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The retail platform eBay is set to acquire fashion resale app Depop from Etsy in a $1.2 billion transaction. Ostensibly, the deal will help eBay to cultivate a new audience of Gen Z and Gen Alpha shoppers. But I think theres a deeper reason that eBay might want to lock Depop down: its simply the best looking resale interface out there right now. The deal was announced on February 18 in a press release from Etsy. Its expected to close some time in the second quarter of 2026, and, per an email sent to Depops customers, after the merger Depop will remain a stand-alone brand within eBay and retain its name, brand, and platform. For eBay, acquiring Depop makes a good measure of intuitive sense. Generally, resale is trending upward: Based on ThredUps 2025 Resale Report, the secondhand apparel market is expected to reach $367 billion by 2029, growing 2.7 times faster than the overall global apparel market. Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha shoppers are some of the strongest drivers of that trend, with 39% of younger generation shoppers having made a secondhand apparel purchase on a social commerce platform in the 12 months before the study was published. Depop is one of the top platforms for young people looking to buy and sell clothes. In 2025, the brand achieved approximately $1 billion in sales, including nearly 60% year-over-year growth in the U.S. As of December 31, it had seven million active customers, nearly 90% of which were younger than 34. That user base will be a major boon for eBay, who says that millennial and Gen Z consumers have been two of the biggest drivers of active buyer growth in the past three years. As a Gen Z vintage clothing enthusiast, Ive shopped on pretty much every resale site you can think of, from Poshmark and ThredUp to eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Mercari, and Etsy. Among all of these options, Depop is far and away the best resale site to look at and the easiest one to use. Thats not to say that Depop doesnt have any issuesa brief glance at the sites subreddit will reveal plenty of user grievances, not least of which is the tendency of certain Depop sellers to price a Brandy Melville baby tee at a cost that could put your checking account in the red. But from a pure UX and design standpoint, Depop is far outperforming its competitors by taking its major design cues from popular social media apps. And for a digitally native generation thats used to doing most of their shopping online, that makes a big difference. A social media-esque app experience Depop knows that its customers are young, tech savvy, and probably spending most of their phone time on social media sites like TikTok and Instagramand it shows in the apps design. Depop homepage [Screenshot: courtesy of the author] When you open the Depop app, youre immediately greeted with a Suggested for you page that’s functionally similarly to TikToks Explore feature. Here, the Depop algorithm presents you with an endlessly scrollable page of items curated based on your searches, likes, and saveslike how TikTok or Instagram might serve you videos according to your interests. In contrast, eBays app homepage looks more similar to a standard e-commerce webpage, directing users to its different goods categories and promoting whatever deals and sales are currently trending. eBay homepage [Screenshot: courtesy of the author] In terms of its layout, Depops app is simple and aesthetically pleasing. Its interface is almost identical to Pinterestwhere many customers are likely looking for outfit inspirationwith a subtle bar of categories at the bottom of the page and about four spotlighted items on view at a time. The minimalist information density encourages you to keep scrolling to find more items, rather than overwhelming you with a sea of information. Other apps, like Poshmark, eBay, and ThredUp, seem to opt instead for presenting users with a wealth of options to choose from when they first log on, which, counterintuitively, can make scrolling feel less appealing. While I tend to open my computer if I want to browse other retail sites, I almost always open Depop on my phone, and imagine it in a similar category to social media apps. Considering that the secondhand apparel market is becoming so popular among younger shoppers, other resale platforms might want to take note. Simple selling UI Over the past few months, Ive developed the niche hobby of restoring and selling vintage wedding dresses online (typically for a profit of about $10 apiece, but Im in it for the fun of the game). Having used both Depop and Etsy to sell my own products, I find Depops seler UX more intuitive and simple to follow. [Screenshot: courtesy of the author] From an app standpoint, Etsy has two separate platforms: one app for selling, and one app for buying. On its website, sellers also have to navigate to a shop management platform to look at their listings. Depop, on the other hand, is consolidated into one app experience, where sellers can manage all of their listings and their purchases. Creating an actual Depop listing feels akin to making a post on Instagram. Sellers navigate to a + at the bottom of the app (like Instagram), add a series of photos and a caption (also like Instagram), and include a few key tags for their item. Depop also handles shipping through a system that lets users provide an estimate of their items weight and then creates an appropriate label. Shipping on Etsy is more seller-directed. While some more experienced sellers might prefer Etsys approach, Depops feels more beginner-friendly. A final refuge from AI listings One of my biggest personal gripes with the current state of resale shopping is the absolute deluge of AI-generated product images that seem to have flooded certain sites over the past few months. From top: Depop, eBay, Etsy. [Screenshot: courtesy of the author] In my experience, eBay and Etsy are the biggest offenders of this trend. Searching for the term fantasy dress, on eBay and Etsy, for example, leads to at least one out of four top results with all the hallmarks of an AI image. The same search on Depop yields results that all seem to be real photographs. This example is just one small microcosm of the shopping experience on these sites: while AI photos are becoming increasingly common in resale, buying on Depop still largely feels like sifting through a strangers closet, which was the sites original charm. Its unclear exactly why AI photos seem less prominent on Depop; though it may be related to the companys regulations against stock photos. In its guidelines, Depop instructs sellers to Only use photos taken by yourself. Depop didnt immediately respond to Fast Companys request for comment on its AI imagery policies.
