Farfetch brings Second Life handbag resale service to U.S. market

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Nov 19, 2020

Farfetch has brought Farfetch Second Life, its handbag resale service, to the United States. 

 
The service allows users to trade in their designer handbags for credit to be used towards future purchases on Farfetch. 

To sell their bags, consumers can access Farfetch Second Life online, create an account and submit information and photographs of the bags they want to sell. Next, this information is reviewed by Farfetch's partner, who will offer a price within two business days. If the price is accepted, the bag is sent for verification, free of charge. Once the items are verified, Farfetch will immediately credit the consumer’s account with the offered value, which they can use to purchase new items on farfetch.com.

“Extending the useful life of fashion items is absolutely critical to the sustainability of the industry," said Thomas Berry, director of sustainable business.

"Enabling services, like Farfetch Second Life, that make it easy for consumers to do this, also offers an attractive opportunity to engage luxury consumers to shop with Farfetch. We’re thrilled to scale this model globally and are looking forward to expanding the categories consumers can give a second life to.”

U.S. users can access Farfetch Second Life at farfetch.com/positively-farfetch/secondlife. 

Prior to its U.S. debut, Farfetch Second Life was already launched in the UK and EU markets following a pilot in Europe in May, 2019. 

Farfetch Second Life comes as part of the company's 'Positively Farfetch' sustainability initiative. Elsewhere, the company has also worked on its green efforts by carrying a wide range of "conscious products," launching a fashion donation service in partnership with Thrift+, and offering 'Climate Conscious Delivery,' a service that makes every consumer delivery from farfetch.com carbon neutral. 

“The luxury fashion industry is increasingly aligning with sustainable fashion," said Giorgio Belloli, Farfetch chief commercial and sustainability officer.

"Like the online luxury market, the pre-owned luxury market is growing rapidly and is forecast to reach $64 billion within the next five years1. After the successful launch of the Farfetch Second Life pilot program in the European market last year, we are excited to bring this service to our consumers in the U.S.”

The service launches in a new market as numerous members of the fashion industry tap into consumer interest in sustainable fashion through resale. Within the past year alone, Levi's, Gucci and The RealReal and Walmart all launched new circular fashion initiatives with extending the lifecycle of clothing at their core.