Recommerce (reverse commerce) is the buying and selling of used or pre-owned products for reuse. It is an emerging trend among independent retailers and small businesses, especially as consumers increasingly prioritize sustainability.
What Is Recommerce? 2025 Small Business Guide
This article is part of a larger series on Retail Management.
Recommerce offers a promising business model that caters to both budget-friendly shopping and the growing demand for environmentally responsible retail options. This introductory guide will walk you through the essentials of recommerce and explore how it can benefit your business and customers.
How Does Recommerce Work?
Recommerce entails selling used or pre-owned products—anything from electronics to fashion and furniture. It can leverage various sales channels, including online marketplaces, brick-and-mortar stores, social media, and peer-to-peer commerce platforms.
Essentially, the goal of recommerce is to resell items that are in good condition, contributing to the circular economy and reducing waste. As sustainability becomes a priority for many shoppers, recommerce is a practical solution for businesses looking to meet these demands.
From 2022 to 2023, brand adoption of resale programs increased by 3.4 times year-over-year on the online consignment platform ThredUp. According to Statista, the US recommerce market was worth over $200 billion in 2024—about $60 billion more than in 2020. It’s predicted to increase to nearly $292 billion by 2029.
Types of Recommerce
Recommerce can take many forms, and you can choose to specialize in one or more of the following business models:
Business-to-Consumer (B2C) Recommerce
In B2C recommerce, businesses sell used or refurbished goods directly to consumers. This is a super common business model for recommerce. Examples could include used car dealerships, thrift stores, and refurbished laptops and smartphones.
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Recommerce
P2P recommerce involves individual consumers selling items directly to one another. This is common on platforms like Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and Poshmark. Future Market Insights estimates the P2P marketplace to be worth about $1.5 trillion, with forecasts to grow at a CAGR of 18.7% through 2034.
Consumer-to-Business (C2B) Recommerce
Consumers can also sell their unwanted products to businesses. Those businesses may use the items themselves—for example, purchasing a used car or laptop from a consumer and then using it for business purposes. Or, the businesses may resell the items at a profit. A common example is a vintage clothing shop that purchases apparel from consumers and then resells it with markup.
Related: Profitable Clothing Business Ideas
Business-to-Business (B2B) Recommerce
B2B recommerce is when one business sells an item to another business. The purchasing business may use the item itself, like in the case of purchasing used equipment, such as a point-of-sale terminal, cash register, or refrigerator. In some cases, the purchasing business may even resell the item, either at a profit or down the line when it no longer needs to use the item itself.
Recommerce Services
Recommerce services are the liaison between sellers and buyers of used goods. They essentially serve as a platform to connect the two segments. They may also offer additional services such as shipping and fulfillment, payment processing, and more.
Some examples of recommerce services include:
- BuyBackWorld: Electronics and cell phones
- The RealReal: Designer apparel and luxury goods
- ThredUp: Clothing
The benefit of using one of these services is that it takes the headache out of figuring out some of the logistics yourself—they’ve already done it for you. Depending on the platform, you just have to worry about sourcing the product and making the sale.
If you can manage some of the logistics yourself, you might consider using a recommence platform (sans services). Some examples of these types of recommerce companies include:
- Poshmark: Specializes in apparel and accessories
- Facebook Marketplace: Free social media platform also offering unlimited listings
- Mercari: An online marketplace of used goods
- OfferUp: Marketplace that focuses on selling in your local area
Related: How to Sell on Facebook
Pros & Cons of Recommerce
Recommerce comes with a few key advantages and drawbacks for sellers to keep in mind.
Pros
Sustainability
Recommerce reduces waste by promoting the concepts of reducing, reusing, and recycling. This is beneficial because sustainability is trending among consumers. According to First Insight, as many as 62% of Gen Z consumers prefer to buy from sustainable brands, and 73% would pay more for sustainable products. Plus, the willingness to spend more on eco-friendly goods has risen by 17% across all generations in recent years.
Affordability
While consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable products, you can bet they’d be willing to spend less for them, too. In many instances, recommerce allows consumers to purchase products at a reduced price than if they were to purchase them brand new.