Category:
E-Commerce
Stacie Haller, a consultant for executives, recently had a meeting with a former business owner in his early 80s. Hed sold his business, started playing golf, and discovered something about himself: he found golf extremely boring. And now, even though he doesnt need to be, hes back on the job market. Im so vital, hed told Haller, Im still in the game. Haller is a senior herself. She says could have stuck with retirement after getting furloughed from her recruiting job during the pandemic. Instead, she started independently consulting for senior executives and for Resume Builder. Now? Shes working part-time and earning as much as she did before. I’m happier now in my career than I’ve ever been, she says. According to recent survey of more than 3,500 U.S. seniors by Resume Builder, around one in eight have returned to work as of December 2025, or are planning to do so. Another 16% have never retired, and 4% were actively applying for jobs. Another survey, by financial advice company The Motley Fool from October 2025, found that 54% of 2,000 Americans who get Social Security benefits have returned to work or considered going back because Social Security benefits are so low. But, as in the case of Hallers former business owner, thats not the only factor driving what some call unretirement. The number-one answer is usually related to money, but it’s not the clear winner,” says Robert Brokamp, senior retirement adviser at The Motley Fool. “There are many people who do go back to work because they got bored. They got lonely. They needed something to do. When you are older, you actually have an opportunity to try something newor not have as much stress with your job, says Haller. While these reasons keeping seniors working may have applied in the past, theyre arguably driving more of a trend now because of how work has changed since the pandemic: Flexible, hybrid, and remote work opportunities make it much easier for seniors, who may have health or mobility issues, to remain in the workforce. Rising costs of living Brokamp says that theres no question that people in their 60s through 80s are returning or continuing to work at increasing rates. With people living well into their 90s, theyve got a lot more time to budget for, especially in todays economy. In Resume Builders survey, 54% of respondents attributed continuing or returning to work after an initial retirement to the high cost of living. I don’t know a person that doesn’t go to the supermarket and walk out and say, Are you kidding me? Haller says. Such everyday costs also amplify concerns seniors have about Social Security and Medicare, which 26% and 19% in that survey, respectively, cited as their reasons for working. Though Social Security did undergo a recent 2.8% cost of living adjustment increase, 54% of recipients told The Motley Fool that wasnt high enough. With inflation at 2.7%, that increase might seem like enoughbut the problem, says Brokamp, is that inflation often plays out differently for working professionals than retirees. The inflation rate for healthcare is over 3%, he saysa major cost for seniors, who not only may visit doctors more regularly, but also tend to spend more on prescription medications than their younger counterparts. Other financial factors that drive seniors to return to work include not having saved enough for retirement, having to pay off debt (medical or otherwise), and needing to support their children, per Resume Builder. This picture, of course, looks different across different wealth brackets. Geoffrey Sanzenbacher, a research fellow at Boston Colleges Center for Retirement Research, has found that people whove earned less income during their careers, and therefore dont have as much emergency savings, can get drawn back into the labor market with a single health shock to them or a family member. Unlike other surveys, Sanzenbachers research points to a low unretirement rate of 1.9%, which he says comes from looking at narrower timelines (as in, seniors working at the time of the survey, not within that year). Right now, you have a perfect storm of reasons why the unretirement rate might be low, Sanzenbacher says. That includes a not-great job market (more people unretire in good job markets because they have more opportunities, he says) and a high