The concepts of layaway payments and resale markets might seem contradictory, but in today’s marketing landscape, they are joined in reality. When the buy now, pay later service provider Klarna debuted its strategic partnership with Poshmark, one of the biggest digital consignment retailers in the world, the two companies asserted that their collaboration actually represented a natural complement. In particular, both firms tend to attract similar segments of budget-conscious customers. Furthermore, both of them represent first-movers and innovators, which have largely reinvented what were once brick-and-mortar applications for the digital age.

According to Klarna, its goal is to help streamline the circular economy, by facilitating the behaviors that many Poshmark sellers already exhibit. That is, experienced resellers often scour the site, in search of products that are listed at low prices by inexperienced original sellers who do not recognize the value of the items they are listing. The experienced seller then goes on to relist the product at a higher price, sometimes mere moments after purchase. The difference, for savvy resellers, can be a tidy profit.

Such practices are notably unlike traditional consignment markets, such as thrift stores. Digital platforms and quick shipping capabilities enable items to switch ownership multiple times in a short span of time. Efficiency is thus a priority, but for the experienced resellers, the business model can demand a lot of time and effort, much of it quite repetitive. They need to monitor the site constantly to snap up good deals, and then they need to write brand new listings for each product, take new photographs of the items, and measure each part for fit.

It’s at this point in the circular economy that Klarna can introduce a novel opportunity. It grants its existing customers access to Poshmark purchase histories, including the images and listing information used by previous sellers. Therefore, rather than crafting new and appealing descriptions and shooting new glamour shots, they can repost existing content. Furthermore, eligible entries can be leveraged to create templates that then offer suggested wording for subsequent listings of similar items.

To attract first-time sellers to embrace both firms, registrants automatically receive $10 in Poshmark store credit if they also are using Klarna. At the same time, Klarna shoppers are being newly exposed to Poshmark and its offerings.

The novel partnership offers further evidence of Klarna’s and Poshmark’s ongoing determination to achieve first-mover advantages. The resurgent popularity of thrifting first became evident more than a decade ago, but market forecasters predict that the worldwide resale market will continue to grow steadily, and furthermore, e-commerce platforms are predicted to account for the majority of such transactions. By the 2030s, the global consignment market is expected to be more than twice its current size. Especially as global economic anxieties persist, resale markets promise consumers a viable solution to access a wide selection of items, without having to rely on conventional supply chains. Even if they want to purchase the most expensive luxury products that appear on Poshmark, they can do so now, by spreading out the payments over time through Klarna.

Notably, seemingly in an attempt to capitalize on Poshmark’s and Klarna’s shared appeal to consumers of digital-first generations, they announced their partnership right before a back-to-school season, when young parents and college students were likely to be looking for a lot of clothing items but had little cash to spare.

Discussion Questions

1. Have you ever used a buy now, pay later service? What factors motivated your decision to do so at the time, and how do you feel about that experience in retrospect?
2. In addition to alleviating economic pressure, what are some of the benefits of consignment markets? Are there any costs?

Sources: Xanayra Marin-Lopez, “Klarna Users Can Now List Past Purchases on Poshmark,” Retail Dive, July 24, 2025; Liz Morton, “Poshmark Partners with Klarna to Streamline In-App Resale,” Value Added Resource, July 22, 2025, https://www.valueaddedresource.net/poshmark-klarna-resale/.