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This luxury 'full circle marketplace' lets you buy high-end clothes at a massively steep discount — here's how to try it

If you sell your items, you receive 100% of the asking price in store credit.

Full circle marketplace

Photo Credit: @marahoffman/ Instagram

Sustainable fashion label Mara Hoffman wants to keep its clothes in circulation for as long as possible. Its Full Circle Marketplace helps do just that by letting consumers shop and sell pre-loved Mara Hoffman pieces.

How does the Full Circle Marketplace By Mara Hoffman work?

Like other resale platforms, to participate in the Full Circle Marketplace, you'll need an account on the Mara Hoffman website. If you've purchased new items from the site, you can browse your order history to list any of those items for resale. Otherwise, upload photos, add a description, and list the price. 

After you've loaded up your items, they are reviewed and approved by Mara Hoffman before your listing goes live, which can take about a week. The program only accepts pre-worn Mara Hoffman pieces, and all items must have been purchased no earlier than 2019 (due to a technical issue with the site, which the label hopes to resolve soon to allow for older pieces). 

Once the item has been purchased by another user, you ship out the piece(s) using the free shipping label you can download from the site. You'll need to pack up the items with your own packing materials. 

After the buyer accepts your items, you receive 100% of the asking price in Mara Hoffman store credit. The label doesn't take a commission from your sale. 

If you're on the buying end of the program, you should receive your items within a few days — sellers have three days to ship. All sales are final unless the item(s) arrive in a condition that does not meet the description.

Why should I shop at the Full Circle Marketplace By Mara Hoffman?

Mara Hoffman's clothing is sustainably made to begin with, earning a 'Good' rating from the Good On You website. By using eco-friendly materials, the label's clothes are better for the planet, making it even more beneficial to keep those high-quality pieces out of landfills.

And as a luxury label, Mara Hoffman pieces aren't cheap. Most new dresses cost at least a few hundred dollars, with some even priced over $1,000, so shopping the collections secondhand can help you save money.

Are there similar programs to the Full Circle Marketplace By Mara Hoffman?

Fashion labels offering secondhand markets for their clothes is becoming extremely common. Luxury label Oscar de la Renta recently launched Encore, its own secondhand platform for authenticated pieces. Athletic wear giant lululemon now also takes back used workout items. And for more sustainably-made slow fashion, you can also check out Lucky Sweater, which matches users to trade their approved slow fashion label items.

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