French shopping platform Vestiairedecopines.com is soon to launch abroad under the name of Fashionomic. The c2c website allows consumers to sell, buy and resell 2nd hand clothes and accessories.. Launched for the first time in France at the end of 2009, the website is also planning on having its German and Scandinavian versions ready before Summer. England is priority on the list, advancing the launch this Spring, since British consumers are known for buying many second-hand clothes online.

Average purchases by British costumers are expected to reach £420 (500 euros), against £257 (306 euros) for those in France. A subsidiary company, trusted to Jérôme Lataud, is currently being built near London and an agreement with TNT delivery services has been concluded. “For the English market, the website has been named Fashionomic”, commented Sébastien Fabre, co-founder and president of the company. The new name will most certainly be embraced by other international markets as well. “It is compulsory to build this centre in England because of local brands and competition", the manager added. With the help of a local media partner, certainly a daily newspaper, Sébastien Fabre intends to have a launch as successful as the one he did in France with Elle magazine.

Similarly to Asos, eBay and Videdressing, Vestiairedecopines.com offers members a place to sell their clothes and accessories, most of which are often almost brand new due to people losing interest or clothes not fitting properly. But differently to some competitors, all parcels pass through the website’s staff.

In other words, suppose someone wants to sell a pair of jeans: once a member, the person sends the website a photo and a price suggestion. The moderators will then accept or reject the product according to trends, as well as adjust the price. Once the pair of jeans has been accepted, the member sends the photos online and the product is sent to vestiairedecopines for verification and repackaging. The company makes money from the sales by taking a commission that can vary from 10 to 55%.

“We try to make life easier for the sellers whilst reassuring costumers", said Sebastien Fabre. In order to achieve the goal of establishing itself in 10 countries, the company is relying on 3 fundraising events: the first one saw the participation of Thierry Gillier from Zadig & Voltaire, the second one from last Summer managed to raise 1.5 million euros, and the third one is still to come this year. “We are connecting online members together and each country is a new source. This way, a popular brand in England will also be found in our French website”, he explained.

For its first annual sales report, Vestiairedecopines’s saw a turnover of 3.3 million euros (£2.78M) and around 15,000 transactions. With 120,000 members, the objective is to reach 500,000 by the end of 2011. Apart from the multiple international launches, the website plans to gain new members by also investing on male and children’s fashion, which currently only make up 5-7% of sales.

(£1 = €1.19)