In this second article of our recommerce series, we dive deeper into the ingredients that need to be present for a recommerce marketplace to work. We’ve drawn lessons from investing in 10+ recommerce propositions and interviews with many founders and investors in the space. This resulted in our “recommerce checklist”, a cheat sheet for anyone who likes to quickly assess the viability of the market before launching your recommerce idea. Not sure about how to get going? Our inbox is wide open (holllllla at us! Find me at bas@dff.ventures)
Why it’s important
Not all verticals are equally suited for the recommerce formula, nor is the classic and simple marketplace model ( pure asset-light and virtually no other value-add services besides facilitating the transaction) always the best way to capture value in these markets. “Stacking” value-added layers isn’t just a nice-to-have anymore, it’s becoming table stakes for any marketplace - and even more so in recommerce - where trust, quality assurance, and transaction complexity are much higher. The more layers you own , from grading and certification to logistics or financing, the higher your take-rate and defensibility. At DFF, we actively work together with our portfolio companies to build features that unlock extra margin potential. See below for a simplified overview of how “simple” (recommerce)marketplaces can evolve into more advanced platform (including higher take-rates).
Especially in the early days, it can be easier and more effective to buy instead of to broker. Doing so allows you to fully own the transaction, control the quality, and build the trust and liquidity needed to kickstart the flywheel. In recommerce, where product condition can vary widely and pricing is opaque and non-standardized, that extra layer of control can make or break your proposition. Founders should think carefully about where recommerce works and how value is best captured in their chosen vertical.
Recommerce launching playbook
We’ve outlined a step-by-step approach for early-stage founders (or investors for that matter!) to assess the viability of a recommerce business quickly. And don’t worry if your model doesn’t fit this checklist perfectly. The goal here is to help you identify whether the market has the right “ingredients” to make a recommerce proposition viable, and if not, how your approach might need to evolve.
1. Check for high residual value (is there enough money left?)
Identifying where recommerce might work starts with a simple principle: focus on categories where used items still hold significant value (e.g. electronics, jewellery, designer items, furniture, vehicles). These are the areas where the gap between new and used pricing creates room for a “win-win” exchange. Your transaction unit should still have enough value to support all the costs involved in recommcerce, from your CAC to grading costs, reverse logistics and your net margin. If the resale price is too low, your unit economics will break.
That’s why categories with high residual value (where used items still fetch ~40-80% of their original price) are much more viable for recommerce. Think phones, buses, high-end furniture, industrial equipment, watches, and high-end fashion. These give you enough margin to recoup the costs of value-added services and take a healthy cut.
Where it works:
- Phones & electronics: GetMobil (DFF portco),Back Market, and Reboxed thrive because used iPhones can still resell for €300–600+
- Luxury fashion & watches: Chrono24 or The RealReal monetize trust in high-value resale (often €1,000+ per item)
- Vehicles & buses: Platforms like Fleequid (DFF portco) or Boom & Bucket tap into €50k+ used inventory, giving them margin to cover inspections and logistics
Where it doesn’t:
- Low-cost fast fashion: Items from lower-priced brands like Primark or Shein often have near-zero resale value, making recommerce not really viable
2. Assess take-rate potential (can you take a meaningful enough cut?)
Even if a product has high residual value, you should always assess whether your platform can realistically earn a meaningful take-rate. In recommerce, platforms live or die by your ability to charge for trust, access, or convenience (bonus points if you can crack all three. If that’s the case, go an say hi to us!)
Take-rate potential is primarily shaped by two factors:
- How much friction you’re removing in the transaction (think grading, warranty, reverse logistics, discovery)
- How commoditised the product is (more about that in the next step)
The more commoditized the product, the harder it is to justify a premium on top. In these markets, buyers are typically well-informed, (very) price-sensitive, and often have direct offline relationships that go years backs. You are at risk of becoming “just a lead-gen tool” unless you can truly offer something they can’t get elsewhere, like quality certification, pricing transparency, or fast fulfilment.
High-value B2C items (like refurbished electronics or watches) often support 10–20% take rates because buyers care about assurance and ease. In contrast, high AOV B2B categories (like construction materials or generic spareparts) may have thin take-rate potential because transactions are usually already facilitated by large brokers. Unless you actively manage trust, paperwork, financing and logistics, its (very) hard to justify your margin.
Where it works
- Refurbished medical equipment. Inspection, certification, and compliance (e.g. CE/FDA) are critical in high-stakes purchases → opportunity for higher margins
Example: Zageno, EverX, Dotmed
- Collectables (e.g. trading cards, vintage toys). Pricing is subjective and buyers value transparency, condition grading, and trust. Authentication is key!
