Resale’s Fast Fashion Purge

Vestiaire Collective is stepping up a fast fashion ban announced last year, blocking 30 new brands including Gap, H&M and Zara from its resale platform.

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BOF: The privately held Vestiaire, whose investors include French luxury group Kering, said its move to ban fast fashion is more about values than profits — part of a strategy to position the business as an antidote to wasteful overconsumption.

But the focus on higher-value products does also mean more commission per sale, and nudging – or forcing – customers to list more expensive items has proven good for the bottom line at some of Vestiaire’s rivals. The RealReal changed its commission structure last year to offer lower rates for items valued at less than $1,000; mass-market platform ThredUp no longer pays out for sales of ultra-low-value brands like Shein.

Vestiaire has taken a harder line than rivals in banning, rather than simply disincentivising, the sale of fast-fashion items. But a shakeup in the sector, where profits have long proven elusive, has been a long time coming.

Read the full story on resale’s fast fashion shakeup here.

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