The second hand market - competition or cooperation?

Meanwhile, everyone who works in the fashion industry is aware: second-hand clothing plays an enormous role and is gaining more and more attention.

This market is supported by a large number of companies that are on the verge of revolutionizing the fashion industry with their range of second-hand clothing.

Each of these companies is unique, with its own approach and products. Whether online or analog, whether with a focus on vintage or a wide range of second-hand products, there is ultimately a common, overarching goal: to have the greatest possible, sustainable impact on the fashion industry.

For this reason, we at Heartlight encourage any kind of cooperation between different second-hand players. Instead of seeing other companies in the market as competitors, we regularly exchange ideas with other second hand online shops to support each other.

This is also urgently needed. Compared to the actual competition "fast fashion", the second hand market has it pretty hard. Since second-hand is almost always a single part, the cost that the company bears for a single product is significantly higher than the cost per item for manufacturing companies. While a fast fashion company designs a product once, photographs it once and uploads it, and can then produce it as often as it likes, a second-hand company has to procure, check, wash, photograph and upload each product individually.

These and other challenges make it difficult for second-hand companies to have a product range, prices and shopping experience that are equivalent to fast fashion.

A cooperation partner with whom we therefore work closely is Zeitgeist Secondhand & Vintage. Zeitgeist comes from Hamburg and also has a second-hand online store.

We got along well right away and have been exchanging ideas regularly ever since. What did we notice particularly positively? The large product selection and the wide range of categories in your Online Shop.

Whether in marketing, financing, logistics or specific processes such as shooting and uploading, through mutual support we want to get better at what we want together: present a sustainable alternative to fast fashion.

Have a look at Zeitgeist: Zeitgeist Secondhand & Vintage