How Incentives Can Shift Consumer Behavior Towards Circular Fashion
CFC Member Spotlight: Amy Hebb of Second Serve Resale
Author and interviewer: Stella Hertantyo
Amy Hebb is the founder of Second Serve Resale, a nonprofit organization based in Rhode Island that incentivizes the purchase of secondhand clothing by sending 85% of the proceeds of each sale to a nonprofit that their customers select.
With a professional background as a history teacher, pilates instructor, and attorney, Amy started Second Serve Resale during the height of the pandemic when she realized that charities should be able to get a slice of the resale boom, not just for-profit businesses.
I interviewed Amy in the Conscious Fashion Collective Membership as part of our Member Spotlight interview series.
Below are some of the highlights from the conversation, including:
How incentives can help people shift their fashion habits to more circular ones,
Why getting different stakeholders on board is key to a successful idea,
And learnings from starting a non-profit fashion business.
What was the moment you knew you wanted to start your nonprofit organization, Second Serve Resale?
In 2019 before the pandemic, I was working as a lawyer. I noticed that The RealReal and ThredUp were getting more investors. People wanted to make money, and secondhand clothing is a commodity that most people have access to in their wardrobes.
That’s when I had the thought: Is there a way for charitable organizations to also get a slice of this new resale boom? What if when you buy a secondhand garment, the proceeds go to a nonprofit that you choose?
The second part of the idea was that I realized that contributing financially toward the work of a nonprofit could incentivize people to buy secondhand. At that stage, it was just an idea that I thought someone else should act on.
Then the pandemic hit, and my work environment shifted significantly. I took this as a moment to shift gears and bring this idea to life myself. I haven’t looked back since.
How does your organizational business model contribute to a circular economy?
The primary business model is resale. New clothing in the typical fast fashion model requires natural resource depletion, creates waste and pollution, and upholds exploitative working conditions for garment workers. Buying secondhand means you don’t have to worry about these impacts, because nothing new is being made. You’re reusing, which is a circular fashion practice.
If the quality of the garment is high, this circular practice can continue multiple times and benefit multiple nonprofits. For example, you buy a garment from Second Serve Resale, and 85% of the proceeds go to Meals on Wheels. Then a while later, you might donate that garment back to me, someone else buys it, and further proceeds are sent to the nonprofit.
How did you initially get clothing donors and other non-profits on board with your idea?
The clothing donors and nonprofits were easy. When I first started, I took a bunch of garments from my wardrobe and asked my friends and colleagues for clothing that they no longer wore. The donor part was easy because there is no shortage of clothing in this world. Then I started reaching out to my community, because a lot of people are looking for ways to rehome items they no longer use.
Picture from Second Serve Resale’s Instagram
The only challenge with donations is trying to make sure that the quality is high enough for resale. But some people own high-quality garments and feel hesitant to drop these items off at the Salvation Army. The Second Serve Resale model is an incentive for these kinds of donors.
Getting nonprofits on board was easy, too. I started with five nonprofits in Rhode Island that I had connections with personally. I pitched to their teams, and when they heard that 85% of each sale would go to them, it was an easy “yes”. The agreement was also that these nonprofits would promote Second Serve Resale to their audiences as a way to get revenue in.
Now we work with 19 nonprofits, including Black Girls Sew, Center Theatre Group, Chayah Movement, Foster Forward, and Invisible Food Pantry.
At the beginning, I thought it would be a hassle to keep track of all the nonprofits and manage the logistics of getting the proceeds to them. But I love cultivating these personal relationships, because it allows me to stay so connected to them. I know what they’re doing, I get updates on their new programs, and it makes me feel like I’m working alongside them.
How can incentives help shift people into more sustainable habits?
The real hurdle I’ve encountered is getting customers on board. Ideally we’d like people to clean out their closets and repopulate them with resale. A lot of people are keen to donate, but aren’t sold on buying secondhand. I use this opportunity to share the benefits of resale — it’s cheaper, more environmentally friendly, and you get more unique pieces.
There are so many positive reasons to buy resale. There should be enough existing incentives. But the more incentives, the better. That’s why I added the nonprofit element as a further incentive. This element gets a lot of people to take the plunge and try resale, because they’re motivated by the fact that they’re supporting a good cause. Everybody is different and everyone cares about different things, so a variety of incentives is ideal.
I also try to add personal touches that make the resale experience memorable for customers, such as adding handwritten notes and including a free sewing kit. I hope that this kind of personalized customer service is what will keep them coming back to Second Serve Resale. Honestly, even if they just continue to buy secondhand in general, that’s a huge win.
What has been the most notable impact of Second Serve Resale over the past three years?
What comes to mind first is the community of impact that has been created around Second Serve Resale. Building relationships with donors, nonprofits, and customers has been joyful.
One of the donors at Second Serve Resale was interested in mending and repairs. So a new development this year is that we’ve started a Sewing Circle that meets regularly at my church. We work together, helping each other on a variety of projects from repairs and upcycling, to mending donations from Second Serve Resale that need some attention, quilting, visible mending, and textile art. This is an example of a community that has grown from Second Serve Resale.
Creating these spaces for people to connect and discuss ways to reduce their consumption is a big part of our mission. So seeing this Sewing Circle come to life as a result of Second Serve Resale is my definition of a success story.
On the nonprofit side, there is also a dollars-and-cents impact. Since we started, we’ve been able to give over $40,000 to the nonprofits that we work with. As a customer of Second Serve Resale, I think it’s also gratifying to know that you are part of something much bigger than yourself.
Second Serve Resale exists to help people think about a different way of solving an old problem of overconsumption and environmental harm. At the same time, they’re learning about new ways to support community nonprofits. Creating additional ways for people to get involved in these causes is one of our biggest impacts and wins.
What is your ultimate vision for Second Serve Resale?
The ultimate dream is normalizing the concept of resale to a point where it’s mainstream for the everyday person.
On a practical level, it would be great to attract some long-term funding. Currently, we’re a volunteer team, but I do believe that people working at nonprofits should get paid so that we can continue this work.
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