Example: StockX, WhatNot, Vintage Cash Cow (DFF portco)
Where it doesn't:
- (Secondary) Raw materials: If you’re in a vertical where buyers already know sellers, pricing is transparent and set by indices/spot markets, and goods are easy to grade, you’ll struggle to justify much of a cut. The more commoditized the category, the more you’ll need to embed services to avoid being disintermediated. That’s why recommerce is tricky in “pure” (secondary) commodities like metal, glass, plastic.
Example: Most players struggle here, but there are exceptions. Metycle succeeds by offering a grading + pricing layer + taking position. Safi and Plasticfinder seem to have cracked this in recycled plastics.
In short, you need both buyer willingness and a platform value-add to justify your rake. Whether that’s possible often depends on how commoditized the product is, which brings us to the next step.
3. Commoditzed vs Differentiated goods (can you justify a premium?)
This step is tightly linked to the one above. In fact, your ability to earn a meaningful take rate often depends on whether the goods in your category are commoditized or differentiated.
In commoditized markets, goods are largely interchangeable. Whether it’s recycled plastic pellets or bulk steel, buyers only care about price and availability, and often have direct, offline relationships with sellers. If your platform doesn’t offer significant added value, like pricing intelligence, compliance/KYC features, or guaranteed specs, you’ll be treated as an unnecessary middleman, not a trusted marketplace. This makes it extremely difficult to justify more than a 1–3% cut (if at all!).
In contrast, differentiated goods, such as vintage watches, trading cards or specialized lab equipment, are harder to value and more variable in quality. This creates pricing opacity and trust gaps that you as a recommerce platform can fill. That’s why these verticals can support 10–20%+ take rates, since you’re building high levels of trust through curating, authenticating, and grading.
In other words: differentiation creates room for value-added services, which in turn creates room for your margin.
Where it works:
- Specialized lab equipment. Pricing and condition vary widely, and buyers rely on trust, specs, and documentation → opportunity for grading, certification, and extra margin (10%+).
Example: XX
Where it doesn’t:
- Standardized materials (e.g. plastic pellets, steel rods): If specs and prices are public, and quality is consistent, there’s little room to add value.
Exception: Even in commoditized markets, recommerce can still work if you solve for grading, availability, or speed.
Example: Metycle succeeds in scrap metal by offering standardized inspection, pricing benchmarks, and reliable cross-border shipping.
4. Repeatable resale (can you buy-sell-resell?)
In recommerce, not all goods are one-and-done. Some items retain enough value and utility to be sold multiple times throughout their lifecycle, and that opens up major advantages for both liquidity and retention.
When resale is repeatable, you get:
- More GMV per item over time
- Lower CAC (today’s buyer becomes tomorrow’s seller)
- Deeper supply-side liquidity (items flow back into the ecosystem)
- Higher LTV per user and greater overall platform liquidity, as participants “switch sides” multiple times
With goods changing hands 2+ times, you can create a flywheel effect: instead of constantly sourcing new supply, you circulate existing inventory and re-monetize it at each turn. Win-win-win!
Some categories are naturally built for this. A bus may be sold multiple times over 15 years: from a dealer to a city operator, then to broker who sells it to a rural buyer, who in turn sells it to emerging markets or scrapyard. Our portfolio Fleequid cleverly built their marketplace around this dynamic. Sames goes for a luxury handbag, which might pass through five closets in its life. But a cheap IKEA chair? It usually gets sold once (if at all), then trashed.
Typical resale cycle
- Luxury fashion: 3-4x
- Jewelry & watches: 2-4x
- Vehicles (cars, buses, trucks): 2–8x (in rare cases)
- Industrial equipment: 1-2x
- Mass-market fashion: 1-2x
- Furniture & bulky goods: 1x (unless very high-end)
Why this matters:
- Increases platform revenue per asset: you can continuously monetize the same item. What's not to like?
- Turns buyers into sellers: less need to acquire new users as supply/demand can change sides
- Signals liquidity: If items reliably resell, it attracts more participants on both sides
Where it works:
- High-value and durable goods: Vehicles, luxury fashion, watches, jewelery
Example: Chrono24, Fleequid (DFF Portco) , platforms where inventory often loops through the platform
Where it doesn’t:
- Low-durability or rapidly depreciating goods: Fast fashion, low-end furniture, or commodity tools
Example: Cheap fashion sold once on Vinted, rarely re-listed again
5. Primary vs Secondary goods (are you actually cheaper than primary goods?)
This step is a surprisingly overlooked (but absolutely critical!) filter. For recommerce to work, secondary goods need to be cheaper than new ones (…). No sh*t? But in some categories, this price logic is flipped: new goods are cheaper than their recycled or reused counterparts. This usually happens when:
- Processing or refurbishing used goods is expensive
- Supply chains for new goods are more efficient or subsidized
- Demand is extremely quality-sensitive, and buyers avoid second-hand altogether
When this happens, recommerce (obviously) doesn’t work. No matter how good your UX or added services are, buyers will simply buy new/primary, and sellers won’t be able to move inventory unless they take a deep discount, which won’t take you very far.
