies

Feb 6th, 2021 8:15 am

bylo: Deal Expert; Jan 7, 2002; 25285 posts; 21788 upvotes; Waterloo, ON

Feb 6th, 2021 8:15 am

lecale wrote: ↑ I just thought this was really cool & think it is a really hopeful idea. US only right now, but a great way to catch a deal on someone else's past regrets.

Great idea. Hopefully this will come to Canada soon. It's not just "past regrets." People gain/lose weight. Their interests or abilities change. Rather than fill basements or even storage units with "stuff" they'll never use again this is a great way to get it into the hands of people who will give it a second life.

One comment. I've been watching REI's used stuff website for some months. (I'd always assumed they did the cleaning/repairing by themselves so it's interesting to see that they actually outsource it.) The prices on a lot of stuff doesn't seem to be that much cheaper than new, with original warranty. I've also seen some reports from people who claim what they got had issues that hadn't been mentioned in the description. So the ability to return stuff that doesn't match the description is also important.

veni, vidi, Visa

+1

Feb 6th, 2021 9:14 am

caltran: Deal Addict; Jan 10, 2009; 2386 posts; 1666 upvotes; Boom and Bust Calgar…

Feb 6th, 2021 9:14 am

So, Value Village but online?

+2

Feb 6th, 2021 10:54 am

warpdrive: Deal Expert; Mar 6, 2003; 17051 posts; 9175 upvotes; Ottawa

Feb 6th, 2021 10:54 am

caltran wrote: ↑ So, Value Village but online?

More like Certified Pre-Owned for clothes

+4

Feb 6th, 2021 11:01 am

lecale [OP]: Deal Guru; Nov 15, 2008; 11727 posts; 6620 upvotes

Feb 6th, 2021 11:01 am

I think Value Village has a distinct smell of old smoke & cooking odours.

Feb 6th, 2021 11:42 am

bylo: Deal Expert; Jan 7, 2002; 25285 posts; 21788 upvotes; Waterloo, ON

Feb 6th, 2021 11:42 am

caltran wrote: ↑ So, Value Village but online?

Does VV clean/repair/refurbish what they sell? Do they offer any sort of warranty or return privilege? (REI for example offers both for their used gear.)

veni, vidi, Visa

Feb 6th, 2021 12:03 pm

smartie: Deal Guru; Dec 5, 2006; 11988 posts; 7067 upvotes; Markham

Feb 6th, 2021 12:03 pm

I thought those new and unworn clothes usually go to winners?

Feb 6th, 2021 12:14 pm

lecale [OP]: Deal Guru; Nov 15, 2008; 11727 posts; 6620 upvotes

Feb 6th, 2021 12:14 pm

Honestly I think people are loathe to donate stuff that they paid good money for that is still in good condition to charity. They would rather store it in case something magical happens that will let them get some money back.

You can try a consignment shop but the typical formula is they sell for 40% of full retail & they give you 40% of the selling price so you end up with $16 on $100. Then they are picky about only taking stuff that has been freshly laundered & if the item needs dry cleaning, you are doing no better than giving to charity.

Online the hottest luxury resale site is Poshmark https://poshmark.ca/ I have read a few tales of people selling on the site. One woman bought 127 pairs of shoes from an Aldo that was liquidating for up to 96% off, managed to sell 83 of them after putting in 100 hours of labour over 2 months & paying quite a bit for advertising & made a net profit of about $1,000. So, how do you look at that, $10/hr or $12/pair? This is on brand new with tags shoes & boots with MRSP of up to $180. She had a wall of boxes in her living room for those 2 months & still had 44 pairs left to go. https://www.businessinsider.com/what-it ... n-poshmark

The prices may be pretty high on the retailers that are getting into circular shopping, but at least the stuff is authenticated, cleaned & documented consistently across sellers, & they are trying to squeeze the most money out for sellers while offering a ton of service value. Gen Z does not have a problem with buying second-hand for a cut price. Trove has been around for 9 years & is just starting to gain traction.

Gold In Your Closet: The Startup Helping Patagonia And Levi’s Cash In On The Resale Boom
https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurendebt ... 24ca3a1758

Feb 6th, 2021 12:27 pm

lecale [OP]: Deal Guru; Nov 15, 2008; 11727 posts; 6620 upvotes

Feb 6th, 2021 12:27 pm

smartie wrote: ↑ I thought those new and unworn clothes usually go to winners?

Winners only takes excess inventory off of retailers, not stuff that has been delivered to customers. The companies that use Trove are willing to take back vintage items like decades-old Levi's & retro Patagonia.

Winners is in a crunch right now. In Q2 & Q3 once people realized how bad COVID was going to be, I saw people just were not buying clothing & stores were sitting on massive piles of inventory. I got incredible deals & there were lots of free shipping, no minimum offers because no one else was buying & retailers needed to unload that stuff any way they could.

Retailers place orders for new inventory about 6 months ahead, so in the middle of that they were ordering for Christmas. They were really cautious & ordered a lot less across the board. This meant when the holiday shopping season started in Q4, there was limited stock & selection & everything sold closer to full price as a result. A lot of retailers were able to sell out. That means they had little to nothing to dump on Winners.

On top of all that, Winners does not have an online store & they are considered non-essential, so they have been mostly closed. Even if they were able to get inventory, they would not be able to move it. I would not be surprised to see them close permanently sometime in 2021-2022.

