Zalando extends its resale model to kidswear

Madrid – Zalando, a leading European online platform for fashion, beauty and lifestyle, has announced the expansion of its second-hand category to include kidswear. This move strengthens the company's position in the increasingly strategic niche segment of textile revaluation and second-hand resale. Its customer community can now access a wide range of second-hand kidswear.

According to Zalando's management, the e-commerce platform has just expanded its specialised second-hand resale vertical, launched in September 2020. This launch was a decisive step towards a more circular business model and a greater commitment to optimising natural resources. The expansion incorporates a specialised kidswear offering for the first time. This offering is sold alongside womenswear and menswear in a separate, independent section within its marketplace. A new 'Second-hand' tab has been enabled in this area. Similar to the womenswear and menswear sections, users can access a wide range of second-hand kidswear.

The new section for selling second-hand kidswear is now available in a total of 14 European markets, including Spain, Zalando states. In these countries, users of the e-commerce platform can now not only buy but also sell used kidswear items through a consumer-to-business-to-consumer (C2B2C) model. Under this model, users can sell kidswear items they no longer want directly to Zalando. The company will first check that they are “in perfect condition or lightly used” and then compensate sellers with credits for future marketplace purchases. As the final step, the second-hand items will be made available to users in the 'Second-hand' section. Zalando emphasises that customers can purchase “with the certainty that it has been previously reviewed and verified by an internal team, ensuring compliance with the platform's quality standards”.

“Our kidswear customers are among our most loyal and recurring,” says Veronika Moles, commercial director of the kids department at Zalando, in a statement from the marketplace's management. “They look for quality, trust and convenience. With this initiative, we are responding not only to that but also to a real need by helping parents free up space when clothes become too small. We are aware that time is a scarce resource for families. For this reason, we provide them with a single destination to meet all their needs. Thanks to Zalando, they can buy new and second-hand fashion and accessories for both adults and children in a single shopping experience.”

A growing and integrated category

The new second-hand kidswear section is now available in Austria; Belgium; the Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; France; Germany; Ireland; Italy; Luxembourg; the Netherlands; Poland; Sweden and Spain. It features an integrated offering of items from fashion brands such as ik, Adidas, Tommy Hilfiger, Next, Lego Kidswear, Bisgaard, Boss Kidswear, Stella McCartney Kids and Moschino. Zalando is confident this commercial proposition will be of high interest to its users. This is due to the 'loyal' profile of kidswear shoppers and the performance of the second-hand category on the marketplace.

In this regard, Zalando highlights not only the growing consumer interest in second-hand clothing but also the integration of this product category into users' purchasing processes on the marketplace. These observations are supported by data. For example, up to 50 percent of second-hand items on the platform sell within the first 24 hours of being listed. This percentage rises to 90 percent for 'premium' brands. Additionally, in 2025, more than 40 percent of orders placed on Zalando included items from different categories, combining new fashion and beauty products with second-hand garments. This 'mix' not only indicates the integration of second-hand pieces into the Zalando user's 'shopping basket' but also reflects a trend of combining womenswear, menswear and kidswear in a single order, outlining the 'new way families shop'.

“With our 'Second-hand' category, we eliminate the friction usually associated with this type of shopping,” emphasises Alice Marshall, director of the second-hand department at Zalando. “The customer can buy a second-hand 'premium' winter coat and a new pair of trainers in the same order, with the peace of mind that each garment has been manually inspected to guarantee its quality." Marshall adds that in addition to buying, the customer “can sell their clothes to Zalando conveniently and easily". Marshall continued: "With this expansion into second-hand children's fashion and accessories, we are extending the convenience of buying and selling pre-loved fashion to the whole family.”