stock market. So, retirees relying on 401Ks, for example, should be well in the black. This, to him, suggests that people unretiring now must be doing it because they really need the cash. Continued vitality, personal fulfillment If seniors are reentering the workforce by choice post-retirement, theyre likely doing it to have some funand are perhaps more likely to be doing more independent work, like starting their own businesses, which doesnt rely on getting hired. Haller mentions seniors whove emerged from retirement to start their own Etsy shops, and Sanzenbacher brings up the idea of a retired worker whos always wanted to be a tour guide finally fulfilling that dream. The desire to return to work to try something new, says Sanzenbacher, is very common among higher income or more educated workers. Typically, he adds, those post-career jobs relate to the former retirees original career. They were a lawyer, and now they’re an arbitration judge who works one day a week on Zoom, suggests Sanzenbacher, or they were a teacher, and now they’re a tour guide. Sometimes, these reentries are part of long-term plans. Other times, says Sanzenbacher, it can be [from] the realization that retirement isn’t as fun as what people thought. The evidence on whether retirement is good for us is very mixed, and it really depends on what you’re retiring from and what you’re retiring to, says Brokamp. Many people have boring, stressful, arduous jobs, and retirement is very good for them. On the other hand, many people had decent jobs that they actually somewhat enjoyed, and when they retire, they feel adrift. This rings true for a lot of the seniors Haller speaks with about unretirement. After enjoying work, at 54%, Resume Builder survey respondents described non-financial factors like combatting boredom and to socialize as significant reasons to keep working or go back to work after retirement. Mark Brodsky, 72, director of Field Associate Learning at Lowes, has barely even conceived of retirement, though people often ask him when hes going to do it. Usually, without missing a beat, I say, The day I have no further value to provide and or my value is not needed or wanted. This could mean never retiring. Did Picasso stop painting? he asks. I spent 50 years developing my craft . . . Why should I put that on the shelf? Flexible work, more options Haller, for one, says she can work as much as she does because working remotely, or in hybrid positions, has become such a norm. Our bodies age, says Haller. Honestly, I’m not getting on a commuter train for two hours a day anymore. The flexibilitythat often comes with remote or part-time work fits with what most seniors returning to work from retirement are looking for, anyway. I don’t know any 70- or 75-year-old who really wants that high-pressured, C-suite job if they’re going back to work, Haller says, and they should make this clear to employers if theyre looking for the kind of work that requires getting hired (instead of working independently like Haller). Haller suggests seniors tell hiring managers that theyre looking for more relaxed positions than in their previous careers. Otherwise, hiring might assume seniors are looking for the same, high salaries they retired with, and not want to spend that much money on an employee whos likely not going to remain in the workforce for very long. We have to overcome that objection, Haller says, by making it explicit to employers that salaries commensurate with past full-time jobs arent what unretirees are requesting. Make that known in cover letters or networking conversations, Haller suggests, and emphasize the pros youll bring to the office even if youre not necessarily in it for as long as younger workers. Seniors coming out of retirement have probably seen every situation in the workforce already, Haller says, and can keep a cool head encountering problems while valuably mentoring younger colleagues. Brodsky calls this scar tissue: Life provides you bumps and bruises, and scar tissue is actually an attribute . . . If I were hiring a senior executive for important work, I’d want to bring on somebody who had scar tissue. Regardless of the reasons for returning to work, the overall message is clear. We don’t go off into pasture when we turn 65 anymore, Haller says. We have choices now.
