ClosetStyles is the newest ‘pre-loved’ fashion marketplace in Malaysia

If you’re one of those girls who have a wardrobe full of clothes but nothing they’d wear, here’s a solution for you: ClosetStyles.

Launched last month, ClosetStyles is a marketplace app for women to buy and sell “pre-loved” clothes. Users simply take a photo of an item they wish to sell and then list it in the app.

“Women have items in their closets they do not wear anymore but are still in good condition. They can list those up to sell on ClosetStyles, earn some money, and buy whatever clothing they like on the app,” founder Fong Kam Ling tells Tech in Asia.

The app carries brands ranging from ZARA to Chanel, and buyers can get them for up to 80 percent off retail prices.

Model appeal

Fong says ClosetStyles caters to fashion lovers who are used to finding their style icons on blogs and websites. With the app, they don’t need to hunt through racks at malls or mix and match to come out with a statement. She says famed fashionistas are on board with them – ranging from bloggers to celebrities like Malaysian model Fiqa Liyana Chong.

“Fiqa’s current and future followers can connect with her on a personal level and have the opportunity to shop her wardrobe. This will help our community of fashion lovers to grow. She’s just one of many more style stars to collaborate with the app,” Fong notes.

There are many other apps that deal with pre-loved goods like Carousell and Duriana. Duriana claims to be leading in the Malaysian market. All these players are trying to get a piece of Malaysia’s mobile commerce pie, which has grown rapidly over the years. Carousell told Malaysian news site The Rakyat Post that m-commerce’s share in total ecommerce in Malaysia spiked to 50 percent (RM1.82 billion or US$500 million) in 2013 from only 5.5 percent in 2010. This is expected to rise further to 59.6 percent in 2015.

With competition getting more stiff, the question now becomes: how do you stand out? ClosetStyles wants to do it by carving a niche and specifically targeting women. It also sets itself apart in terms of convenience and security. It sends a courier to the user’s doorstep to deliver or pick up an item, getting rid of the need to go to the post office. To protect users against scams, it uses an escrow payment system that holds the money until the buyer marks the item as satisfactory. If an item received is not at par with the description in the listing, there is money-back guarantee. “The app has broken through the dangerous scammers market where Malaysians have fallen prey,” claims Fong.

ClosetStyles recently got funding to the tune of RM10,000 (US$2,770) from the 1337 Ventures’ Alpha Startups pre-accelerator program in Kuala Lumpur.