Sweden
Our story
Yaytrade is the marketplace for sustainable rebels – the web’s top spot to buy and sell new and secondhand fashion from fellow community members, ambassadors, and premium brands.
Yaytrade was founded in 2017, with the site debuting by the end of the year. In just a short amount of time it has built up a formidable userbase and an impressive stable of some of Sweden’s biggest influencers.
Genesis
But the story begins back in 2016, when long time friends David Knape and Jon Berglund came up with the initial concept for a premium fashion marketplace.
From a shared office in Stockholm’s trendy Stureplan district, the pair reached out to Jens H. Bond – then manager of Jon and Janni Olsson Delér – who was excited by the concept and booked a meeting.
The confab proved fruitful, as well as educational and challenging. Together the group agreed on what they wanted to create and build together.
Come together
Once the decision was made, everything came together with lightning speed. To get started, David and Jon raced down to Monaco to meet up with Jon and Janni, where they would collect the first batch of pre-loved items from the famous couple. (watch the video).
David and Jon sped all the way back to Stockholm – literally, as attested to by several speeding tickets – where the products quickly began to be photographed.
A crashing success
When Yaytrade 1.0 launched, Jon Olsson Delér publicised the collaboration in one of his vlogs - further announcing that 100% of the proceeds would be donated to charity.
Within 10 minutes, the website crashed – so big was the interest. The astronomical number of visitors led to trans-atlantic phone calls between the founders and their American hosting company.
It turns out it wasn’t just Yaytrade that crashed, the launch knocked out several other servers.
Yaytrade was off to a smashing start!
The next level
In 2019 Yaytrade took it to the next level. Internationally renowned brand agency Kurppa Hosk developed a sleek monochrome identity and a lead designer was recruited to give the platform a fresh new look – a clean modern design with a splash of neon.
Eye catching print ads started popping up around Sweden, flashbulbs lit up second hand fashion shoots and stylish YouTube videos picked up thousands of views.
A savvy social media team was hired, who began reaching milestones faster than they could buy cakes to celebrate them.
Enter pick-up service
In the autumn Yaytrade announced a strategy to make it easier for customers to sell products by allowing them to order and have bags collected for free while Yaytrade handles the logistics, photography, and evaluation.
After a successful trial run with select influencers – or ambassadors as Yaytrade prefers to call them – pick-up service launched to the general public (and critical acclaim).
Seeing 20/20
2020 was an incredible year for Yaytrade, speeding past milestones en route to being the fastest growing marketplace for slow fashion.
Logistics & statistics
The year kicked off with the addition of another logistics centre in Stockholm. Increasing capacity reduced lead times, which improved customer satisfaction while lowering climate impact. Yaytrade logistics helps customers in over 15 global markets receive goods in record time.
Introducing sample sales
Autumn was the premier season for sample sales, a new vertical where Yaytrade manages inventory, photography, and sales for select brand partners.
First out of the gate was Filippa K with a drop which became a true internet event, generating 1 MSEK within 5 days. High end brands Rodebjer, Whyred, and Sandqvist followed – attracting thousands of savvy new customers to Yaytrade.
Ambassadors rising
Over 100 ambassador stores debuted in 2020, with stars such as Alicia Agneson, Johnny Edlind, and Michel Tornéus joining the stable of sustainable rebels.
It's showtime
On the business side Yaytrade strengthened the team with key recruits, participated in the Aktieportföljen Live – one of Northern Europe’s largest investor events, and completed a pre-IPO round which exceeded expectations by leaps and bounds.
Slow fashion, fast platform
Yaytrade and lead designer Julian Minervini capped off the year with a 2020 silver medal at Svenska Designpriset’s virtual gala. The prize was voted on by an expert jury as well as the public, who honoured Yaytrade’s platform redesign in the e-commerce category.
Shooting for the stars in 2021
After a booming start with an oversubscribed IPO on Nasdaq First North in March 2021 we have continued to raise the bar with an international expansion into the Finish market. Premium brands such as Filippa K, Stenströms, and Hope have in the first half of the year opened their Yaytrade Sample Sale stores and attracted thousands of buyers. In the coming months, we will be introducing new exciting partnerships with a goal to further extend the life of fashion.