Why eBay is declaring the first Recommerce Day

With resale so in vogue and popular marketplaces like ThredUp and Poshmark starting only in the last 15 years, it’s worth noting that eBay, founded in 1995 just a year after Amazon at the dawn of e-commerce, has been at it for nearly three decades.

Now eBay is showing some of the swagger you might expect from a pioneer and declaring May 21 the first annual Recommerce Day. Lawmakers in both the California legislature and the city of San Jose, where eBay is based, have introduced resolutions to potentially enshrine the holiday in the state.

The company has partnered with Alicia Silverstone, who in a statement said she’s an eBay shopper and that “recommerce brings me so much joy because I know I’m not contributing to the waste that harms our planet.”

The actress is donating personal items, including a cotton bomber jacket that she describes in a handwritten note accompanying it as having been “very loved” and vegan leather Dr. Martin boots that an accompanying note describes as brand new but “too big for me.”

The items will be sold during an auction on eBay on Recommerce Day, with proceeds going to a charity of Silverstone’s choice, Mercy Corps, which provides humanitarian aid.

How deep is your pre-love? To coincide with its self-fashioned holiday, eBay also is releasing its 2024 Recommerce Report. Among its findings: 59% of consumers globally had purchased secondhand items over the past 12 months, and 70% planned to do so in the next 12 months.

The data comes from a March survey of 16,052 consumers from nine countries.

The survey also revealed that the word “thrifted” was used in the description of clothing, shoes, and accessories sold in March increased by more than 400% over last March.

Renée Morin, eBay’s chief sustainability officer, told Retail Brew that the change reflects that “the bias towards thrifting in a negative way—it’s really gone away over the past five years or so.”

Far from being stigmatized, the concept of thrifting has become celebrated, she continued.

“Where you would want to stay away from the word ‘thrifting’ a few years ago, now we’re seeing it everywhere,” Morin said. ‘“Because it’s become cool, it’s reinventing recommerce.”