M&S takes on Vinted and Depop with eBay tie-up
Marks & Spencer has announced it will launch a new resale platform on eBay as it looks to evolve with the changing face of high street shopping.
Customers will be able to trade in their clothing, footwear and accessories through M&S’s first online takeback scheme, while pre-loved items will be available to buy on the official M&S x eBay store.
“M&S is taking competition from the likes of Vinted incredibly seriously,” Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said.
“It is offering its shopper a way to make a bit of money on their pre-loved items whilst keeping customers’ cash in house,” Hewson added.
The UK online second-hand goods market is set to report sales of £4.8bn this year, up from £4.3bn in 2024, according to the Centre for economics and Business Research.
Two-thirds of Brits bought second-hand goods online in 2024, saving more £5.6bn and keeping 199m products in circulation.
Kirsty Keoghan, general manager of European fashion at eBay, said welcoming M&S was a “milestone” in eBay’s mission to make the circular economy more accessible and scalable.
The UK’s circular economy minister, Mary Creagh, added that the move will help the “700,000 odd tonnes of clothes we throw away each year” to get worn more.
“Only government and businesses working together can stop fashion costing the earth, which is why I welcome this new initiative from M&S – a great way for consumers to be rewarded for providing a new home for old favourites,” Creagh said.
M&S ‘likely to win over shoppers’
AJ Bell’s Danni Hewson added that M&S’ decision to launch its new resale platform is likely to help win over the younger, online shoppers it lost in this year’s significant cyber attack.
“Marks & Spencer is doing its best to stay fresh and stay in the news after the spring cyber-attack which incapacitated its online shopping operations, and this kind of innovation is exactly the sort of move likely to win over its core shopper,” Hewson said.
M&S has long been focused on expanding its appeal from older generations to Gen Z through a range of strategies including social media and influencer marketing, as well as the launch of more contemporary clothing.
According to a recent survey, around nine-tenths of Gen Z consider sustainability to be very important or somewhat important when buying pre-owned goods, while two-thirds said the main reason for buying pre-loved was to save money.
“[Pre-loved] is becoming more prominent now with inflation and the financial concerns people are having… shopping sustainably and saving money [is] a win-win situation,” eBay’s Global mangager of luxury, Mari Corella, has told City PM.