The global resale market is booming, but many fashion brands are still treating it as a side project. CHRIS KILIN started Brandback to change that. By integrating secondhand into the primary shopping journey seamlessly, Brandback aims to help brands recapture margin, retain customers, and increase conversions. Ahead of his participation in Transformation Conference Stockholm, Kilin explains why resale needs to move from “PowerPoint” to product, and how AI, DPPs, and customer data are the keys to doing so.
The numbers surrounding reselling are growing rapidly. What’s happening in the market?
– Resale isn’t just niche anymore, it’s massive. The market reached $204.7 billion in 2024, growing 17.6% year-over-year, while traditional apparel sales remained relatively stagnant. It’s growing almost three times faster than the rest of the industry, especially among Gen Z.
What are the biggest shifts in how brands and consumers engage with secondhand?
– Integration and realism. Brands are embedding resale into core journeys like product pages and checkout because it lifts conversion. At the same time, they’re getting smarter about the economics. Experiments like Gucci Vintage and Hugo Boss Pre-Loved struggled because in-house and outsourced models are too costly without the right tech.
What was the original idea behind Brandback?
– We built Brandback to turn resale into a commercial engine. Brands were losing data and margin to marketplaces. Our model lets them embed resale at the point of sale, with real-time value estimations and resale paths built into the product and checkout flow. It pushes new sales, provides a clear exit for the customer later, and keeps control in the hands of the brand.
Why do so many brands still struggle to make resale profitable?
– Operational complexity, channel leakage, and fragmented UX. Repair, pricing, fraud — it all adds up. Sending traffic off-platform kills margins. And if the journey is clunky or off-brand, it doesn’t convert. We solve this with plug-and-play, AI-assisted resale flows that require no inventory or upfront investment.
How does your model differ from take-back or vintage programmes?
– We show resale value directly in listings and checkout, save it to a wallet, and make reselling later effortless. Brands don’t hold inventory — it all routes through our infrastructure. We manage customer support, pricing, and fulfilment, while keeping the journey fully on-brand.
So resale can drive topline growth, not just sustainability KPIs?
– Absolutely. Showing resale value at checkout lifts D2C conversion by 5–15%. More than half of sellers choose store credit, which drives a 3.9x upsell rate. This isn’t a feel-good project — it’s a revenue channel.
Any concrete brand examples?
– Replay Jeans is one of our biggest customers. We’ve driven seven-figure annualised revenue for them since launch.
What does the customer experience look like?
– It starts at checkout, where we show resale value and save the item to the customer’s “assets” hub. When they want to sell, AI completes the listing in seconds. We handle pricing, shipping, payouts — and loop value back as store credit or cash.
How does the AI layer actually work?
– We use brand catalogues and resale market signals to estimate value, auto-generate listings, set dynamic price bands, and flag risks. That makes the difference between an idea and a scalable, profitable channel.
Are brands ready for this?
– The strategy conversations have shifted from “Why resale?” to “How do we do this without a new team or warehouse?” We built Brandback to be fast, low-lift, and cost-neutral until we prove value.
How do Digital Product Passports fit into your roadmap?
– DPPs make product metadata portable and verifiable. That improves resale confidence, reduces fraud, and automates listing. They’re a natural fit — resale becomes a seamless extension of the original sale. Our platform helps brands generate ROI on their DPP investment.
You recently raised funding. What’s next?
– We’ve closed $7.4M and are scaling across Europe and the UK. We’re building out our AI, growing the team, and onboarding new brands — including partners in the Nordics like Sandqvist. Our goal is to make resale a standard feature of ecommerce.
What should brands do today to future-proof their resale strategy?
– Work with Brandback.
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