Exclusive: Lovevery launches secondhand ‘Pre-loved’ marketplace for popular toys

The Montessori-inspired toy company Lovevery has amassed 650,000 customers in a decade, building a reputation with its age-appropriate subscription play kits delivered quarterly. But co-founder Roderick Morris said the company’s overall audience on social and other channels exceeds 5 million people across 34 markets, comprising individuals who own Lovevery toys or consume its parenting and play content.

“There’s a big difference between 5 million and 650,000, ” Morris told Modern Retail. “And we really wanted to understand what was going on with people who loved the brand and hadn’t become a customer yet.”

The marketplace is part of Lovevery’s broader growth strategy during the challenging macroeconomic environment. Its other new strategies include a $ 29-per-month book club offering age-specific books each month. And this summer, it began selling individual Play Kits without a subscription for $92, while subscribers receive kits for $80 each, plus an app with the company’s full Parent Course library.

From an industry perspective, the Lovevery marketplace is another example of a company tapping into the growing demand for secondhand or discounted goods. Online secondhand marketplace ThredUp, which operates a resale tracker, currently tallies 148 fashion brands that run resale shops, more than four times the number that were tracked four years ago. As far as kids’ gear goes, marketplaces like Rebel, GoodBuyGear, Toycycle and Kidsy partner with brands to sell excess inventory or open-box items. 

But Lovevery stands out among its competitors by going the peer-to-peer route. It’s the first toy brand to work with Archive, the resale software that works with brands including Lululemon, Hanna Anderson and Faherty.

Marcus Shen, CEO of the excess inventory reseller B-Stock, said consumer demand for used or overstock products has skyrocketed as people become more concerned about their spending habits. 

“The stigma of buying secondhand or buying stuff that might be scratched and dented or whatever it is has kind of gone away,” he said. “Consumers are obviously looking for value. If this is a way for them to get high-quality inventory at a discount, it’s a great deal for consumers.” 

When it comes to baby and kids gear, secondhand is particularly popular — especially among younger parents. A What to Expect survey in 2023 found that 66% of new or expecting moms buy secondhand baby gear, but that increases to 76% for Gen-Z parents.

How customer feedback shaped Lovevery’s secondhand marketplace

Lovevery knew families were already buying, selling and trading its used products carrying a resale value of around 70%. One unofficial Lovevery Facebook Buy/Sell/Trade group has 93,000 members, while Poshmark and Mercari are populated with thousands of user-listed individual toys. Morris said the nature of the durable, age-appropriate toys means families age out of using them and pass them down to friends, family or neighbors regularly.

“It just makes sense that there’s a thriving market,” he said. “We make really high-quality, really durable products, and we make replacement parts available to our subscribers. We’re kind of in the built-to-last business. Shame on us if we don’t also facilitate a secondhand marketplace for it.” 

But before setting up Pre-Loved, Lovevery polled 800 families in September to help inform its process. One in four respondents said they were doing more secondhand shopping than the year before, and 75% said they are likely to buy secondhand Lovevery toys, in particular, within the next year. About 60% said they would be likely to resell Lovevery products they already own.

Morris and co-founder Jessica Rolph also went on a customer tour in Houston and Brooklyn to hear directly from families who had bought secondhand and understand what would make them come to the marketplace. While a tiring and hot endeavor in late summer, Morris said it strongly helped the company get to know who could be its next customer.

“We had just gone and visited somebody who hadn’t bought a single one of our products but owned all of this secondhand product,” he said. “And we were like, ‘Which of our competitors is actually going to go out there and listen to people tell them, over and over again, why they didn’t buy?’ This is why we’re going to continue to be successful — because we’re listening to these people, and honoring them.”

How Lovevery’s Pre-Loved marketplace works

One of the biggest challenges for brands setting up their own marketplaces is making it easy for shoppers to list their items. To combat that resistance, Lovevery’s system walks sellers through questions that populate the item description — such as whether the item is brand new, gently used or has any dings or missing pieces. It also asks whether there are any pets in the home to be aware of allergies.

“The thing that is holding people back [from resale] isn’t, ‘Do I want to buy or sell a secondhand item?'” Morris said. “It’s more like, ‘How can I do this in a way that’s convenient where I don’t have to do a lot of work?”

The system suggests a listing price for the item using an algorithm that considers both popularity and condition. But sellers are free to price up or down if they wish. Once live, prices automatically discount by 10% after 10 days if the item hasn’t sold, then every week after that. When sold, sellers can ship with UPS or USPS, and they’ll keep 80% of the sale price. Archive has found that 20% commission is the “sweet spot” that keeps listings active while covering costs, Morris said.

For buyers, the marketplace is sortable by age, toy type or price. The buyer pays a flat $9.95 shipping fee on their purchases. Once transactions are complete, sellers get cash deposited into their Lovevery account that they can deposit into their bank account — which, according to Lovevery’s survey, was the preferred option over store credit. But there’s also an option for people to donate used toys through a partnership with ParentChild+ if they don’t want to go through the listing and sale process.

Lovevery’s future growth and acquisition strategy

Morris said while Lovevery isn’t looking to make Pre-loved a profit engine for the company, it’s part of a broader strategy to acquire new customers. Another selling point is that people can sell off individual toys from the Play Kits — a longtime customer request that hasn’t been available when buying new. It’s a handy new acquisition tool for someone who has a specific toy in mind but isn’t ready to commit to a subscription or $92 full kit.  

Morris said the company will track how effectively it turns marketplace visitors into new buyers and how well it converts secondhand shoppers into ongoing customers. Lovevery will also be watching the number of listings that come in to gauge seller participation and ensure there’s enough inventory to keep the marketplace running. So far, he added, the early results are promising.

“All signs point to this being a viable marketplace that both buyers and sellers are going to have interest in, which we’re excited about,” he said.