The Secret Behind Charan’s Rapid Growth Since Its Launch
1. To attract non-participants to the secondhand market, the platform provided a groundbreaking online shopping experience for used clothing that was as convenient as shopping apps selling new clothes. For sellers, it offered opportunities to save time and generate income, while for buyers, it provided access to high-quality branded products at affordable prices.
2. Based on customer feedback, Charan established its own unique process for commoditizing secondhand clothing, which includes collection, product inspection, cleaning, photography, packaging, and delivery.
3. The company is enhancing overall productivity by optimizing individual work processes through AI technology while operating cross-functional units.
Every time the seasons change and closets are reorganized, several, sometimes dozens, of clothing items that haven’t been worn for years end up being discarded. Among them, some are in perfectly good condition, but selling them feels like too much hassle, and giving them away can be awkward, leading many to drop them into clothing donation bins. However, a new innovative service that collects, processes, and sells such clothes on behalf of their owners has been launched and is growing rapidly. This is the story of Charan, a secondhand fashion sales platform that officially launched in August 2023.
Charan has established a new value chain to maximize the potential of quality clothing by ensuring they are not discarded but resold online. A visit to the Charan Factory, located in Onam-eup, Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, occupied a spacious, open area spanning approximately 4,100㎡ (about 1,240 pyeong). In this completely open space without partitions, discarded clothes undergo inspection, cleaning, and photography before being transformed into new products. At the forefront of operations were inspection team members who meticulously checked for tears and stains in the clothing, determined their eligibility for sale, and input the results into a computer system. Clothes deemed sellable were automatically steam sterilized through a machine called a tunnel finisher, commonly used by professional laundry services. These items were then further refined by the cleaning team, whose delicate touch removed lint and pressed the garments with a steamer. Meanwhile, in a temporary studio set up on one side of the factory, photoshoots were underway. Under the camera and lights, the clothes posed as if they were brand new. Byun Dae-hyun, Charan’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), who oversees the Charan Factory, shared, “Every day, about 9,000 pieces of clothing sorted from sellers’ closets arrive here, and approximately 2,600 secondhand garments are reborn as new products.”
The domestic secondhand market has grown rapidly with the rise of peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms. According to the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), the size of the domestic secondhand market expanded sixfold from 4 trillion KRW in 2008 to 24 trillion KRW in 2021, with projections suggesting it could reach as high as 43 trillion KRW by 2025. However, the risks of disputes and dissatisfaction related to secondhand transactions have also increased. In response, Charan broadened its focus to address the inconvenience of traditional P2P transactions and attract a wider audience, including those reluctant to engage in secondhand trading. When users request a closet organization service through the Charan app, they receive a dedicated collection bag. After placing their clothes in the bag and leaving it at their doorstep, Charan takes care of the entire process, including collection, cleaning, photography, sales, and final delivery, charging a portion of the sale price as a service fee. Buyers can shop with confidence for secondhand clothing that sellers have entrusted to Charan and that the platform has quality-assured, purchasing items at up to 90% off the original price through the Charan app. While domestic platforms like Danggeun Market, Bungaejangter, and Joonggonara have long mediated peer-to-peer secondhand transactions, Charan is the first platform in Korea to offer a professional secondhand clothing sales service.
This content was translated into English by AI (using DeepL) from an article that was originally written in Korean in the DBR (Donga Business Review). Therefore, please understand that there may be some awkward expressions.
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