Déjà Vu is a business that believes well-made goods are “worth buying twice”. Founded in Beijing in 2017, the second-hand trading platform specialises in selling refurbished books, clothing, and small electronics — a market which is projected to surge from RMB 300 billion (USD 42 million) in 2015 to close to RMB 3 trillion (USD 417.9 billion) by 2025.
The business has established a digitally efficient reusereuseThe repeated use of a product or component for its intended purpose without significant modification. marketplace that aims to provide its customers with confidence and convenience. Since its launch, Déjà Vu has gained a following of 12 million users who have resold 36 million used books and 550,000 used clothing items through the platform (January 2024).
Déjà Vu uses an algorithm that tracks demand and quality to offer transparent pricing. This overcomes the typical challenges of perceived low quality and inconsistent supply that are often associated with ‘second-hand’ sales in China.
Why is it an example of the circular economy?
Déjà Vu’s business model is built around circular economycircular economyA systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. It is based on three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature. principles of elimination and circulation. By including services to maintainmaintainKeep a product in its existing state of quality, functionally and/or cosmetically, to guard against failure or decline. It is a practice that retains the highest value of a product by extending its use period. quality through repairrepairOperation by which a faulty or broken product or component is returned back to a usable state to fulfil its intended use., cleaning, and refurbishment, Déjà Vu’s model extends the lifespan of the products it sells, ensuring that the materials embedded within them are circulated at their highest value for as long as possible, minimising waste. By coupling this innovative refurbishrefurbishReturn a product to good working order. This can include repairing or replacing components, updating specifications, and improving cosmetic appearance. and resale model, the company is enhancing both the physical and emotional durabilitydurabilityThe ability of a product, component or material to remain functional and relevant when used as intended. of these items, and opening up new customer markets for them.
The Chinese government is encouraging the development of a reuse and resale market, particularly online, through policy signals and financial subsidies. In 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced a ‘14th Five-Year Plan for Circular Economy Development’ to encourage the growth of the ‘Internet + Second-hand’ model.
How it works
More recently, there has been a rise in consumer-to-consumer (C2C) selling of second-hand items. In this model, Déjà Vu takes control of quality assurance by acting as an intermediary between sellers and buyers, formulating a consumer-to-business-to-consumer (C2B2C) approach.
Déjà Vu has established a pricing principle that makes the economics work. A proprietary algorithm tracks transaction data and enables the company to accept or reject products and set a price, based on a book title’s popularity. A free courier service collects the product from the seller, and once received by the nearest Déjà Vu warehouse — in Tianjin or Kunshan — each book is manually repaired and reconditioned by ozone sterilisation.
The brand is also making efforts to embed circular design throughout its value chain, such as reusing courier boxes from customers, which has led to a reduction in the number of new courier boxes needed on a monthly basis by 3%.
Following Déjà Vu’s success with books, the business investigated alternative product categories that can also fit into the C2B2C model. By continuously experimenting with pilot projects and organising numerous offline events featuring second-hand markets in Beijing and Shanghai, the business officially made clothing its main focus. Déjà Vu also tested electrical items, such as headphones and Kindles, and launched a third electronics category online. Now, books and clothing can also be purchased at Déjà Vu's ‘RecycleRecycleTransform a product or component into its basic materials or substances and reprocessing them into new materials. Store’ on Anfu Road in Shanghai, allowing customers to engage more physically with the products.
How are challenges overcome?
Previously, exchanges of low-quality and high-priced books by existing methods of trading, such as the C2C model, had resulted in low seller credibility. Déjà Vu’s WeChat mobile app allows buyers to scan the ISBN — a unique code provided to books worldwide — to view quality standards and estimated purchase prices. These include ‘good condition’, ‘medium quality’, and ‘lower than average quality’. By sharingsharingThe use of a product by multiple users. It is a practice that retains the highest value of a product by extending its use period. these details, Déjà Vu can alleviate concerns regarding the source of its products and discrepancies between the purchase and sale prices.
Following the introduction of clothing, Déjà Vu struggled to achieve economies of scale with its new primary product category. Despite high competition, the second-hand clothing market in China was losing credibility. In a similar case to books, a lack of regulation between sellers meant buyers were paying high prices for low-quality garments. To tackle this, Déjà Vu focused on targeting a specific segment and started trading high-quality branded clothes. By identifying the most desirable brands and providing transparency around quality assessment and cleaning, Déjà Vu could alleviate concerns about quality and price.
Maintaining the quality of its new clothing line is dependent on the state of the garments received, which can be highly variable. To mitigate this, Déjà Vu adapted their fulfilment capacity to allocate greater labour time to repairing these items in order to circulate them at their highest value. It began patching and sewing by hand in the factory, using materials in similar colours or patches that match the original fabric and style. This enabled Déjà Vu to continue promoting this clothing strand as a high-quality offering, and it has built customer loyalty and confidence into the selling process by ensuring evidence of repair or damage is clearly indicated by detailed photos.
