As the leader in luxury resale, we are engaging our 35.2+ million global members in the circular economy and helping create a more sustainable future for fashion. From inception through December 31, 2023, consignment through The RealReal has kept 37.5+ million luxury items in circulation, while saving 4 billion liters of water and 75,867 metric tons of carbon.

At a time when one garbage truck’s worth of textiles is landfilled or burned every second, driving awareness of resale and sustainability is crucial. That’s why we put sustainability in the spotlight: in our marketing and advertising, throughout our shopping experience, and in conversation with both our community and the industry.

As a result, we’re changing the way people shop. Approximately 40% of our consignors say environmental impact or extending the life cycle of luxury are key motivators for selling, and approximately 40% of customers say they shop The RealReal as a replacement for fast fashion.

Educating and empowering consumers to make more sustainable choices drove us to develop a first-of-its-kind Sustainability Calculator that quantifies the impact of resale on the planet. We use that data in the product descriptions buyers see and the sales pages consignors see to show their positive impact.

By forging the first resale partnerships with luxury brands, including Gucci, Burberry and Stella McCartney, we are changing the luxury industry’s viewpoint on secondhand and raising awareness of the importance of resale. In one year of partnering with Stella McCartney, we drove a 65% increase in customers selling Stella McCartney items. Our partnership with Gucci included the launch of an online shop featuring pre-loved Gucci items. The Gucci partnership is grounded in sustainability as The RealReal and Gucci will together plant a tree with One Tree Planted for each Gucci purchase or consignment. Importantly, it’s the first time a brand partnership has included an incentive to buy resale. In three months of partnering, consignment of Gucci items grew more than twice as fast as overall consignment at The RealReal.

We are actively working to drive global change toward a more sustainable future for fashion. We were the first resale company to join the UN’s Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action and are members of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition and UN Global Compact. The RealReal is also one of the founding organizations of American Circular Textiles policy group — or ACT — a collective of retailers and companies cofounded by Circular Services Group (CSG) who are focused on advocating for policy promoting circularity and reuse as a waste management solution. Through these efforts and more, we're committed to preserving natural resources and reducing our carbon footprint.

As a business that accepts consigned items from people throughout the U.S. and sells to customers around the world, we have an incredibly diverse community. We aim to reflect that diversity of gender, culture and perspective within our team, from individual contributors and managers to our senior leadership and board. We believe diversity and inclusion foster a collaborative culture, which fuels our ability to innovate and disrupt.