Marks & Spencer is expanding its efforts to tackle the throwaway culture in fashion by opening a secondhand clothing store on eBay. The retailer aims to provide new homes for “old favourites” by tapping into the growing demand for preloved clothing.
Over the past decade, M&S has collected 36.5 million secondhand clothes through its “shwopping” initiative, which has now been rebranded as Another Life. The majority of these clothes have been resold by the company’s charity partner, Oxfam.
However, with a decline in donation growth, M&S is introducing a new approach. Customers who donate to Oxfam and include at least one M&S item in their donation will be rewarded with a £5 voucher when they spend £35 in-store or online.
To avail of this service, customers must complete a form on M&S’s website or scan a QR code in-store. Then, they can send their preloved items using a free local courier service to Reskinned, a repair and resale specialist.
The best M&S items suitable for resale will be professionally cleaned and repaired, and then listed on M&S’s eBay store. Items that cannot be resold will be responsibly repurposed or recycled.
Oxfam will receive a 15% share of M&S’s profits from the eBay sales, with the remaining profits being split between the retailer, eBay, and Reskinned. The charity will continue to sell donated clothes, including non-M&S branded items, in its outlets.
Katharine Beacham, the head of sustainability in fashion for M&S, states that the company has been a pioneer in challenging the perception of clothes. She emphasizes that the partnership with eBay is an opportunity to learn more about customer preferences for resale and ultimately consider selling secondhand items through M&S’s own stores or website.
The shift in strategy comes at a time when the sale of secondhand clothes online is rapidly growing. Depop, a London-based secondhand clothing marketplace, is on track to reach $1 billion in annual sales. Similarly, Vinted, a competitor, reported a 41% increase in sales to almost €813 million in 2024, with profits nearly tripling.
Major high street retailers, including Primark and H&M, are also making space for secondhand items, either on the shop floor or online. Several retailers, such as Uniqlo, Zara, and M&S, have started offering repair services for customers.
M&S has been testing offering shoppers the opportunity to send in unwearable clothes from any label using a prepaid postal donation bag in partnership with Oxfam. This trial is currently under consideration for expansion.
Mary Creagh, the circular economy
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/aug/26/marks-spencer-to-open-secondhand-clothing-store-on-ebay