Why this matters:
- No or very marginal price gap = no reason to buy used
- Kills supply-side incentives (why list if you get undercut by retail?)
- Undermines trust: if new is cheaper and reliable, recommerce is not worth it
Where it works:
- Tightly linked to re-sell ability: durable goods with long shelf lives and high new prices: Vehicles, jewelry, electronics, high-end furniture
Example: Back Market’s phones are 30–50% cheaper than new, yet functionally comparable - Luxury fashion: Strong brand equity allows for resale below retail, while still retaining significant value
Example: GRAIL, Vestiaire Collective
Where it doesn’t:
- Recycled plastics: Processing, sorting, and certifying quality make recycled plastic more expensive than virgin plastic in many markets
Example: Even B2B players struggle to compete with industrial suppliers of virgin resin - Low-end furniture and tools: New items from IKEA or discount retailers can be so cheap that used versions offer little savings
Example: A used €15 chair from IKEA is rarely resold unless bundled or hyperlocal
6. Sufficient Supply & Demand (is there enough volume on both sides?
Recommerce platforms only work when there’s enough volume on both sides: buyers and sellers. If one side is missing, transactions slow and liquidity ‘dries up’ (excuse the pun here).
You can test market appetite and whether there is enough supply/demand by using early proxies:
- Are people searching for second-hand products in this category (e.g., Google Trends)?
- Do existing marketplaces (for B2C, check classifieds like eBay, Craigslist, gumroad. For B2B, check Troostwijk Auctions, Autoline, Mobile.de etc) show >100 listings?
- How quickly do items sell? (Turnover velocity = solid proxy for demand)
The ideal market has both depth (volume) and velocity (movement).
Why this matters:
- Signals market opportunity: Healthy second-hand ecosystems indicate user willingness to pay (which means that you don’t need to ‘educate’ the market which might slow down adoption)
- Boosts retention: If buyers reliably find what they want, they keep coming back.
7. Market fragmentation (are there many buyers and sellers?)
Tightly linked to the above. Just as with “normal” marketplaces, you need a high-degree of fragmentation if you want your recommerce platform to succeed. Discovery is often the first value your provide as a recommerce marketplace: connecting buyers and sellers who don’t already know each other. That’s only possible when the market is fragmented on both sides. If five major suppliers control 80% of supply, they don’t need you. And if buyers already go direct, there’s no room for intermediation. For network effects to kick in (supply bringing on demand and vice versa), you need many parties on both sides of the platform
Why this matters:
- Creates room for aggregation: Fragmented markets are hard to navigate, and that’s exactly your opportunity
- Allows for strong network-effects to emerge, with platform value increasing as supply brings on demand and vice versa
Where it works:
- Vintage clothing and collectibles: Thousands of small buyers and sellers looking to transact
- Second-hand tools and vehicles: Supply comes from scattered dealers or individuals
Where it doesn’t:
- Highly bespoke components (aircrafts etc): Few buyers, few sellers, all have established direct relationships
8. Operational Scalability (can your model handle friction at scale?
Recommerce is often ops-heavy by default. Given the second-hand nature of your transaction unit(s), features like inspection, refurbishment, shipping, returns are a must. At DFF , we have seen many recommerce evolving into tech-enabled brokers, where you as a platform take position (which both has its pro’s and cons) More about this in another series!
If your unit economics can’t handle that complexity, or your ops don’t scale, your business will break as volume grows.Some founders overcome this by embedding logistics from day one, while others start with a vertical SaaS proposition that
Why this matters:
- Ops drive margin: Poor handling = customer churn, lower trust, and cost overruns
- Limits category fit: Low-value, bulky items rarely scale well unless ops are automated
- Influences business model: Some markets need consignment or warehousing, not asset-light models
Where it works:
- Phones, watches, and jewelry: Small, valuable, easy to ship and inspect
Where it doesn’t:
- Cheap furniture or fast fashion: Bulky or low-margin items can’t absorb the cost of reverse logistics
- Manually graded goods with no software layer: too expensive to scale
Building or investing in recommerce? We love to chat. Let us know your thoughts here! You can download the recommerce cheat sheet here.
