This is the first of two stories about what’s in store for the resale market next year.

There are countless metrics for the unprecedented growth of resale in recent years, but none more whiplash-inducing than this one:

• Among The Recommerce 100, ThredUp’s list of the hundred brands with the most active resale programs, 72 launched in 2022.

If most of those successful secondhand stores were humans, in other words, they’d still be banging their spoons against their high chairs and speaking gibberish.

And like those onesie-wearers, the resale market is boisterous, thriving, and growing fast. But it is not, by any measure, mature, and growing up—if our eighth-grade school photos are any indication—is not always pretty.

So to prepare for resale’s Kodak moments and growing pains in the upcoming year, we asked some insiders for their predictions.

Revenue will grow…

It’s booming:

• The US fashion resale market grew from $13.6 billion in 2018 to an estimated $28.1 billion in 2022, according to a December report from Coresight.
• It will grow by almost 15% in 2023, to $32.3 billion, Coresight predicts.

…but don’t hold your breath for profits

Resale marketplaces TheRealReal, Poshmark, and ThredUp all have had impressive growth from 2019 through 2021, the most recent year for which full-year revenues are available:

• TheRealReal revenues grew from $316.4 million in 2019 to $467.7 million in 2021.
• Poshmark revenues grew from $205 million in 2019 to $326 million in 2021.
• ThredUp revenues grew from $163.8 million in 2019 to $251.8 million in 2021.

But except for Poshmark, which turned a profit in 2020, none were profitable for any of those years. Neither TheRealReal nor ThredUp has reached profitability yet either.

Keep reading here.—AAN

Let’s face it; December was a rough month for crypto enthusiasts. But for those who own a token from popular NFT project Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), it included a chance to bring their digital monkey portraits into the wearables space, via a partnership with Timex.

Throughout the month, Bored Ape token holders had the chance to order one of 500 custom wristwatches, whose face features their own Ape, and which is accompanied by a matching NFT to verify the watch’s authenticity.

Barrel of monkeys: If you’re saying, “Okay, watches I get, but what the heck is a Bored Ape?” you probably aren’t that active on Twitter. Just kidding. But BAYC has become almost a household name, and is one of the most lucrative NFT collections in the world.

BAYC is a collection of 10,000 digital images, each of a cartoon ape with distinct characteristics, including clothing, facial expressions, jewelry, and hairstyles. The images are stored as units of data on the Ethereum blockchain, and owners (holders) can buy and sell them on OpenSea, a marketplace for NFTs. Since the project’s launch in 2021, it has made more than $2 billion.

The Apes also serve as membership cards giving holders access to events, exclusive merch drops, and spinoff projects, like Mutant Ape Yacht Club and Bored Ape Kennel Club.

BAYC and brands: Bringing custom wristwatches to Ape holders is far from the project’s first retail collaboration. In late 2021, BAYC teamed up with Adidas on physical merchandise, followed by a digital wearables drop in late 2022.

Bored Ape holders have also struck out on their own into brand collaborations, using their images on everything from skin care products to coffee beans.

Keep reading here.—MA

On Wednesdays, we wear pink spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Isaiah Hartman is a space planning analyst at arts-and-crafts retailer Michaels, focusing on optimizing assortment, timing, space, and location at its stores, and has helped lead analytics for its new small-format stores. Get to know him better below.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? I help determine what products go into stores, how much space they get, and when we introduce/exit the SKUs.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? My desk is the home of the fastest 30 minutes of analytics/insights in all of retail.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? Rolling out Michaels’s new small-store format initiative. The company really empowered me to prescribe action that I felt was best. We had never done something like this before so I was truly able to build the store from the ground up and put my stamp on it.

Which emerging retail trend are you most excited about this year, and why? Integrating into the Web3 ecosystem. I really believe early adopters will be rewarded. I have done a deep dive into this space personally. It is fascinating to attempt to wrap my brain around how we can make this seamless to the everyday consumer.

What’s your go-to coffee order? I arrive at the order window and ask the person taking my order to give me “their favorite (please).”

Worst piece of advice you’ve received? “You need eight hours of sleep a night.” I slept last year. Why do I need to sleep tonight?

What was your favorite retail product when you were 15, and what’s your favorite retail product now? When I was 15, my favorite retail product was the newest phone I could get my hands on—instant status in high school. Now, my favorite retail product is whatever my wife adds to our cart, usually for the dogs.

Today’s top retail reads.

Another look: Fourteen years after the debut of her Harajuku Lovers beauty line, Gwen Stefani addresses questions of cultural appropriation surrounding the products inspired by the Japanese subculture. Her answers left the Allure team “stunned.” (Allure)

Cracking the case: Breaking down the many factors that have led to soaring egg prices, now being dubbed “eggflation.” (Fast Company)

Scam spam: Online scams have risen 87% since 2015, a third of which are retail-related. Brands like Bombas and Rothy’s are dealing with hundreds of fake sites monthly. “It’s been a total game of whack-a-mole,” Bombas CEO Dave Heath said. (the New York Times)

Over there, captain! It’s not a pirate ship, but Sifted’s Top Parcel Shipping Trends for 2023 report. This bad boy has some serious intel on shipping in 2023. Read it here.*

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• Retail c-suite moves that closed out the year
• Heineken USA’s CMO on the beer giant’s NA biz