What Fine does

株式会社FINE (FINE Co., Ltd.) is a Nagoya-headquartered Japanese apparel resale company founded in April 2008 that pivoted from media software wholesale into the outlet apparel business in April 2014. The company purchases excess new apparel and related goods from apparel brands, manufacturers, department stores, GMS operators, and e-commerce companies in Japan, and resells this inventory through three primary channels: B2B wholesale to select shops, discount stores, and recycling shops; direct-to-consumer sales via the proprietary offprice.ec online store (launched September 2019); and physical popup stores at major retail venues such as Daimaru Umeda, JR Kyoto Isetan, and KOMEHYO. FINE also lists on the third-party MAGASEEK marketplace.

The company's signature offering is the Rename service (launched June 2016), a brand tag-replacement process in which partner sewing factories physically remove collar tags, care labels, and price tags from supplier inventory and replace them with Rename branding. This enables closed-brand resale of end-of-season, closeout, and returned inventory without brand equity damage — a structural problem in the Japanese market where an estimated 1.5 billion units of new apparel go unsold annually (per Kojima Fashion Marketing). FINE has scaled this through a joint venture with LOCONDO Co., Ltd. ("LOCONDO Rename," December 2017) and an upcycling partnership with Cross Plus Co., Ltd. ("Rename X," October 2019) that repurposes deadstock fabric and idle factory capacity into new products. The Rename trademark is registered with the Japan Patent Office (Registration No. 5993600). FINE holds a secondhand dealer license from the Aichi Prefectural Public Safety Commission.

Commercially, FINE operates a sales-led B2B model. Pricing for inventory purchases is set via individual quotation after on-site inspection — no public pricing exists — and revenue is generated on the resale margin between supplier purchase price and channel disposition price. The company has transacted with 500+ brands and handles an annual purchase volume exceeding 1.3 million units. B2B distribution is paired with channel-restriction contracts that protect source brand value. Marketing relies on FINE MAGAZINE editorial content, sustained earned media in outlets including Nikkei, TV Tokyo, Nihon TV, TBS, and DIME, and event participation including popup stores and academic speaking engagements. The company is privately held, founder/management-owned, with no disclosed external funding rounds or investors, and operates exclusively within Japan.

Name

Fine

Legal name

株式会社FINE

Website

https://c-fine.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Short description

FINE is a Nagoya-based Japanese B2B apparel resale company that purchases excess inventory from brands, manufacturers, department stores, and e-commerce firms, reselling it through B2B wholesale, the offprice.ec DTC platform, and the Rename tag-replacement service enabling brand-protected resale.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Apparel Resale and Inventory Liquidation

NAICS

Clothing and Clothing Accessories Merchant Wholesalers (424350), Clothing, Clothing Accessories, Shoe, and Jewelry Retailers (458)

SIC

Wholesale-Apparel, Piece Goods & Notions (5130), Retail-Apparel & Accessory Stores (5600)

akta.pro primary industry

Off-Price Apparel Chains (National/Regional) (CRAEABAA)

Keywords

• Excess apparel inventory
• Apparel resale services
• Brand tag replacement
• Off-price fashion retail
• Circular economy apparel

Headquarters

HQ city

Nagoya

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Outlet Apparel Resale (B2B Purchase & Resale): FINE purchases excess new apparel and fashion goods directly from brands, manufacturers, department stores, and e-commerce companies. The goods are then resold through FINE's own online offprice store (offprice.ec), B2B wholesale to discount stores, select shops, recycling shops, and at event/popup stores. Revenue comes from the margin between the purchase price paid to suppliers and the resale price achieved.
2. Rename Service Revenue: FINE applies its Rename tag-replacement service to supplier inventory. After factory processing (tag swap), the renamed goods are sold under the Rename brand. FINE earns revenue on the resale margin. Suppliers benefit from avoiding disposal costs and eliminating brand-value risk, while FINE monetizes the processed inventory.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

FINE purchases excess new apparel and fashion goods from Japanese brands, manufacturers, department stores, and e-commerce companies, then resells the inventory through B2B wholesale channels and its own consumer online store (offprice.ec). Its signature Rename service physically replaces brand name tags, care labels, and price tags with new Rename branding at partner sewing factories, enabling closed-brand resale that protects supplier brand value while monetizing surplus stock.

Product overview

Fine operates as an apparel resale company offering two main service lines: (1) Outlet Resale - purchasing excess inventory from apparel brands and reselling through controlled channels while protecting brand value; and (2) Rename - a brand tag replacement service that allows brands to resell inventory without the original brand name, preventing brand value damage. The company operates the offprice.ec online store for direct consumer sales, has launched the Rename X upcycling project with Cross Plus, and maintains a joint venture LOCONDO Rename partnership with LOCONDO. Fine positions itself as a circular economy enabler in the apparel industry.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• offprice.ec（オフプライスイーシー）: Online off-price store selling brand apparel purchased from apparel companies at discounted prices.
• Rename（リネーム）

Products and services

• Rename (リネーム) Brand tag replacement service in which FINE removes the original brand name tags, care labels, and price tags from garments at partner sewing factories and replaces them with new Rename branding. This enables closed-brand resale of excess inventory without exposing the original brand identity, protecting brand value for apparel brands and manufacturers.
• offprice.ec (オフプライスイーシー) FINE's proprietary consumer-facing online off-price store selling brand-new apparel purchased from apparel brands and manufacturers at 30-80% off retail prices. Includes a dedicated Rename brand section, seasonal product categories, home try-on, and free returns and size exchanges.
• Outlet Apparel Resale (アウトレットアパレル) Bulk purchase and resale service for excess apparel inventory from apparel brands, manufacturers, department stores, and e-commerce companies. Purchased inventory is resold through outlet channels, discount stores, select shops, recycling shops, and event/popup stores with sales restrictions to protect brand value.
• Rename X Upcycling project launched in partnership with Cross Plus that transforms leftover fabric inventory and factory idle time into new apparel products under the Rename X sub-brand, with three planned product lines: 'for Casual', 'for Team', and 'for Relax'.

