Last week, the fashion tech community was buzzing when the news broke about Phia’s cookie-stuffing scandal (or as I’ve been calling it ‘Cookiegate’). So I thought what better time to test some no-bad-actor fashion recommerce alternatives: Beni and Gem.
Welcome back to App Diaries, a series where I – a former tech PMM turned stylist and consultant – use, test, push, and interrogate different apps, so you don’t have to. If you missed my inaugural post (and have been procrastinating digitizing your wardrobe), go check out: Indyx and Alta.
Some of my favorite (and most complimented) items in my closet are secondhand: the infamous metallic Adidas x Wales Bonner sneakers (via Poshmark), an out-of-this-world Loewe jacket (via Kindal Tokyo), and my Kate Spade Taxi Bag (via Poshmark). At this point, I’m convinced the best shopping happens secondhand. But don’t take it just from me. According to ThredUp’s 2026 Resale Report, by 2030, the global secondhand apparel market is projected to reach $393 billion, growing at more than 2X the rate of the overall apparel market.
This weekend, while it was monsooning here in NYC, I decided to stay inside and catch up on some client and, well, yes, personal shopping.
This spring, I shot paid social content for Rent the Runway, and one of the looks featured this beautiful Marni raffia bag. Since then, I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. A quick Google search led me to Farfetch, where it retails for $514. So, naturally, I ventured to secondhand because $514? in this economy?
Beni, co-founded by Sarah Pinner, Kate Sanner, and Celine Lightfoot in 2021, pulls listings from over 40 marketplaces. (Note: I already had the Beni Chrome Browser extension installed, but I downloaded the app to best compare with Gem.)
Once in the Beni app, I felt like I was in an endless sea of Marni mini bags. And while my exact colorway wasn’t available (likely because it is so new), I stumbled upon a beautiful array of colors, some for ⅕ of the price; that’s worth a headline alone. Now, my actual dilemma is: which colorway should come home with me?
Gem, founded by street style photographer Liisa Jokinen and her husband Sampo Karjalainen in 2019, scrapes marketplaces and independent online stores like Beacon’s Closet, Recess L.A. and more. Gem gets bonus points because saved searches were automatically filtered by newness. It felt like I was seeing net-new product roll in real-time. I noticed that Gem notified me multiple times throughout the day, whereas Beni seemingly batched notifications at the end of the day. Don’t worry, both apps allow you to choose between push and/or email notifications. Your preference will depend on how high-stakes the assignment is (more on this later).
To start my search, I chose a sold-out belt I had recommended to a client as a perennial third item. I screenshotted it, saved it to my camera roll, and uploaded the photo directly to both apps seamlessly.
On Gem, I was hit with a wall of the same belt from Jasgood, but on Beni, the search results were truncated, so I got the Jasgood belt, but it also led me to differentiated options sooner. This is how I very quickly landed on this Sandro alternative, as well as this American Eagle and Coach option; all 3 of which I sent to my client. Boom, done, one task crossed off the list.
I did find, however, that I couldn’t figure out how to make this query a saved search on Beni – an issue I didn’t run into with the Marni search. I tried tapping the star in the upper right corner, but no dice. So to go back to the results, I had to reupload the image. This functionality was front and center on Gem.
If you don’t live under a rock, you know the Knicks are NBA champions for the first time since 1973 (and literally made NBA comeback history in Game 4, but I digress). While I admittedly hadn’t watched a single Knicks game before the playoffs this year, as a Native Yorker, this win has become my entire personality. Who doesn’t love a comeback story? As a result, I will be living in Knicks merch throughout 2026 (and honestly, forever at this point).
Now, it’s basically me against every New Yorker and every other real Knicks fan, so this is where those seemingly real-time Gem notifications actually come in handy. So many of the items are men’s and XXL, but I found this Tommy Hilfiger striped tee in S, and I bought it on Poshmark. It’s perfect because it has an “if you know you know” vibe. This was the only query that both Gem and Beni led me to sold-out items, but I figure that’s par the course when the items are in that high demand.
This search did feel like a race against the clock, so I slightly prefer Beni’s product page where both the price and size are visible in the search results. On Gem, you can only see the price, so I would get my hopes up and click in, only to realize it was indeed a men’s XXL tee. (Yes, I can use the filters to hone in on sizes, but for this kind of search, I wanted to see everything.)
I have to shout out both teams for their curations; based on my time at Rent the Runway, I know this is a true art and science
Gem’s homescreen seemingly featured all the categories on my radar. Bold gold jewelry? Yes. This necklace has been a summer staple. Brooches? Absolutely. I just saved one on Etsy. How are they inside my brain?
Beni has a team of curators (including our very own Mary Korlin-Downs), who seem to know exactly what you’re looking for. I particularly loved the curation by Sloane “if you like Damson Madder” because, well, yes, I do love them and did, in fact, love her selects.
The storyteller in me fell in love with “Gem Stories”, a series where the team highlights the people behind the clothes. I particularly loved the profile on Laurinda Ndenzako, founder of Collective Closets, who is using her brand to celebrate women and bridge African and Australian cultures through fashion.
All in all, both Beni and Gem make secondhand shopping more efficient yet fun - a win-win. And while I actually purchased via Gem, I admittedly have been an OG follower of Beni; the switch from the extension to the app is a true upgrade. For now, I’m going to keep both, at least until I land on my new Marni bag, and, well, whatever other to-be-discovered gems I can give a second home. That’s the thing about secondhand: you never know what you’ll find.
Let me know in the comments which app you download and how it’s going.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.