To me this sounds like a bunch of investor funded start ups are competing to take the entire market and are willing to take losses. They also do the work in first world countries, which makes it more expensive. So they can not compete with low cost workers from the Global South. Hence higher costs. However second hand clothes make money for decades and I see no reason this is going to change.
Maybe new clothes could be taxed more, to help used clothing compete? The article mentions Britain proposing laws that would decrease new clothes production by 40%, hopefully that passes.
There is more to business than making a profit, profits are taxed differently, businesses that never make a profit may be very good for the employees and the employer, as well as the customers that shop there.
Absolutely. But is that good enough to keep the alternative business plans going? According to this article, I'm not sure it is.
I posted this on degrowth because the rise of secondhand fashion seems to be an example of degrowth in action - a business shifting from production of new items to refurbishing and reselling existing products.
What works - and what doesn't work - in the battle against fast fashion is an important lesson for degrowth proponents everywhere.
