"Secondhand as the First Choice" 

The second-cycle market is evolving from a niche segment into an integral part of fashion retail. Alexandra Drissner, CCO of Sellpy, is convinced: “Today, secondhand is no longer a stopgap solution.” A conversation about growth, momentum, and trust as a decisive factor.  

"Second Cycle" is becoming increasingly important in the fashion context. How do you assess the development of the secondhand market in the coming years, and how do you think the role of secondhand will change compared to the traditional "First Cycle"? 

Alexandra Drissner, CCO of Sellpy: Customers choose secondhand items because of the price and sustainability, but increasingly also to find unique pieces. At Sellpy, our goal is to make buying secondhand items just as easy as buying new ones. By making a wide variety of quality-checked items in all price ranges accessible, we’re contributing to the growth of the “second-cycle” segment—a segment that’s increasingly becoming the first choice. We’re already seeing this trend in our own search data, where demand mirrors first-cycle trends almost in real time. When a brand or silhouette takes off in the new goods segment, it does so in the secondhand market during the same season—the Y2K revival is a good example: Searches for a brand like Hollister on our platform have increased by 67% year-over-year. This is precisely the shift: secondhand as a parallel first choice for the same purchase decision, not as a last resort. 

H&M recently launched a pre-loved section at its flagship store on Vienna’s Mariahilfer Straße, with its inventory sourced through Sellpy. What has been your experience with this model, and what role do brick-and-mortar retail spaces play in the continued growth of secondhand fashion compared to online retail? 

Online sales make secondhand goods widely accessible. At Sellpy, we can make millions of unique items easy to find—with a reliable search function, size information, seamless delivery, and a trustworthy payment process. But a physical retail space offers something that’s not possible online: it eliminates that last bit of hesitation. People can feel the quality, see that “pre-loved” doesn’t mean worn out, and discover pieces they would never have looked for otherwise. In a store like the one on Mariahilfer Straße, secondhand items sit right next to the new collection, making it easy and accessible for customers to enjoy fashion in different ways—from the latest trends to pre-loved basics. By integrating Pre-Loved into H&M’s physical stores, we can offer a seamless shopping experience and further lower the barrier to buying secondhand. Together with H&M, we’ve already rolled out the Pre-Loved concept—featuring Sellpy merchandise—in 12 H&M stores, and currently, 8 Weekday stores are offering curated secondhand products in collaboration with Sellpy. We’re convinced that brick-and-mortar retail is an effective way to connect people with secondhand items right where they already are. In doing so, we build trust and turn curiosity into that first purchase. 

How large is the overlap between first-cycle and second-cycle customers?  

We see far more overlap than distinction. The same person might buy a new basic item and a pre-loved piece in the same week—or even in the same transaction at H&M’s physical stores. The decisive factor is not so much loyalty to “new” or “used,” but rather whether a particular item can be found in a price range and quality that makes sense to the consumer. We’re convinced that if a secondhand item offers the right piece in the right condition, it will win the sale. So yes, we definitely see that both worlds are used in parallel—not as an either/or choice, but as a single shopping habit. 

Sellpy operates using a highly scalable model for the purchase, processing, and sale of secondhand clothing. In your view, what lessons from your business model might also be relevant for independent brick-and-mortar retailers or smaller retail concepts?  

The challenge with secondhand shopping is everything that happens between a person’s closet and a buyer’s shopping cart. That’s exactly what we’ve built. Every item that comes in is photographed individually, quality-checked, priced, and listed—and we do this for millions of unique items. This model allows us to offer convenience on both sides: sellers simply pack a bag, and we take care of the rest; buyers enjoy an experience that’s as easy and trustworthy as buying new items. This model clearly works beyond just private individuals. A number of independent secondhand shops already source their merchandise directly from Sellpy! For smaller businesses, the lesson isn’t about scaling up, but about focusing on your product selection and convenience. Make the drop-off process as seamless as possible, and take product evaluation and presentation just as seriously as you would when buying new merchandise. If you get this right, buying pre-loved items will feel just as safe as buying new ones.