How to Create a Fashion App like Depop, Vinted, or Mercari?

Fashion has always been one of the trailblazing industries for eCommerce. The lower barrier to entry, diverse supply chain, and simplified logistics make it easier for businesses, while consumers too love to shop online, for a whole range of fashion products. 

Now with the trend of thrift shopping catching on, the pull of eCommerce is even greater. Whether it’s accessibility of the latest trends for the value-conscious consumer or the promise of a sustainable alternative for the eco-warrior, online commerce for used fashion items is thriving ― with apps like Vinted, Mercari, and Depop leading the charge. 

Collectively, these apps accounted for 1.57 billion downloads in January 2024. And this data is for the US alone. With its rising popularity, thrift fashion is not about narrowing down to an eCommerce niche anymore ― it is opening up to lucrative eCommerce possibilities. If you are considering this niche, read further, as we reveal an easier process to create an app like Vinted, Depop or Mercari. 

Let’s dive in… 

Leading Online Fashion Apps for Used Clothes 

Popularity of an industry niche is built not just on favorable consumer interests, but also on leaders in the domain, which gives consumers that first experience of what such a business has to offer. For the online thrift industry, apps like Vinted, Mercari, Poshmark, and others give users that experience. All these apps are based on C2C business model i.e. users can switch between selling and buying on the platform.

However, each of these platforms has its unique strengths, catering to different user preferences and needs within the online fashion thrift market. Some focus more on community engagement, others on specific niches or international presence, while some offer a broader range of products beyond fashion. Let’s explore them in detail.

Depop

London-based Depop engages a 30 million strong community of thrift aficionados. In business since 2011, the thrift marketplace has evolved into a vibrant fashion thrift app. It stands out with its strategy of a social media-liker experience and a very easy to use user interface. 

These make it even more popular amongst its target audience i.e. Gen Z ― and streamlines the functioning of its C2C business model. Depop primarily focuses on apparel, with emphasis on streetwear, vintage clothing, and unique, trendy fashion items.

Vinted

Vinted is a popular app from Lithuania that’s all about second-hand clothing. Here, people can sell, buy, or trade their clothes easily. This app is successful for its user-friendly interface and useful functionalities such as discounts, rewards, and more. It’s a big community with 75 million active members across 16 countries.

Vinted also offers price negotiations* between the buyers and the sellers. Moreover, the buyers can also easily find the products using filters and sorting options. These makes apps like Vinted an overall flexible shopping ecosystem. 

*Apps like Vinted come with a Request-For-Quote feature for price negotiations. Connect with our experts to know how you can leverage RFQ functionality in eCommerce. 

ThredUp

ThredUp is another online thrift app designed for buying and selling clothing for only women and kids. The app defines its USP by focusing on luxury fashion resale products. The buyers always have an option to return the product, but have to pay a small fee of $1.99.

Some distinct ThredUp features are an automatic 12-hour hold on any item added to your cart, and the availability of clear and well-detailed product descriptions. Moreover, the business follows thorough vetting and offers only tested items on the platform. 

Mercari

The biggest C2C marketplace from Japan, Mercari is a platform for buyers looking for great deals on pre-owned clothes and more. The thrift fashion marketplace offers discounts of up to 70% off on regular prices. Every day, around 350,000 new items like clothes, shoes, and accessories are added to the app. 

Mercari offers purpose-built features for a C2C user base. There is buyer protection and easy returns for the buyers ― and a simplified selling process for the sellers. Moreover, the platform is intuitive for sellers to list their products easily and also has features such as prepaid shipping labels for streamlined sales.  

Poshmark

Poshmark is another social recommerce app founded in 2011. The platform is focused on buying and selling new and secondhand items across popular categories including beauty, fashion, home decor, and so on. Poshmark currently serves over 80 million registered users across Canada, Australia, and the US.

Some key features of the Poshmark app include price negotiations and the capability for sellers to create a closet (independent virtual storefronts). Moreover, the app also adds to the social experience by allowing buyers to follow, share, or comment on product listings. 

These are some of the pivotal brands that are driving the domain of fashion re-commerce. With the knowledge of what these have to offer, let’s understand how these work.  

What is the business model of an app like Vinted?

As discussed above, an eCommerce business where users can sell, buy, or do both of these activities is a C2C business model. Such a platform typically focuses on engaging interactions between the users and ease of use, especially for those interested in selling on the platform.

If the user chooses to sell on the platform, they register as a seller, list their products, add easy-to-understand/detailed product descriptions, and set the prices. 

Similarly, if the user wishes to buy from the platform, they register as a buyer, search for their desired product or go through the listed products, choose the best-suited product, and complete the transaction on the platform. 

All such transactions and activities on the platform are managed by the Admin. The infrastructure and back-end support is provided by the business. In some cases, these also give door-to-door pick-up and shipping. 

How Does a website like Depop or Vinted Make Money?

The next question is what is in it for the business? Or rather, how they generate revenue from these activities. Below are covered a few possible revenue channels for your reference. 

