Editor’s Note
2 months ago, Adios launched in Austin, Texas—and it’s been a whirlwind of Goodbye Bags, pick up runs, and learnings along the way. We’ve rehome hundreds of items already, from dozens of Austinites who wanted to say goodbye to their extra stuff—but feel good about it. If you’re in the Austin area—get 50% off in November with code: HEYMAREN and let us know what you think!
🌍 Top News
Savers Value Village is riding the trade-down wave. When prices climb, thrifting shines—and SVV’s model fits the moment: appealing prices compared to buying new, no tariff exposure, and teens embracing purchasing secondhand. Canada (about 40% of sales) was a 2024 drag but is improving, while U.S. traffic is trending up as SVV continues to invest in ops and tech. TL;DR: more shoppers looking for smart deals, more room for reuse (more here).
Black Friday is losing steam—while secondhand is gaining. Shoppers aren’t waiting for one day anymore: only 11% plan to buy mainly on Black Friday/Cyber Monday, while 47% of people polled will spread their spending across the season. Meanwhile, 62% have bought or would buy secondhand, and 18% plan to use resale platforms for holiday fashion and gifts (more here).
Cotopaxi launches a dedicated resale shop with ThredUp. Cleaning out adventure gear shouldn’t take a weekend—Cotopaxi Pre-Loved, powered by ThredUp’s RaaS, lets customers print a free label, send in Cotopaxi (or other brands), and earn Cotopaxi shopping credit; items are resold on a Cotopaxi-branded storefront (check it out). The rollout also adds a closet clean-out program, sharpening Cotopaxi’s circularity push. (more here).
👉 Founder of the Week
ML Engineer turned Founder with a passion for Fashion (reuse)
Chris Lucas
🌉 Background: Chris is a machine learning engineer who worked at Uber, Meta, and Instagram.
👑 Achievement: SecondSense just secured $2M in funding, led by Outlander VC.
🙈 Edge: Chris’s leverage of viral TikToks has been an impressive way to win both new users and investors. Check them out here.
If Machine Learning + Luxury had a baby…
Chris Lucas (HBS ’25) is building SecondSense—a market-intel layer for luxury resale that unifies listings across marketplaces and uses AI to surface true market value (and the best place to buy).
The startup recently raised $2M led by Outlander VC to push deeper into AI, personalization, and resale partnerships—proof that real infrastructure is finally coming to secondhand. One early user saved $3K on a Birkin by spotting price gaps—a win for shoppers and a playbook for operators. Big picture: SecondSense points to shared pricing rails and partner APIs, where marketplaces, shops, and services plug into the same live index to lower CAC, boost liquidity, and turn “20 open tabs” into one confident purchase path.
Why it matters: transparent comps drive trust, smoother sourcing, and faster sell-through; standardized data reduces return risk and enables smarter pricing, attribution, and cross-listing. As Lucas puts it, secondhand becomes a first-choice category when it runs on the kind of intel systems that power housing and autos.
👀 In Case You Missed It…
Redwood Materials announces a $350M new round to scale battery recycling & energy-storage operations.
PayMore’s CEO shares how the electronics resale chain is scaling past 100 stores—mixing e-comm with franchised brick-and-mortar, tight data-wipe protocols, and nostalgia-driven demand to fuel rapid growth.
Gen Z has turned online reselling into a go-to side hustle—and cross-listing across platforms (increasingly automated) is the cheat code for scale
Circular Austin Showcase + Accelerator
The city is offering a $10,000 cash prize for reuse/repair/circular organizations that show viability, fundability, and impact in the Greater Austin area.
Application Deadline: Nov 16, 2025 (link)
Location: Austin, Texas
Caribbean Biodiversity Fund Grants
$400,000-$2M funding available (co-financing required) for circular projects to prevent/remove marine waste in Caribbean/ODA countries.
Applications Deadline: Nov 26, 2025
Did You Know? During World War II, Britain rationed new clothing (starting June 1941) and launched the nationwide “Make Do and Mend” campaign—complete with government newsreels and classes—to teach people to repair, alter, and reuse garments instead of buying new.
Till next time,