M&S is the latest brand to join forces with Reskinned, launching a new takeback scheme that gives preloved garments a second life. Customers can now shop these pieces directly on the official M&S x eBay resale store. The initiative forms part of M&S’s Another Life activation of its Plan A sustainability strategy, which unites its circularity efforts across Fashion, Home & Beauty, built around the four R’s: Rewear, Repair, Recycle, and Resale.

How does it work? After filling in a short form on M&S.com or scanning an in store QR code, customers can either drop their preloved items in takeback boxes in store or arrange for them to be collected by a free local courier service and sent to Reskinned. For each return that includes at least one item of M&S clothing (including Autograph, Per Una, and Jaeger), customers receive a £5 discount when spending £35 or more on fashion, home, and beauty products. Wearable items are cleaned, repaired, and resold on the new dedicated M&S resale store on eBay, while anything unwearable is responsibly recycled.  

M&S is no stranger to circular models. Back in 2008, the household name was the first major UK retailer to launch a clothes recycling scheme, and with their former ‘shwopping’ initiative collected 36.5 million secondhand pieces. In keeping with the retailer’s longstanding relationship with Oxfam, 15% of profits from their new resale store will support the charity’s work tackling global inequality.

However, a report from the Guardian on a beach clean in Jamestown, Accra revealed the severe effects of UK high street and fast fashion on Ghanaian shores, with Marks & Spencer being the most commonly found brand among the items collected. The Or Foundation discovered clothing labels from M&S more than any other brand, highlighting the company’s outsized contribution to what campaigners are now calling ‘waste colonialism.’ This issue is compounded by millions of imported garments ending up unsold and discarded, putting a vast amount of environmental pressure on communities with limited waste infrastructure. 

Matt Hanrahan, Co-Founder of Reskinned, said: “At Reskinned, our mission is to maximise the lifespan of clothing. We’re making it easy for brands and their customers to rehome unwanted clothes, whether that’s reselling, repairing, or if it’s end-of-life recycling it responsibly.” In partnering with Reskinned, M&S is now part of a growing group of brands including Anthropologie, TALA, Sweaty Betty, and others, putting circularity at the heart of their approach. 

Reskinned makes circularity simple for brands, managing takebacks, repairs, and recommerce with care and precision. When repair isn’t possible, they have more than 20 processes they use to recycle end of life products and maximise material value, such as recycling gym and activewear into punch bag filling. 

Many fashion brands are rolling out circular initiatives to tackle the mounting problem of unworn garments and growing clothing waste. In a report released ahead of Second Hand September 2025, Oxfam estimates that the UK’s 1.6 billion unworn garments could dress Manchester’s population for 18 generations, yet most clothes here are worn fewer than five times before spending the rest of their lives in the closet. 

M&S partnering with Reskinned not only benefits the planet and consumers’ pockets, but also the brand itself. Last year, British Vogue announced ‘The Highstreet Stalwart is Now a Vintage Fashion Favourite’, and popularity in the resale of the discontinued St Michael line led to the retailer re-introducing the logo as part of their menswear collection after twenty years. In their takeback analysis, Reskinned is able to provide brands with insights into common manufacturing flaws and support them in creating collections built for circularity. 

M&S is joining a growing number of brands embracing takeback and resale initiatives, such as ‘Toast Reworn’, ‘Arket Archive’, and ‘Reselfridges’. The rise of resale and recommerce is reshaping retail for good as the industry heads in a more sustainable, responsible direction. 

Sources:

Marks & Spencer, M&S launches resale on eBay to give clothes another life, Marks & Spencer Corporate, 2025. [URL] 

Sam Butler, Marks & Spencer to open secondhand clothing store on eBay, The Guardian, 2025. [URL]

Marks & Spencer, Give Your Clothes Another Life, Marks & Spencer, 2025. [URL] 

Reskinned, Brand Partnerships, Reskinned, 2025. [URL] 

Oxfam, Global fashion industry on track to produce enough unworn clothes to almost reach from Earth to Mars and back, Oxfam GB, 2025. [URL] 

The Guardian, Where does the UK’s fast fashion end up? I found out on a beach clean in Ghana, The Guardian, 2024.  [URL] 

Emily Chan, The High Street Stalwart Is Now A Vintage Fashion Favourite, British Vogue, 2024. [URL] 

The Good Web Guide, 5 Brands with Resale Programmes, The Good Web Guide, 2025

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