Commissions

A fixed percentage or flat rate is charged on the total selling price including the shipping charges on every sale made on the platform. For example, platforms like ThredUp and Depop typically charge sellers a commission ranging from 10% to 20% on the final sale price.

Paid Advertisements

The app charges sellers fees to promote their products on the top for increased reach and visibility. For instance, apps like Poshmark charge sellers a flat fee for certain high-end items or offer optional promotional features at an additional cost.

Subscription Services 

These are additional services that a platform offers in exchange for a recurring fee. For instance, on an app like Vinted, the sellers have to register for a pro account to register as businesses. This is in essence a subscription service by Vinted that also comes with additional benefits like free unlimited listing and more. 

Finally, How to create an app like Depop or Vinted?

Alright! Coming to the business end of the blog, how do you get started with your business? There are a few ways you can go about this. Let’s discuss.

Build from scratch: The first method is to develop the entire fashion app right from the ground up. It generally takes around 4-8 months till you can get the first look at how your eCommerce website will look like. There can be further work, depending upon whether the platform aligns with your business goals. Apart from the time, this process can set you back by anything between $20k to $200k, depending upon several variables. The competitive nature of eCommerce means that committing this big, right from the start, might not be the best possible option. So what is the way around this? That is when we come to the second option. 

Using a Turnkey Solution: On a broader level, using a turnkey solution can let you bypass developing the whole app from scratch process. But it will depend upon which solution you choose. Some will give you low-code software, to further build upon, some are SaaS-based and give their software only as a service with essential features offered as paid add-ons, while others are complete readymade solutions ― ready to use and free to own. 

All of these options will help you save costs and fasten the go-to-market time for your business. However, choosing to use a customizable readymade solution will help you create a fashion app like Vinted in the quickest time and with the least capital investment. 

Example of a fashion marketplace built with YoKart

Upcoming store is a contemporary fashion marketplace that thrives on an innovative business model of introducing upcoming fashion items even before they are launched in the market. The fashion eCommerce platform is powered by YoKart, offering its users an engaging shopping experience, and giving all users the functionalities to conduct their activities with ease.

Get started with YoKart 

A leading readymade solution for fashion apps is YoKart. It comes with intuitive UI/UX, a range of essential eCommerce features, and multiple business APIs pre-integrated. The solution is customizable and is compatible with addition of functionalities or integration with third-party solutions. Moreover, YoKart is backed by an in-house team for all customization needs. 

Wrapping up

In an era where both sustainability and fast fashion are trending, thrift apps like Depop, Vinted, and Mercari, serve as an intersection of both these consumer needs. As an entrepreneur, if you wish to create a fashion app, you can consider the recommerce domain, as this niche is thriving. To build an app like Depop or Vinted, Yo!Kart can be a viable choice to start. To explore more or gather information about Yo!Kart, get in touch.

FAQs

Q1. What are the benefits of creating a fashion app like ASOS, Vinted, or Mercari?

Ans: Creating a fashion app like ASOS, Vinted, and Mercari offers several benefits. 

• Provides access to a huge audience: Enter the growing online fashion market by attracting countless sellers and buyers.
• Community engagement: Promotes a sense of community among users with similar interests in fashion, sustainability, and unique styles. Features like reviews, comments, and sharing create an interactive environment.
• Generate revenue: Make money by leveraging multiple income streams such as commission, subscriptions, promoted listings, and more.
• Promote sustainability: Promote reuse of used items further reducing the environmental impact associated with fast fashion.

Q2. How long does creating a fashion app like Depop and Vinted take?
Ans: The timeline for building an app similar to Vinted, Depop, or Mercari can differ depending on the development approach leveraged. Custom development involves stages like market research, planning, and design, extending the timeline to at least 4-8 months or more due to various involved steps. On the other hand, utilizing readymade apps cuts down the time-to-market, requiring only a few days to launch your Fashion app.

Q3. What are the essential features of a fashion app like Vinted or Depop?
Ans: Each of the fashion apps mentioned in this blog come with some essential eCommerce features that are common. While they also have exclusive features of their own. For instance, some key features of an online fashion app include product search and filtering, user-friendly UI, user profiles, a secure payment system, social sharing capabilities, and reviews & ratings. Some exclusive features can be: an RFQ for an app like Vinted or the functionality to hold a product as in the case of an app like ThredUp.

For further information, discuss your requirements with our experts. We are happy to assist you. 

Q4. How to create an app like Vinted? 

Ans: An app like Depop or Vinted can be created by two approaches: 

Building from Scratch: Developing a fashion app from the ground up takes 4-8 months and costs between $20k to $200k, depending on various factors. This method provides full customization but involves significant time and financial commitment.

Using a Turnkey Solution: This alternative involves less development time and cost. Turnkey solutions range from low-code platforms to SaaS-based services and complete ready-to-use solutions. They enable faster go-to-market times and lower costs, with customizable readymade solutions being the quickest and least expensive way to create an app like Vinted.

Q5. How much does it cost to make an app like Depop?

Ans: That depends upon the method you choose: 

Custom Development costs: $20k – $200k 

Using a turnkey solution. Here leading turnkey eCommerce solutions can start as low as $499 for a lifetime of use.