Rakuten Auction and Brand Off Start Business Collaboration in Used Goods Trading

Tokyo, October 6, 2014 - Rakuten Auction, Inc. today announced that it has signed a business collaboration agreement with Brand Off Co., Ltd., a company that operates secondhand brand goods shops in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

The agreement is aimed at mutually developing the businesses of each company by bringing together the know-how of each of the companies. Rakuten Auction will drive traffic to Brand Off’s trade website, which specializes in secondhand goods, and promote the purchase of stock from Brand Off’s trade website by businesses selling goods on Rakuten Auction. Meanwhile, Brand Off will work to ensure that its Rakuten Auction users and businesses selling goods on Rakuten Auction are able to trade a wider range of goods by expanding the range and number of products offered on its trading platform.

The secondhand goods market was said to be worth 1.2 trillion yen as of 2012*, and it is a market that is expected to grow further. The alliance between one of Japan’s biggest wholesalers of secondhand goods, Brand Off, and Rakuten Auction, is intended to spur further business growth for both companies.

*Estimate by Ministry of the Environment

About Rakuten Auction (https://auction.rakuten.co.jp)
Rakuten Auction is a free-market auction site jointly financed by Rakuten, Inc. and NTT Docomo, Inc. Users of Rakuten Auction can carry out transactions simply and safely, and under a pseudonym, through the “Rakuten Safe Auction Service.” Rakuten Auction offers free registration, usage, and exhibition on the site, and Rakuten Super Points are awarded based on the sales price to the winner of the auction.

About Brand Off (http://www.brandoff.co.jp/)
Brand Off is one of Asia’s largest groups of secondhand brand goods shops, currently operating 65 outlets in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. It has a broad range of business activities, from in-store buying and selling to online sales, pawnbroking, hosting of trader-only auctions, and wholesaling. Its technical expertise in determining authenticity has earned the group a strong reputation in Japan and abroad, and it has recorded annual growth of over 10% in group turnover since its establishment. Nothing sets the group apart more than its pre-eminent range of Hermes and other luxury brand bags.