We are publishing the stories behind the 2021 eBay for Business Awards winners and the winner of the eBay Sustainable Seller award was Sarah Dean and Go Thrift.
The business idea for Go Thrift came after years of the founders working “horrible jobs” with “horrible bosses”, in industries they weren’t passionate about.
Founder, Sarah Dean, had previously dabbled in selling vintage clothes as a side hustle alongside her day job, and she’d always known that it was what she wanted to do eventually. However, Sarah and her team had big aspirations to sell vintage clothing at a larger scale than they’d ever seen before.
The Go Thrift team were very aware of the issue of clothing going to landfill, so they were keen to play their part in reducing the environmental impact of the fashion industry by saving and reselling as many items as possible.
The business started with four team members, but quickly they realised they needed to expand their numbers to keep up with the soaring demand. Now a few years on, Go Thrift has boomed and grown in size exponentially, aided by eBay providing them a platform to sell their items to a global audience.
The future is bright for Go Thrift and Sarah hopes to continue to expand the business. Her next plans include hiring apprentices from the local college, as well as making their premises as eco-friendly as possible by investing in solar panels.
“Using a platform like eBay has helped us shout loudly about sustainable fashion despite starting life as a small business, so winning the Sustainable Seller Award couldn’t be more perfect for us. Now more than ever people are looking to shop more consciously and reduce the environmental impact of their fashion choices, and we’re determined to make pre-loved, vintage fashion the first choice for consumers. We feel like we’re only just getting started and look forward to encouraging more people to join the sustainable fashion revolution.”
– Sarah Dean, co-founder, Go Thrift