Category:
E-Commerce
From Silicon Valley to Wall Street, many executives think that bringing employees back to the office is the secret to restoring productivity. But theyre wrong. Thats not what’s happening in those newly populated offices. Instead, your employees are more likely to be joining video calls from company desks and wearing noise-canceling headphones while doing work they could have done at home. Only now they’re paying $20 to commute and eating sad desk salads to get through the day. The timing couldnt be more ironic. A new wave of return-to-office (RTO) mandates arrive just as companies pour millions into AI initiatives designed to automate work, eliminate roles, and drive bottom-line efficiency. Leaders advocate for AI as the engine of the future, one that can streamline and modernize how work gets done. So, why are they forcing people back into offices designed for workflows that AI is actively making obsolete? Recent research shows what many employees have known all along: RTO mandates dont improve productivity, innovation, or team connection. But they do weaken morale and accelerate attrition. If companies want better long-term performance, they might consider paying attention to the employee experience instead of treating it as a footnote to investor expectations. And they should also recognize that unpopular RTO policies reflect a deeper tensionone that AI is making increasingly clear. The Quiet Part Out Loud RTO mandates arent failing because the concept of in-person collaboration is flawed. Theyre failing because the justifications are. Executives keep saying they want to rebuild culture, but the real motives often tell a different story: investor pressure, managements discomfort with remote autonomy, or the convenient use of office mandates as a cover for workforce reduction. At a time when AI is openly positioned as a way to reduce labor costs, some companies appear to be using RTO as a secondary mechanism to achieve this, nudging employees to quit so severance costs stay low. Its a cost-saving strategy dressed up as culture building. When employees become line items, distrust becomes the default operating model. Other companies are stuck in the past, clinging to the office as a symbol of managerial control. But if an employee underperforms remotely, geography isnt the issue. Leadership is. At its core, the return-to-office push reflects a deeper tension: companies urgently investing in technologies that decentralize and automate work, while simultaneously doubling down on physical presence as proof of productivity. Its a contradiction that exposes a lack of coherent strategy for the future of work. Two Transitions Collide: AI and the Office As AI reshapes job responsibilities and absorbs repetitive tasks, two seismic organizational transitions are happening at once: shrinking the demand for human labor and shrinking the relevance of the physical office. Its not hard to see how these forces collide. Some leaders seem to be using office presence to manage this uncertainty, both to subtly reduce headcount and to maintain control during a period when technology threatens traditional hierarchies. But proximity isnt a proxy for performance and visibility wont stop AI from transforming work. If anything, it simply delays the hard strategic conversations leaders need to have. What Actually Works A more effective approach asks deeper questions about the work itself. Which activities genuinely benefit from real-time, in-person creativity? Which roles depend on deep focus? Where does mentorship thrive? And crucially, what does our data (not nostalgia) tell us? At my firm, Orgvue, we took the time to analyze our own workflows end-to-end before deciding on an office working policy. And we found that our product teams saw real value from whiteboarding sessions in a physical space, while our customer success teams performed better with the flexibility to work from wherever made sense for their client base. A one-size-fits-all approach would have failed both groups. To enhance these in-office interactions, we redesigned our workspaces to introduce collaboration hubs for teamwork, quiet areas for deep work, and a podcast studiobecause modern work demands modern tools. People come into the office when it makes sense, not because a memo told them to. The Trust Test When companies issue blanket RTO mandates, they send a very clear signal: “We don’t trust you.” Thats a dangerous message at a time when competitors are winning talent with flexibility and autonomy. So, before you mandate a return to the office, it might be helpful to ask yourself the following questions: Can we prove with data that office presence improves productivity for specific teams? Have we designed an office people actually want to come to? Are we solving productivity challenges or satisfying executive preference? Skip these questions, and you may learn an expensive lesson: your best people have options, and they’re not afraid to use them. The Bottom Line U.S. businesses are at a crossroads. Those that demand five days in the office will be competing against those offering more flexible work arrangements. And when it comes to technology investment, the irony is clear. While companies invest heavily in AI to improve efficiency, agility, and independence, theyre simultaneously enforcing policies that undermine all three. In short, the organizations that succeed will be the ones that align their work models with their technology strategies. That means embracing autonomy and data-driven insight rather than badge swipes. Want higher productivity? Fix your management practices. Want better collaboration? Design better systems. Want more engaged employees? Trust them to do their jobs. Because if you need to see someone to believe they’re working, the problem isn’t remote work, and AI is about to make that painfully obvious.
Category:
E-Commerce
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