Target ThredUp website
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Target reseller is returning to secondhand sales through an agreement with ThredUp.
The Big-Box retailer confirmed on Friday that it had launched a page on the Threadup website in late March that included a list of women’s and children’s clothing, including accessories. Some items come from Target’s personal labels, such as the children’s clothing brand Cat & Jack, or its limited-time designer collaboration, such as one with Lily Pulitzer in 2015, and others from luxury brands that aren’t usually sold by Target. All ThredUp’s inventory is curated by Target.
A company spokesman said Target was in an “experiment and learn” phase with Threadup. He declined to share the financial terms of the contract. Threadup also declined to comment.
This is not the first time that Target has partnered with ThredUp, an online consignment and Thrift store. Target was launched – and then closed – in 2015 for about six months of testing. This allows buyers to receive target credit for softly used items that ThredUp intended to resell.
A Target spokesperson said the company has decided to re-partner with Threadup in the interest of customers towards price and sustainability. Target’s new webpage has been labeled as a beta test on ThredUp’s website. It has about 400,000 pieces with prices up to 90% off.
The partnership fits Target’s larger sustainable initiatives, including Target Zero, a new label in store and online that refers to refillable, reusable or compostable designed products or packaging. The retailer recently turned a San Diego-area storefront into its first net-zero energy store by adding huge corporate solar panels.
For retailers, resale is a way to get ahead of General Z and millennial shoppers who enjoy the “hidden treasure” and the green side of affluence, says Ashley Helgans, an equity research analyst who follows the sector for Jeffrey. Through secondhand purchases, those younger consumers can build friendships with new brands and decide to shop directly from the original seller, he said.
For Threadup, attractive deals with retailers are a growing, but highly fragmented way to expand its reach in the industry and sell inventory more quickly, Helgans says. It competes with other players, including RealReal, eBay, Pushmark and Depp.
ThredUp has also entered into profit-sharing agreements with retailers such as Walmart and Medwell, which are cross-listing items on their own websites.
Helgans said the previous test of the target may have come too early. In 2015, according to Jefferies, the resale market was about $ 1 billion. It has now risen to an estimated 15 15 billion in 2021 and is expected to triple to $ 47 billion by 2025.