Resale growth is not a trend, it is a structural shift.
Resale is no longer the niche corner of fashion that it once was. It has become one of the fastest growing engines of value in the industry.
In 2025 the US secondhand market grew nearly four times faster than the wider clothing market, and the global secondhand market is expected to reach 393 billion dollars by 2030, according to the ThredUp Resale Report 2026. But this growth story does not begin on resale platforms. It begins inside brands, long before a garment reaches any secondary marketplace.
The resale economy is expanding because consumers are buying differently and valuing differently. Yet up to 44% of returned garments never make it back on sale (eCommerceNews, 2024). That is value lost for brands and a missed circular opportunity for the industry.
This is where the shift begins.
Resale is accelerating, but the root problem starts earlier
Luxury resale is value-led: 73% of The RealReal’s shoppers say value is the number one reason they shop the site, according to The RealReal’s 2024 Luxury Resale Report. Meanwhile, branded resale channels continue scaling. Platforms like Archive and ACS are now enabling brands such as The North Face and Pangaia to operate their own controlled resale ecosystems with integrated cleaning, repair and fulfilment services.
At the same time, industry giants like eBay are investing heavily in pre-loved events and curated resale experiences, including a dedicated “Pre-Loved Fashion Week” in New York and London. The market is expanding rapidly.
So why are brands still losing value?
Because most resale losses happen before resale begins.
The real challenge is not resale. It is returns.
Returns have grown into one of fashion’s largest operational blind spots.
Industry benchmarks show:
- Return rates are commonly put at 20 to 30 percent online and around 10 percent in store (Roichman et al., 2024).
- A significant percentage of these garments are perfectly functional but not sale ready.
- Without cleaning or conditioning, they get written off or liquidated at a fraction of their value.
This is not only a financial issue. It is an experience issue. It is a sustainability issue. It is a circularity issue. In other words, the first bottleneck in circular fashion is not recycling: it is preparation for resale.
Returns are no longer just a cost centre. They are circular inventory waiting to be recovered.
The new competitive advantage is recovery speed
The resale economy rewards brands that turn inventory faster. The faster a product goes from customer one to customer two, the higher the recovery rate and the lower the operational cost.
The question for brands is now obvious.
How many more of your garments could be resold if they were simply cleaned?
The market is moving. Consumers are moving. Resale platforms are scaling. What is missing is the operational bridge inside the brand.
Whether you are a brand, a retailer or a partner in the circular fashion ecosystem, let’s talk about how garment conditioning can protect your revenue, reputation and sustainability goals.
Contact us to see how easy it can be.
( About the author )
Joanna Lambert
CEO & Co-Founder, Opera Garment Solutions
Joanna Lambert is CEO and co-founder of Opera Garment Solutions, which recovers returned, damaged and unsold clothing for fashion brands across the EU and the UK from hubs in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Spain. She writes on the EU destruction ban and on what returned stock is worth when it goes back to sale.