German fashion e-tailer Zalando has launched its new ‘Pre-owned’ offer in Germany and Spain today (21 September), with plans to roll out the model in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Poland next month. 

First announced in February, the move allows consumers to buy curated pre-owned fashion, as well as sell their own fashion items to Zalando.

With Pre-owned, shoppers can trade in items directly on Zalando via free shipping. To make it even easier for them to keep track of their wardrobe, the wishlist feature in the Fashion Store has also been updated. Consumers now automatically see all articles they have purchased on Zalando and can also upload items they already own, but have bought elsewhere, to trade them in with just a few clicks. After trading in their fashion items, customers can choose to either receive a Zalando gift card in the respective amount or support one of two donation partners, the Red Cross or WeForest.

All pre-owned items offered by Zalando are quality-checked and curated, while in line with Zalando’s commitment to sustainability, the company pilots plastic-free packaging for all orders from the Pre-owned category and uses recycled paper instead.

“Interest in pre-owned fashion is high and growing, especially among millennials. At the same time, customers are missing an easy and reliable service that combines it all: effortless trading in of items they no longer wish to wear, and an enjoyable online shopping experience for pre-owned fashion. With the launch of Pre-owned, Zalando is the first fashion platform to offer such a seamless solution and tackle these customer needs at scale,” says Torben Hansen, Zalando vice president of recommerce.

The retailer accepts more than 3,000 brands, including those that can be found on Zalando as well as other common brands. Items must be in like-new condition without visible signs of use. Customers can trade in up to 20 items per parcel. 

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By enabling customers to give their fashion items another life directly on the platform, the new Pre-owned offer is also an important contribution to Zalando’s do.MORE sustainability strategy, supporting the goal of extending the life of 50m items and eliminating single-use plastics until 2023. 

The Berlin-based firm said last month that despite a challenging trading environment in March, the company grew strongly and profitably between January and June.

Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) grew by 25.1% to EUR4.72bn (US$5.56bn), while revenue was up by 19.6% to EUR3.56bn from EUR2.98bn last year.