Restoration • Refurbish • Resale • Refuse
The creasing, the scuffs, the sole gone gray — most of what makes a pair look finished is surface. Plenty of them are a deep clean away from back in rotation.
Graded by an operator
67 / 100
Four attributes, each 1–5, against a written standard. You never grade your own item.
We're starting in Chicago. Get on the list and we'll tell you when we can grade yours.
Came here from a card? The six-photo check-in happens in the app, which arrives with your invite — tonight, the list is the step that counts.
The real reason they're still in the box
It's that you don't know how far gone they are. Nobody has ever told you whether that pair is worth doing — so they sit there, and you reach past them.
The grade
Six photos from your phone. A person scores four attributes against a written standard and tells you where your pair sits — and whether it's worth doing at all.
The breakdown is what changes your mind. “They're trashed” becomes “the soles are fine — it's the color”, and a written-off pair turns into a distance you can close.
Some are past saving. Most aren't, and the number is usually better than you'd guess. Then Chicago shops tell you what they'd charge, and you pick one.
The handoff
Sealed in a numbered bag, photographed with the serial in frame, graded twice — once before the work, once after — by someone who is neither you nor the shop.
Refuse
Then at least you know — and you're not stuck with them. A low grade points you to Re•Fuse, a service of its own: wearable pairs get donated, the rest get recycled properly, not landfilled. Hand over the whole pile if you like, not just the one pair you asked about. No grade is a dead end.
We're starting in Chicago. Get on the list and we'll tell you when we can grade yours.
For shops
We send you graded, photographed work with the scope already agreed. You bid on what you want and pass on what you don't.
See how partnering works