Beni app helps shoppers find pre-loved gems at deep discounts
Houston - Shopping secondhand is growing in popularity as consumers look to save money and save items from ending up in landfills.
Secondhand shopping is expected to reach $82 billion by 2026, based on a survey by GlobalData, boosted in particular by Gen Z and Millennial shoppers.
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Sifting through thrift stores for treasures, or resale sites for deals, takes time. A new app and browser extension called Beni can help you find what you are looking for secondhand at big savings.
"When the deal presents itself, oh my gosh, why would I ever buy at full price when I can go on here and someone is going to give me 50% off?" asks Beni CEO Kate Sanner.
Here's how it works. Let's say you're shopping for a For Love and Lemons dress selling on Revolve for $200. We clicked on the Beni tab on the right side of the screen, and it showed us the same dress on the resale site, Poshmark, for $120. That's an $80 savings. It also showed us similar dresses at even lower prices.
"You install it once on your browser and shop on the normal sites, and you find the jean jacket that you want. While you're on that shop's page, we are working in the background to search the resale sites for you," explained Sanner.
Going to a wedding? We found a Frankie Silk Dress on Reformation for $300. Beni showed us the same dress secondhand on Poshmark for $210, at a savings of $90.
"We work with over 50 marketplaces. Some are ones you’ve heard of, the eBay's and Poshmark's and ThreadUp's of the world. Then we have the RealReal and Vestiaire Collected in the luxury space, and we have Kidsy on the kids' clothing side, said Sanner.
While we were looking at a pair of men's ABC Classic Fit Trousers on Lululemon for $128, Beni found the same pants on Grailed for $50. That's $70 less.
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Beni is a free app. The resale sites pay Beni a commission for sending shoppers to their sites when they make a purchase.
"You can get the same brand you were looking at for 50%, 60%, 70% off is the typical savings you get from resale," said Sanner.
And there is no shortage of treasures.
"We have 300 million listings in our inventory at any given time," said Sanner.