Nike enters the resale market with the launch of the Nike Refurbished program

Recently, sports footwear and apparel giant Nike is launching a new program, Nike Refurbished, which resells returned shoes at a discount price. After shoppers return a pair of shoes to a participating Nike store within the 60-day return window, the eligible shoes are added to the Nike Refurbished product lineup.

Nike inspects and refurbishes each pair of shoes by hand , then gives them a condition grade. The program uses a variety of different products and tools to restore the shoes to as close to new condition as possible. Information on the box provides information such as the type of shoe inside and the condition grade , and customers can also scan a QR code on the box to get more information about the Nike Move to Zero climate initiative.

In fact, there are three types of sneakers for sale under the Nike Refurbished program :

Like new (maybe wear them for a day or two before returning them) ;

Wear lightly (slightly longer) ;

An appearance of imperfections (such as small burrs that occur during the manufacturing process).

Nike Refurbished is also covered by Nike's 60-day wear-and-tear test , and shoppers can return it if it's not what they need. Returned products (not used for Nike Refurbished) will be donated through community partners or recycled through the proprietary Nike Grind program, which recycles footwear products into materials such as artificial turf and athletic field surfacing.

Nike said in a statement that its plan brings great value to shoppers. It is expected that by the end of April 2021, up to 15 U.S. stores will sell Nike Refurbished shoes, and plans to integrate more such products in more U.S. stores in the coming year. Online will also be the best place to resell shoes, and refurbished products may even cannibalize in-store sales of new sneakers.

This is also mainly because clothing resale is a growing market, and it's not just Nike. Nordstrom operates an online and store resale store, See You Tomorrow, as well as a customer attraction program at its New York flagship store that allows customers to bring in "second-hand" items in exchange for Nordstrom gift cards. Retailers such as Macy's and JC Penney have partnered with ThredUp to sell the company's second-hand women's clothing in their stores.

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Second-hand market

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