Some apparel retailers won the holidays by keeping inventory lean. Now comes the hard part.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/03/the-pan ... uying.html

+1

Feb 6th, 2021 12:48 pm

smartie: Deal Guru; Dec 5, 2006; 11988 posts; 7067 upvotes; Markham

Feb 6th, 2021 12:48 pm

lecale wrote: ↑ Winners only takes excess inventory off of retailers, not stuff that has been delivered to customers. The companies that use Trove are willing to take back vintage items like decades-old Levi's & retro Patagonia.

Winners is in a crunch right now. In Q2 & Q3 once people realized how bad COVID was going to be, I saw people just were not buying clothing & stores were sitting on massive piles of inventory. I got incredible deals & there were lots of free shipping, no minimum offers because no one else was buying & retailers needed to unload that stuff any way they could.

Retailers place orders for new inventory about 6 months ahead, so in the middle of that they were ordering for Christmas. They were really cautious & ordered a lot less across the board. This meant when the holiday shopping season started in Q4, there was limited stock & selection & everything sold closer to full price as a result. A lot of retailers were able to sell out. That means they had little to nothing to dump on Winners.

On top of all that, Winners does not have an online store & they are considered non-essential, so they have been mostly closed. Even if they were able to get inventory, they would not be able to move it. I would not be surprised to see them close permanently sometime in 2021-2022.

Some apparel retailers won the holidays by keeping inventory lean. Now comes the hard part.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/03/the-pan ... uying.html

Yes, I only refer to new ones, vintage is different story, i bet someone wants to pay high price for them.

If winners have inventory issue due to less overstocked stuff, I assume trove would have same issue ? Again, i am only referring to those new stuff

But i am not convinced winners has inventory issue actually. Many cloth brands will retreat, close stores or even bankrupt, i actually think it will be a good time for them to get inventory for low price

Feb 6th, 2021 12:57 pm

lecale [OP]: Deal Guru; Nov 15, 2008; 11727 posts; 6620 upvotes

Feb 6th, 2021 12:57 pm

smartie wrote: ↑ Yes, I only refer to new ones, vintage is different story, i bet someone wants to pay high price for them.

If winners have inventory issue due to less overstocked stuff, I assume trove would have same issue ? Again, i am only referring to those new stuff

But i am not convinced winners has inventory issue actually. Many cloth brands will retreat, close stores or even bankrupt, i actually think it will be a good time for them to get inventory for low price

Winners is buying direct from retailers, & retailers do not have excess inventory anymore in 2021.

Trove is buying direct from consumers, technically used even if it has never been worn, more likely worn 1X-2X, & people have tons of stuff at home they want to get rid of. People will buy plastic tubs from Walmart & store it in their garage before they give it away for free. Trove will give them money so they will let go. I do not think there are any really good options for reselling post-consumer clothing right now so Trove fills a big hole.

I still think Winners (& TJ Maxx) are going to die a hard death. Trove is just so much better for everybody. It is not in Canada yet but the retailer cutbacks on inventory held & more full retail prices/fewer clearances are definitely happening here now.

Feb 6th, 2021 1:02 pm

smartie: Deal Guru; Dec 5, 2006; 11988 posts; 7067 upvotes; Markham

Feb 6th, 2021 1:02 pm

lecale wrote: ↑ Winners is buying direct from retailers, & retailers do not have excess inventory anymore in 2021.

Trove is buying direct from consumers, technically used even if it has never been worn, more likely worn 1X-2X, & people have tons of stuff at home they want to get rid of. People will buy plastic tubs from Walmart & store it in their garage before they give it away for free. Trove will give them money so they will let go. I do not think there are any really good options for reselling post-consumer clothing right now so Trove fills a big hole.

I still think Winners (& TJ Maxx) are going to die a hard death. Trove is just so much better for everybody. It is not in Canada yet but the retailer cutbacks on inventory held & more full retail prices/fewer clearances are definitely happening here now.

I see

Probably I misunderstood what you said

"There is a company called Trove http://trove.co that is working with premium brands to take back new & unworn or barely-worn clothing & resell it."

I thought it meant buying from vendors

Feb 6th, 2021 1:11 pm

lecale [OP]: Deal Guru; Nov 15, 2008; 11727 posts; 6620 upvotes

Feb 6th, 2021 1:11 pm

smartie wrote: ↑ I see

Probably I misunderstood what you said

"There is a company called Trove http://trove.co that is working with premium brands to take back new & unworn or barely-worn clothing & resell it."

I thought it meant buying from vendors

Sorry, should have been more clear, this is 100% post-consumer clothing that is being returned to the brand by customers. It can be pre-worn, vintage with wear patterns on it, or even new with tags. True recycling.

Feb 6th, 2021 1:15 pm

smartie: Deal Guru; Dec 5, 2006; 11988 posts; 7067 upvotes; Markham

Feb 6th, 2021 1:15 pm

lecale wrote: ↑ Sorry, should have been more clear, this is 100% post-consumer clothing that is being returned to the brand by customers. It can be pre-worn, vintage with wear patterns on it, or even new with tags. True recycling.

That sounds good

Surprisingly no such thing in Canada. Canadians are actually very environment friendly

+1

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