Luxury digital fashion retailer Net-A-Porter is now selling pre-loved pieces through a new partnership with Reflaunt in an effort to boost its sustainability efforts across Net-A-Porter, Mr Porter, and The Outnet.
“More than ever, our customers are looking for fashion that is not only designed to last, but for ways in which it can go on to be re-loved,” Alison Loehnis, president of luxury and fashion at Net-A-Porter, Mr Porter and The Outnet, said in a statement about the launch with Reflaunt.
Net-A-Porter x Reflaunt
For Net-A-Porter, the new secondhand model removes some of the backend work for the consumer. Where many platforms require the user to photograph, list and ship their own items, Net-A-Porter will handle all of that. The customer simply sends in designer clothing, bags, shoes, and jewelry for appraisal. Net-A-Porter through Reflaunt will create your digital collection, including pricing, professional photography, and shipping the items once sold.
“Reflaunt provides tailor-made resale technology solutions to fashion retailers while giving them access to the largest network of second-hand customers available worldwide,” said Reflaunt’s CEO and co-founder, Stephanie Crespin.
The seller is paid or credited to shop on the Net-A-Porter outlets once their items have sold. Store credit fetches a 10 percent incentive over cash.
The company says it’s also prioritizing designer bags—they come with an immediate store credit opportunity available before the item sells.
“We are thrilled to partner with Reflaunt and offer our customers an effortless service that allows them to resell their designer pieces with ease,” Loehnis said. “We see re-commerce as a true enabler to tap into greater product longevity by extending the lives of pre-loved purchases. This collaboration represents an exciting step in our long-term mission to drive the change at Yoox Net-a-Porter to a more circular fashion ecosystem.”
Shopping secondhand
Net-A-Porter first embraced sustainability with the launch of Net Sustain in 2019. And tapping into the booming secondhand retail market is a big next step.
Resale platform ThredUP recently predicted the market to hit $77 billion by 2026, growing 11 times faster than new retail clothing.
France’s Vestiaire Collective has also been ushering in the resale model. It’s now valued at more than $1.7 billion after recent funding rounds. Scores of secondhand platforms from high-end platforms like The RealReal to trendy pop-culture-focused DePop.
Net-A-Porter’s approach differs from the secondhand retail leaders as it sells new items first and foremost. But through Reflaunt, it’s going to position the new purchases as items with resale value back through the platform. This, it hopes, will encourage more engagement on both sides of its sales offerings: consumers will make new luxury purchases as investments they can reap the revenue from at a later date, thus feeding into its re-commerce efforts. The re-sale incentive on trade is almost always a guarantee the consumer will trade up and spend more on the purchase.
But as much as reselling is a booming industry, there is data pointing to a downside—a tendency to overconsume items deemed better for the planet, such as sustainable or recycled clothing. For this, the mantra of reduce, reuse, recycle serves as the caveat emptor: first, ask yourself if you can do without.
