eBay explained this move comes alongside the new research revealing that 70% of the nation wears 50% or less of their wardrobe on a day-to-day basis. Credit: Shutterstock

eBay has made it free to sell all pre-owned clothing, including everything that has been worn once, or many times to brand news items with tags. This also includes existing individual fashion listings from before 8 April.

The e-commerce site shared that pre-owned fashion lovers already benefit from “zero buyer fees” and are protected with eBay’s money back guarantee and customer services at no additional cost.

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eBay explained this move comes alongside the new research revealing that 70% of the nation wears 50% or less of their wardrobe on a day-to-day basis, with 92% of the nation saying they have over one item of clothing they haven’t worn in the last 12 months.

According to eBay, the average consumer is holding onto over £400 worth of clothing that they don’t wear, and estimated that the nation is sitting on £16.3bn worth of clothing isn’t worn.

New website features

eBay UK is additionally streamlining its platform to make buying and selling pre-owned fashion smoother.

The e-commerce site is offering AI-generated item descriptions to all UK sellers which it said could “cut down listing time significantly.”

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eBay also plans on piloting eBay Live, an interactive livestream shopping experience, in the UK with select sellers in the coming weeks.

eBay believes, eBay Live will allow its users to attend live auctions, shop exclusive deals and buy in real time. This follows a successful run of eBay Live in the US after it was launched in 20022 and hosted hundreds of live events every week.

In 2023, eBay shared that it saved over 1.6 million kilograms of waste going to landfill, equivalent to the weight of more than 4 million shirts, through the sale of pre-loved fashion.

Kirsty Keoghan, general manager of global fashion for eBay, said: “Free fashion selling has come at the right time for a nation sitting on billions of pounds worth of unwanted clothes. We know selling clothes can sometimes feel like a chore, so free selling and new updates like new AI-powered listings, will help more of us to sell clothes easily – putting more cash in pockets. By encouraging more people to buy and sell pre-loved clothing, we’ll keep more clothes out of landfill as we collectively enable a circular economy for fashion.”

In September 2023, eBay partnered with British Fashion Council (BFC), offering a total of £100,000 to small businesses, social enterprises and charities focused on circular fashion technology and solutions.

Additionally, it was part of a business coalition with 131 businesses including apparel brands and retailers and wrote an open letter to G20 leaders urging them to phase out fossil fuels ahead of COP28 in a letter coordinated by non-profit coalition We Mean Business.