ThredUP Signs Hot Topic To Resale Service; Reveals Biggest Brands In Thrift

More and more brands are jumping on the resale bandwagon. The latest to sign on to thredUP’s Retail as a Service, or RaaS, is teen and young adult retailer Hot Topic. Today, the retailer launches Hot Topic Replay, a 360-degree resale program that allows customers to shop secondhand products directly through its website.

Besides purchasing secondhand products at hottopic.thredup.com, consumers in the U.S. can also resell gently-worn apparel for Hot Topic credit. All they have to do is generate a prepaid shipping label and fill pre-loved women’s and kid’s items in any shippable box or bag. There’s no charge for shipping the products to thredUP and the shopping credit for items listed and sold can be used at Hot Topic stores or the brand’s ecommerce site.

“Incorporating resale into our business model is another step towards sustainability and an exciting opportunity for our customers,” said Steve Vranes, CEO of Hot Topic. “The launch of Hot Topic Replay provides our customers the ability to give their pop culture merchandise a second life. Leveraging thredUP’s RaaS was the right decision for us as they have more than a decade of experience powering resale at scale and were able to get us up and running in a short period of time.

“We view Hot Topic Replay as the place where Hot Topic merchandise can find a new home and where fans can find their favorite Hot Topic apparel that might otherwise be sold out,” said Vranes.

Hot Topic appeals to its audience with its band merch – T-shirts and more emblazoned with the iconography of performers from Billie Eilish to Motley Crüe. The retailer also sells music and Funko, licensed and limited-edition pop culture collectibles such as vinyl figurines inspired by Japanese anime, Marvel, D.C. Comics, and “Stranger Things,” among others.

“Hot Topic is a brand that has maintained cultural relevance across decades. Their finger is on the pulse when it comes to younger shoppers who value self-expression and individuality or are seeking a dose of nostalgia,” said James Reinhart, CEO of thredUP. “We’re thrilled to enable Hot Topic Replay and believe that entering resale will help Hot Topic build brand affinity among customers who are on the hunt for that unique band tee or collectible item, while also serving as a new growth channel for the business.”

ThredUP clients and brands include Reformation, which uses RaaS to incentivize its sustainably-minded customer base to sell their secondhand clothing for Reformation credit by using thredUp’s Clean Out kits, which close the circular loop by keeping apparel out of landfills.

In other news, ThredUP today revealed the latest installment of its Recommerce 100, an independent data base of brands and retailers that have launched resale programs and how their endeavors will potentially impact the planet.

The Recommerce 100 was launched to reveal how the momentum and excitement around resale is trending in the form of brands hosting their own resale shops by identifying and counting the brands that have entered the space. The Recommerce 100 ranks recommerce shops based on how many product listings they have.

The first edition edition of the Recommerce 100 appeared in March with 41 brands. That number has now surpassed 100, and as of the end of September, thredUP counted 107 resale shops, 73 of which were launched in 2022. ThredUP called the growth “explosive,” considering only 31 brands entered the resale space at the end of 2021. If growth continues apace, there could be more than 140 resale shops by the end of the year.

The top 10 brands by number of resale listings in descending order are Athleta, Tea Collection, Lululemon AthleticaLULU
, Tommy Hilfiger, Madewell, Eileen Fisher, Patagonia, REI, Pacsun and Kut from the Kloth.

ThredUP has the most managed resale shops at 11, followed by Trove’s eight, and Archive’s three.