Refresh, repeat

The Deja Vu Recycle Store launched its app in 2017. In 2020, it started its secondhand clothing business and simultaneously opened a store on Anfu Road in Shanghai. In 2024, a new store opened in Hongqiao Tiandi in Shanghai. It has also developed its apparel and electronics resale business.

As of July 2024, Deja Vu recycles nearly 600,000 books and approximately 300,000 clothing items on a yearly basis. Currently, it has over 8,000 brands. Their products are sold with guarantees about their authenticity, and Deja Vu promises customers compensation equivalent to three times the purchase price if the goods are found to be counterfeit. Pirated apparel is rejected or destroyed when detected, the company said.

Ye Lu, a staff member of Deja Vu's marketing department, said the company is building a community of secondhand goods enthusiasts through numerous social media platforms.

"Previously, we used WeChat and Weibo, but recently we've tried new lifestyle platforms like Xiaohongshu, product reviews, and articles, to better connect with users and make them more comfortable with secondhand goods," Ye said.

In 2020, when Deja Vu was researching the feasibility of expanding into the secondhand clothing business, over 90 percent of survey respondents said they would not wear pre-worn clothes. Now, nearly half of their new customers get to know secondhand clothing through Deja Vu, and become repeat buyers.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Deja Vu established an authentication process for secondhand clothing, built a fully automated secondhand clothing sorting facility, opened a popular secondhand store on Anfu Road in Shanghai, and launched clothing sales on their app.

In mid-May, Deja Vu opened a store at Hongqiao Tian Di, with an area of 1,500 square meters, selling nearly 6,000 secondhand clothing items.

"We have been witnesses to the gradual development of the secondhand market in China over the years, and it fills us with confidence about the future," Ye said.