Crocs is stepping into the resale market.
On Thursday, the company announced it was joining ThredUp’s resale-as-a-service channel. Starting today, Crocs customers in the U.S. can generate a prepaid shipping label from Thredup.com/crocs, fill up any shippable box with apparel, shoes and accessories from any brand (not just Crocs), and ship it to ThredUp for free.
Prior to listing, items must pass a rigorous quality inspection before they are listed on Thredup.com, after which sellers receive a Crocs shopping credit (the amount was not specified) for use in-store and online.
“Crocs shoes are incredibly durable and perfectly built for a second life, so encouraging customers to consider reuse is extremely important to us,” said Michelle Poole, brand president at Crocs, highlighting the synergy between Crocs and ThredUp in keeping product out of landfill.
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Similarly, Pooja Sethi, senior vice president and general manager of RaaS at ThredUp, noted the “tremendous emphasis” Crocs has put on reducing environmental impact underscoring the resale platform’s delight in partnering.
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In the future, ThredUp Clean Out Kits will be stocked at select Crocs retail stores in the U.S. to be activated in the same manner. Crocs is also waiving an exclusive bonus to shoppers who participate early on.
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What TikTok did for beauty brands like The Ordinary and dermatologist-fronted CeraVe such as status-earning top searches and billions of hashtag views — it also did for Crocs. The footwear brand marketed an augmented reality experience on TikTok titled #GetCrocd that garnered a whopping 9.2 billion views.
While the company only vowed to be a vegan and net-zero company this past July, Crocs Inc. was early-on in the sustainability report curve. The company released its first sustainability report in 2012.
Crocs’ Poole said the ThredUp partnership helps the company close in on its “net-zero goal by taking action to create a more comfortable world.”
Regardless, resale is happening with or without Crocs’ approval.
The highest asking price for a pair of (non-porous) Crocs heeled wedges on ThredUp was $32. Collectors are already hawking product on StockX and eBay for rare wares like Hidden Valley Ranch x Crocs collaborations (jabbed with vegetable Jibbitz, also known as the Crocs removable gems), which sold for $270 on eBay last month (up from a retail price of $45).
While the company did not comment on how its plans for resale will evolve from the ThredUp partnership, Crocs maintained that resale is part of its ongoing sustainability journey.