John Lewis is piloting a money for old clothes scheme as it bids to cut the quantity of clothing sent to landfill.
John Lewis is testing the idea with about 100 customers who will be able to sell any unwanted John Lewis clothing back to the retailer, irrespective of condition, The Telegraph reported.
They will be paid with an e-voucher that they can then use in-store.
The app-based service links to customers’ John Lewis account data about their purchases, in-store or online, over the past five years.
Customers can choose items they want to sell and see how much they will receive for them. Once a customer has at least £50 worth of clothing to sell, a courier will collect it.
Returned products can then be mended, resold or recycled into new products.
John Lewis sustainability manager Martyn White said: “We already take back used sofas, beds and large electrical items and either donate them to charity or reuse and recycle parts, and want to offer a service for fashion products.
“It’s estimated that the average UK household owns around £4,000 worth of clothes, but around 30% of that clothing has not been worn for at least a year.”
John Lewis developed the venture with social enterprise Stuffstr.
Stuffstr chief executive John Atcheson said: “Every item has value, even old socks, and we want to make it as simple as possible for John Lewis customers to benefit from their unwanted clothes.”
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