WHY HAS THE LUXURY RESALE MARKET BECOME SO BIG?

Luxury Resale is BOOMING!

It is estimated that the luxury RESALE market was worth $33 billion in 2021, a 65% increase from 2017! But why the sudden boom? Years ago, the designer bags of the world were a statement and one which was sought and bought from their name-same store. The lure of the elite. