Fortune reported on August 6, 2026 that H&M Pre-Loved closed 2025 with revenue of SEK 1,844 million, about $194.4 million: a 31% increase over the previous year.
The group’s resale program, running since 2021, now covers 24 online markets and physical stores in 11 countries. It accounted for 0.8% of group turnover in 2025, a small but steadily growing share.
The figure fits a broader shift. ThredUp’s 2026 Resale Report puts the global secondhand apparel market at $393 billion by 2030. In the US, resale is on track to reach $78.8 billion by the end of the decade, growing nearly four times faster than overall clothing retail did last year.
Zara, Levi’s, Lululemon, REI and Patagonia have all launched or expanded in-house resale programs, often relying on platforms like Trove and Reflaunt. Patagonia opened Worn Wear in 2017, among the first retailers to do so. Eileen Fisher and Urban Outfitters, with its PS Vintage line, are following the same path.
Sofia Måhlén, H&M’s lead for circular business models, describes Pre-Loved as a structural part of the group’s strategy, not a side experiment. Shawn Grain Carter, a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, ties the revenue jump to brands running resale platforms directly, rather than leaving the category to third-party marketplaces.
For Neil Saunders of GlobalData Retail, the shift is no longer marginal: resale is growing at a pace the primary market can’t match. For brands, that creates a new constraint. A garment only enters the resale loop if it still holds its shape and value after months or years of wear.
Pricing context helps explain the push. According to the AlixPartners 2025 Consumer Sentiment Index, average entry-level apparel prices rose $17 in 2025 compared with 2024, an increase that makes the cost-per-wear math more relevant for shoppers.
It’s the same logic that guides shoppers who buy fewer, better-chosen pieces. Cost per wear matters more than sticker price. A garment that lasts five years costs less, in real terms, than five garments that last one season.
Brands don’t put it this way in press releases, but the math is the same one shoppers run before buying: it lasts longer, so it’s worth more later, too.
→ Read more: Capsule — 12 Pieces, 30 Days
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