Quantifiable outcome

• Brand-value-protected resale: products are sold with original brand identity removed via tag replacement, eliminating brand dilution risk
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered key, minor and core.

• Cross Plus Co., Ltd. (クロスプラス株式会社)keyStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 October 2019FINE and Cross Plus (a major apparel manufacturer producing 55 million+ garments per year) jointly launched the upcycling project 'Rename X' in October 2019. The project repurposes deadstock fabric and idle factory capacity to produce new apparel items under the Rename X sub-brand. FINE provides the Rename brand and sales channel; Cross Plus contributes production expertise, fabric inventory, and manufacturing capacity. Three product lines were planned: 'for Casual', 'for Team', and 'for Relax'.
• Wefabric / SMASELL (株式会社ウィファブリック)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 30 October 2018FINE partnered with Wefabric (operator of SMASELL, a B2B fashion inventory marketplace) to hold a joint popup store at JR Kyoto Isetan department store (October 31–November 5, 2018). SMASELL provided customer outreach and brand credibility within the fashion industry; FINE provided Rename inventory for physical retail sale.
• KOMEHYO (株式会社コメ兵)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 30 October 2018FINE co-hosted a popup store with KOMEHYO (a major Japanese secondhand and offprice retailer) at KOMEHYO Nagoya Honten (November 2–4, 2018). The event allowed consumers to physically examine and purchase Rename items, providing trial and discovery beyond the online channel.
• LOCONDO Co., Ltd. (株式会社ロコンド)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 December 2017FINE entered a joint business arrangement with LOCONDO to operate 'LOCONDO Rename' — a dedicated section on LOCONDO's online shoe/fashion store where Rename-processed shoes and apparel are sold under the LOCONDO Rename brand, leveraging LOCONDO's fashion e-commerce platform and customer base.
• Partner sewing/apparel manufacturing factoriescoreTechnology or IntegrationFINE partners with a network of apparel sewing factories to perform the Rename tag-replacement processing — removing collar tags, care labels, and price tags and replacing them with Rename branding. These factories are a critical operational node in the Rename service workflow.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• BULQ: US-based wholesale liquidation marketplace for apparel and consumer goods, supplying resellers with bulk sourced-from-brands inventory. Directly comparable B2B inventory liquidation model; geographically different (US) but functionally analogous to FINE's upstream brand-side purchasing.
• Wefabric / SMASELL: Japanese B2B fashion inventory marketplace connecting apparel brands and retailers to wholesale buyers. Directly comparable in B2B inventory intermediation and an existing FINE partner (joint popup at JR Kyoto Isetan 2018). Operates in the same upstream supply pipeline as FINE's Rename service.
• 2nd Street (セカンドストリート): Operated by Geo Holdings, one of Japan's largest secondhand clothing and goods retail chains with hundreds of physical locations. Direct competitor for downstream consumer apparel resale demand and comparable in off-price / recirculation apparel retail model.
• RAGTAG (ラグタグ): Japanese designer-fashion resale chain focused on authenticated pre-owned and off-price designer apparel. Comparable in apparel resale at off-price positioning; complementary (rather than identical) given RAGTAG's secondhand focus versus FINE's new-inventory Rename focus.
• KOMEHYO (コメ兵): Japan's largest off-price and secondhand retailer, operating physical stores and online channels across fashion, jewelry, watches, and luxury goods. Direct competitor in apparel resale and an existing FINE partner (co-hosted Nagoya popup events 2018). Highly comparable in off-price apparel flow and consumer-facing resale model.
• LOCONDO: Japanese online fashion and shoe retailer that operates the joint LOCONDO Rename service with FINE. LOCONDO's e-commerce platform and consumer reach directly distribute Rename-processed inventory, making it both partner and the most directly comparable D2C apparel resale peer.

Broad incumbents

• Liquidity Services: US-listed B2B liquidation marketplace (GovDeals, Liquidation.com) operating across multiple asset categories including apparel/retail returns. Comparable as a broad-incumbent B2B inventory liquidation intermediary at much larger scale and broader category mix.
• BOOKOFF Corporation: Large Japanese secondhand retail chain with growing apparel and fashion resale categories alongside books, media, and general goods. Comparable as a Japanese off-price/recirculation retail incumbent but broader and less apparel-specialized than FINE.

Regional players

• Poshmark: US-based peer-to-peer fashion resale marketplace with brand-partner programs. Comparable consumer-facing resale mechanics for apparel; different model (C2C vs FINE's B2B sourcing) and US-focused.
• thredUP: US-based online resale platform for apparel and accessories with B2B resale-as-a-service (Resale-as-a-Service) offerings to brands. Strong functional comparable to FINE's B2B circular-economy model but US-focused, making it a regional/format peer rather than direct Japan competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/rename_jp

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Fine