Why Archive is pushing its partner brands to participate in Secondhand September
Archive is hoping to drive secondhand sales via special promotions throughout the month of September.
The platform, which powers branded resale for companies including The North Face and New Balance, is working with more than a dozen brands on limited-time deals for Secondhand September, a campaign started by the U.K. charity Oxfam in 2019 to encourage the donation, reuse and recycling of clothes. Archive first participated in Secondhand September last year and has since doubled participation from brands, according to co-founder Ryan Rowe. Archive is offering its deals in the U.K., U.S. and online.
Archive launched in 2021 and offers a few different avenues for resale, including take-back and peer-to-peer programs. The company raised more than $24 million in funding rounds as of 2022, and it brought on 23 of its now 50 resale partners in 2023.
Still, branded resale is still relatively early as an industry, Rowe told Modern Retail. By working with major brands like Dr. Martens, Ulla Johnson, Diane von Furstenberg and M.M.LaFleur on Secondhand September promotions and activations, Archive aims to raise awareness of branded resale and the types of services it offers as a business partner.
Archive, as a platform, is usually invisible to the consumer; its branded resale sites look and function much like regular retail sites. But with Secondhand September, Archive is building its profile along these brands. Archive is giving brands the technology to facilitate secondhand sales in stores and online, and it’s advising brands on which types of Secondhand September promotions might be best for them.
“These moments are very important for us and for the brands,” Rowe said. “For [branded resale programs], there’s only a couple of times a year where you can get a really organic lift: Earth Month and this. [Secondhand September] is an excuse to talk about your values as a brand and being proud to play a role in that. We’re seeing more and more [interest], and I imagine the trend will continue.”
Archive’s partners offer different Secondhand September deals depending on their needs. Some, like Maje and Sandro, curate collections of secondhand items in their stores during the month. Others, like Marimekko and Faherty, offer online specials like free shipping on pre-loved items or extra credit for listings that sell.
Christy Dawn, which launched its secondhand program Christy Dawn Regenerates with Archive in March, ran a two-week deal for Secondhand September this year. Normally, it offers sellers 100% back when their listings sell, but it upped this percentage to 120% if sellers opted to receive credit in the form of a Christy Dawn gift card. The promotion ran from Sept. 6 to 20.
“It’s our way to try and incentivize people to list [with us],” Sam Pick, director of e-commerce at Christy Dawn, told Modern Retail. “We’re trying to keep people in our ecosystem, and it speaks to the value of the product, as well.”
Already, business has ballooned thanks to the deal, Pick said. From Sept. 1 to 24, Christy Dawn Regenerates brought in nearly $80,000 in gross merchandise value, an 86% increase over the previous month. In addition, 300 people signed up for accounts, up 23% from August. “These results give me a lot of confidence heading into the holiday season… and continuing on with Secondhand September for 2025,” Pick said.
Resale, while still an emerging sector, is becoming more popular among shoppers looking to participate in the circular economy. ThredUp estimates the global secondhand market will reach $350 billion by 2028, and it expects online resale to account for half of all secondhand spend in the U.S. by 2025. And, as demand for secondhand items grows, resale-adjacent businesses like Paloma and Croissant are popping up to speed up and streamline the resale process.
More brands are getting involved in resale, too. Just this month, Fjällräven launched a peer-to-peer resale site in the U.S. through Archive, and in February, Carhartt expanded its resale program with Trove to include mail-in trade-in. The resale space is also becoming a hotbed for acquisitions; Trove absorbed Recurate in August, and the combined company means Trove “now command[s] over 75% of total U.S. branded resale traffic,” according to a press release.
There are a few different reasons resale is taking off, Juan Pellerano-Rendón, chief marketing officer at e-commerce provider Swap, told Modern Retail. To start, he said, resale allows consumers to participate in trends that may be fast-moving. Resale also allows customers to try out certain brands at more affordable price points at a time in which consumers are paying more attention to their budgets. What’s more, he said, “overconsumption is less in vogue.”
“Now, more than ever, consumers are aware of the carbon footprint of fashion… and resale platforms allow customers to feel like they’re contributing to a more circular life cycle of fashion,” he explained.