Arjita Mishra finds out from young entrepreneurs about the growing number of women opting for second-hand clothes. They tell her that this solves the problem of selling used garments
Each and every women face a problem the moment they open their wardrobe every morning. Well, almost. At times they fail to find anything to find something suitable to wear to office or a date and other times they crib to wear the same dress they have been wearing for quite some time.
The problem of not having clothes is something that can probably never be solved. No matter how many clothes a girl or a woman has in her closet, they will always have nothing to wear.
Herein lies a bigger problem what to do with the clothesIJ Some young entrepreneurs across the city have devised a smart solution. And its has two benefits, too. Not only can you sell your old clothes that are still very much wearable, you can also but a bunch of second hand ones.
We found out a few sites which provides an option of second hand clothes. This not only solves the problem finding a place to sell used garments but also gives an option to buy some more in lesser prices.
Revamp My Closet is one of the few which gives you a platform to sell your used clothes at a reasonable prices. “Women have a problem with their clothes which they wear once or twice and then it is of no use. So, we tried to solve this problem with launching this website,” said Aashish, co-founder of the website.
The website was formed by the joint efforts of Aashish and Samridhi Agarwal. When we asked Aashish that from where the idea of launching this kind of sites originated, he said, “The co-founder of the website Samridhi Agarwal got married. She had good branded clothes in her closet which she did not not wear after her marriage. We discussed and thought about what we could do because they were quite expensive, so donating it to the maid was out of the question.” He continued, “Suddenly, it came in our mind that people are buying dresses from Facebook and other websites so, why not we create a portal dedicated toward second hand women’s fashion. From their the idea originated and we created the website.”
He told us that anyone who wants to sell their clothes has to first send them a request through their website, after which the team would get in touch with the concerned person. The owner also clarified that there are certain terms and conditions applied to the seller who are selling their clothes. “The garments should not be more than one year old and it should be of good quality. It should also be in good condition and should not be of any fake brand,” he pointed out.
They not only deal with branded clothes but also purchase non-branded ones, but mentioned that the fabric of those clothes has to be good. “There are non-branded clothes which are expensive and are of good quality. So, we purchase those clothes, too,” said Aashish.
He also shared the parameters on which they decide the price of the clothes. “First we look at the brand. Secondly, we compare the prices of similar looking garments from other leading shopping portals. Then there are some brands which provides to much of discounts and on some brands there is no discounts. So, we also keep this in our mind before pricing,” Aashish explained.
We also spoke to Vidisha Pasari, a co-founder of Rekinza, another portal. Here is what she said:
Where did the idea of starting a website for second hand women’s fashion originateIJ
Rekinza was conceptualised to solve the paradoxical problem faced by all women nothing to wear, and nowhere to keep clothes. So, we wanted to create an online platform for buying and selling pre-owned fashion in an innovative manner that helps create new value for unutilised items. Our community members don’t just buy and sell clothes, they also refresh and recycle their wardrobes from each other’s overflowing closets. We enable our potential buyers who are currently constrained by price or availability to purchase these products at highly discounted prices. We aim to pioneer a shift in consumer mindset towards purchasing pre-owned fashion.
From where are the clothes sourcedIJ
All our sellers are individuals, who have new and like-new items in their closet that they don’t want to use anymore. Our sellers range from college students to recent graduates who need a wardrobe makeover, or for their new job.
Do you have a process of checking for wear and tearIJ
Yes, every item that comes to us for sale goes through a rigorous quality and authenticity check, three times. We do not accept items with tiny holes, rips, fraying, fading, pilling, stains, et al.
Tell us something about process of pricing the dressesIJ
The price of all the items on the website is decided by our in-house team. We have a pricing database that helps us determine the current retail value of each item based on its style, brand, material et al. Then based on the condition of the item, its resaleability and brand we apply a discount.
Are you restricted to western fashionIJ
We sell ethnic as well as western.