The Resale Edit: Rolex Certified Pre-Owned - What Every Brand Should be Watching

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Let's Talk Resale

Trove Inc.

34 episodes

9 months ago

In 2022 alone, there were 150 billion new garments produced to clothe a world of only 8 billion. 90% of that ends up in landfills. No question, the fashion industry is hurtling toward a reckoning. Here at Trove, we intend to learn, unlearn, and relearn so we can inspire our peers, the industry, and our youth that as a collectively conscious body, we can achieve growth without growing our emissions.

Let’s Talk Resale is a foundational series that considers the emerging landscape of resale also known as recommerce. We follow Andy Ruben - Founder and Executive Chair of Trove - as he dives deep into the trends shaping the circular economy.

Each episode’s theme will address key issues that brands face when adopting a recommerce platform. We’ll interrogate the nuances of sustainability and discuss the implications of recommerce for brand control. You’ll hear key anecdotes from brands with resale models that are already thriving, such as REI, in addition to a bottom-up approach, where we interview several members of Gen Z, and gain insight into the future consumer.

To capture the fast-paced weekly news in the resale industry, we have an episode every Tuesday, The Resale Edit, that highlights the key trends and takeaways for brands and their teams which is hosted by Trove's Head of Content, Samantha Dersarkissian. Subscribe to the accompanying newsletter here.

This series is a tour de force that will educate, inspire, and offer insight into Trove’s product and vision. While targeted to thought leaders and luxury executives, all listeners will gain a robust understanding of the state of recommerce. Along the way, you'll come to face the inevitable choice fashion brands must make to stay relevant in the 21st century.

Looking for more resale content? Check out www.trove.com

All content for Let's Talk Resale is the property of Trove Inc. and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

The Resale Edit: Rolex Certified Pre-Owned - What Every Brand Should be Watching

Let's Talk Resale

7 minutes

2 years ago

The Resale Edit: Rolex Certified Pre-Owned - What Every Brand Should be Watching

J. Crew launched its resale program, J Crew Always, with Thredup’s Resale as a Service (RaaS) last week, well-timed to be announced at NRF’s Big Show. Given the existing Madewell program with ThredUP, it wasn’t surprising to see J Crew enter resale in this way.

According to WWD, “The J. Crew items already listed on ThredUp are not part of the J. Crew Always initiative.” Historically it has been a marketplace limitation to pull in thousands of items already listed on the branded resale site, often degrading the brand given the wide range of item conditions. This program seems to be a significant step forward to designate only some of the items as fitting branded resale.

Second, segmented inventory allows J Crew to sell in select stores. According to a Retail Dive article, “the 40-year-old brand is leveraging its longevity with ‘J. Crew Vintage,’ a curated collection for men and women to be sold at select stores, including two in New York City.” It is a smart move for J Crew as it provides a reason to visit a physical store and leverages store traffic to create awareness of the online program.

Similarly, Depop launched a collection in combination with Tommy Hilfiger. No bells and whistles to call out but worth noting as more brands are looking to capitalize on the shift to secondhand.
RaaS programs have come a long way in recent years with more customizable storefronts and now more segmented inventory. However, brands need to remember even with these steps, and it is far from a branded experience. In the end, J Crew Always will operate on the same technology as ThredUP, constrained on brand choices such as product title, description, search, and markdowns which optimizes ThredUP, not the J Crew brand. Additionally, at some point, all brands will need to own their customers and keep a competitor from sharing sales data for a significant and growing channel.

The New York Times started their piece, Rolex Now Has a Resale Program. The Watch World Quakes, “There is a saying in the high-end watch trade that there are only two kinds of watchmakers: Rolex and everyone else.” It’s an excellent article for anyone in the resale space. Rolex is not only instructive for the watch category, but the high-end watch category is instructive for fashion, luxury handbags, ready-to-wear, outdoor gear, and footwear companies. There are learnings here for how to view items, even if many are aspirational.

Rolex Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) validates the secondhand market for many customers and undoubtedly increases the value of every new Rolex sold–as a product becomes an asset. By enforcing CPO standards, Rolex will also drive up the secondary price of these timepieces, furthering the quality of the brand–i.e., CPO Rolex will sell at a premium, which is a good thing for Rolex.
Finally, HBR published an article, How Sustainability Efforts Fall Apart; an excellent read for anyone in a larger brand organization working on resale. I listened this morning as Max Bittner, CEO of Vestiaire Collective, answered a question about the metrics his investors watch as a B Corp. Max’s straight-faced answer was GMV, Revenue, and Net Profit. The audience gasped as he didn’t mention CO2, Water, etc.

I agree with Max’s answer and...