Capturing the Resale Revolution: A Strategic Opportunity for Companies

CURT NICKISCH: Welcome to the HBR IdeaCast from Harvard Business Review. I’m Curt Nickisch.

The Shift Towards Sustainability and Reuse Driving Companies into the Resale Market

You know the feeling, you buy something you think is going to work for you and then for whatever reason you don’t use it. You can sell it online, put it in a donation bin, throw it away, or just leave it in the back of a closet. One estimate is that the average U.S. household has a trove of reusable goods worth more than $4,000. There’s a similar pattern internationally.

Technology and Sustainability Influencing the Resale Revolution

There has always been a strong resale market for used goods, but usually the companies that originally sold those items new have ignored resale. Until now, thanks to a generational shift that is prioritizing sustainability and reuse, companies that once saw product resale as a substitute or competition, now see it as a strategic opportunity. And big brands like Apple, Nike, and Rolex have gotten into the resale game themselves.