Sales
Because of the reasons mentioned above, engaging in recommerce can also help boost sales. As consumers seek eco-conscious and affordable options, recommerce allows you to offer both. You can quickly expand your customer base to include eco-conscious and budget-savvy shoppers.
Profit Margins
More sales don’t always mean more profitability. But there’s certainly a high potential when it comes to recommerce. These items are often acquired at a low price—sometimes even for free. You can earn high margins on refurbished goods, especially when little work is needed to prep them for resale.
Cons
Product Quality Control
When you produce a good from start to finish, you have control over everything. But when you’re selling used items, you relinquish some of that quality control. Items come in varying conditions, and different products require different repairs before they’re ready for resale. Ultimately, ensuring consistent quality can be a challenge.
Inventory Management
Recommerce isn’t like traditional retail business models. You don’t simply place orders from suppliers when you’re running low on stock. Because of the nature of the business, it’s harder to predict the availability of used items. Inventory management becomes a challenge. Plus, you often have to itemize everything because bulk wholesale orders aren’t the norm.
Logistics
Recommerce requires more work when it comes to sourcing suppliers and products, getting them in your hands, and then getting them into your customers’ hands. Shipping and refurbishing processes can add complexity.
Recommerce Examples
Many brands have launched their own recommerce initiatives. Take a look:
Patagonia Worn Wear
Patagonia Worn Wear is the outdoor brand’s recommerce program. It allows customers to trade in used Patagonia gear in exchange for store credit. If you don’t have anything to trade in, that’s okay. You can browse and purchase anything from the marketplace via your chosen payment method.
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The Frye Exchange
The Frye Exchange is footwear brand Frye’s own recommerce platform. It allows customers to sell their own used Frye boots in exchange for store credit to use towards a future purchase. When your shoes sell, Frye will send a prepaid label so you can package them up and ship them off to their new owner.
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Outerknown Outerworn
Outerworn is the recommerce program of clothing brand Outerknown. Customers can sell their used goods on the Outerknown microsite in exchange for store credit, which they can use towards a future purchase.
Source: Pinterest
Recommerce Trends to Expect in 2025
As recommerce grows, these are some of the trends we expect to see in 2025.
Increased Consumer Demand for Sustainability
We’ve already noted consumer trends toward sustainable buying behaviors. This recommerce trend will only continue as environmental concerns grow—we’re likely to see even more demand in 2025. Plus, as economic concerns remain, many consumers will look to save money by buying used.
Integration With Traditional Retailers
More mainstream retailers are likely to adopt recommerce. We’ll see this both through brands partnering with established recommerce platforms as well as launching their own initiatives.
Athleisure brand Girlfriend Collective, for example, launched its own recommerce program, ReGirlfriend, in collaboration with Supercircle.
Technological Advancements
Technology only continues to touch virtually every aspect of our lives, and recommerce is no different. It will likely make logistics smoother. Improved AI and data analytics will also enhance product sorting, pricing, and customer service in the recommerce space.
Vertical Expansion
Up until now, fashion and electronics have dominated the recommerce market. However, recommerce is expected to expand into new verticals like home goods, sporting equipment, and even healthcare products.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
These are some questions people commonly ask about recommerce.
Recommerce refers to the process of reselling pre-owned products, typically through online platforms or physical stores, focusing on sustainability and affordability.
While both involve selling pre-owned items, resale is the broader term that includes any sale of used goods. Recommerce specifically emphasizes the structured business model of reselling items, often with added value through refurbishment or quality checks.
“Sold by recommerce” on Amazon means the item is pre-owned or refurbished and is being resold by a third-party seller, typically at a reduced price.
No, recommerce is not the same as ecommerce. Recommerce focuses on the resale of pre-owned goods, while ecommerce broadly refers to the buying and selling of products online, whether new or used.
Bottom Line
Recommerce is good for the planet and for your business. And consumers are demanding more of it. As recommerce expands to new niches, and technology empowers businesses to tap into this profitable trend, it’s an excellent business opportunity to explore. Whether you need to make a one-off sale or are interested in creating a full-blown used goods recommerce store of your own, there’s plenty of room for success in the recommerce industry.
