Over the past five years, the resale revolution has moved from the fringes of fashion into the mainstream. What started as quirky peer-to-peer platforms for clearing out closets has grown into a multibillion-euro industry, attracting luxury groups, venture capital titans, and millions of shoppers who see pre-loved clothing as both savvy and sustainable.

The numbers are striking. According to ThredUp’s 2025 Resale Report, the global secondhand apparel market is projected to hit $367 billion by 2029, with the US alone accounting for nearly $74 billion. Online resale, fuelled by the likes of Vinted, Vestiaire Collective, The RealReal, and others, is expanding even faster, reshaping how consumers value clothing and how investors bet on fashion’s future.

Vinted: Europe’s runaway success

When Vinted launched in Lithuania in 2008, co-founders Milda Mitkutė and Justas Janauskas were targeting young women who wanted to swap clothes with friends. Seventeen years later, under the stewardship of Dutch CEO Thomas Plantenga, Vinted is Europe’s resale juggernaut.

In 2024, Vinted reported €813 million in revenue and €76.7 million in net profit, a rare feat in a sector where losses are still common. The company, now active in more than 20 markets, raised €250 million from EQT Growth in 2021, and secondary transactions in 2024 valued it at around €5 billion. Backed by EQT, Accel, and Insight Partners, Vinted is expanding into logistics through its in-house courier service Vinted Go and experimenting with fintech services via Vinted Pay.

Sellpy: H&M’s green gamble

Sweden’s Sellpy, founded in 2014 by Michael Arnör, Oskar Nielsen, and Philip Gunnstam, takes a different approach: it does the reselling for you. Users ship unwanted clothes to the company, which photographs, lists, and dispatches them. That full-service model is costly, but fashion giant H&M Group, has seen enough promise to buy up the majority of the company in stages since 2015.

Today, Sellpy operates in 24 European markets. Its 2024 turnover reached about €160 million, up 35% year-on-year, though the company remains loss-making. For H&M, the investment is strategic: betting on circularity to future-proof a business that still depends heavily on fast fashion.

eBay: the original resale powerhouse

Long before “circular fashion” became a buzzword, eBay was the marketplace where vintage handbags and secondhand sneakers found new homes. Founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar, the platform still dominates in scale. In 2024, it generated $10.3 billion in revenue on a gross merchandise volume of $74.7 billion.

Today, about 40% of that GMV comes from refurbished or pre-loved goods, according to eBay’s own recommerce report. With 134 million active buyers worldwide, it remains the backbone of global resale, though newer entrants have carved out niches with slicker interfaces and stronger sustainability messaging.

The RealReal: luxury resale’s slow climb

When Julie Wainwright founded The RealReal in 2011, she promised to build trust into secondhand luxury through rigorous authentication. The company went public in 2019, raising around $300 million, but struggled with high costs. In 2022 Wainwright stepped down, leaving longtime insider Rati Sahi Levesque to take over as CEO.

Now the San Francisco-based platform is showing signs of a turnaround. In Q2 2025, it reported $165 million in revenue, narrowed its net loss to $11 million, and posted positive adjusted EBITDA. The model remains US-focused, with a mix of online consignment and high-end boutiques in New York and Los Angeles.

ThredUp: mass resale with a tech twist

California-based ThredUp, founded in 2009 by James Reinhart, Chris Homer, and Oliver Lubin, has positioned itself as the “Amazon of thrift.” The company not only runs its own marketplace but also powers resale for brands through its Resale-as-a-Service (RaaS) model.

After going public in 2021, raising $168 million, ThredUp has been working to streamline operations. In Q1 2025, it posted $71 million in revenue with improving margins. The company has refocused on the US market after selling its European subsidiary, Remix, in 2024.

Vestiaire Collective: luxury meets activism

Paris-based Vestiaire Collective, founded in 2009 by Fanny Moizant and Sophie Hersan, has become synonymous with high-end resale. Under CEO Maximilian Bittner, the platform now serves over 70 countries and has courted both luxury consumers and sustainability-conscious millennials.

Investors have piled in. In 2021, Vestiaire raised €178 million from Kering and Tiger Global, followed by another €178 million from SoftBank and Generation Investment Management. In 2024, it turned to community crowdfunding to involve its customers as shareholders. It has also taken a bold stance by banning ultra-fast-fashion brands, positioning itself as the ethical choice in luxury resale.

Other major players

Poshmark, founded in 2011 by Manish Chandra, was acquired by South Korea’s Naver in 2023 for $1.2 billion. The platform has since leaned into advertising and live shopping, and according to reports, has returned to profitability.
Depop, beloved by Gen Z for its streetwear-heavy aesthetic, was snapped up by Etsy in 2021 for $1.625 billion, cementing resale as a core part of mainstream e-commerce.

The bigger picture

For investors, resale platforms are now a serious asset class. Global private equity groups like EQT and Tiger Global, luxury houses like Kering, and tech conglomerates like Naver and Etsy have all bet billions on recommerce. Some platforms, like Vinted, have proven they can scale profitably. Others, like The RealReal and ThredUp, are still fine-tuning their business models.

But the direction is clear. Resale is no longer just a thrift-store alternative; it is a central part of fashion’s future, sitting at the intersection of consumer demand, sustainability, and investor ambition. The wardrobe of tomorrow, it seems, is as much about trading as it is about buying new.

Million-Dollar Industry - The Finance of Resale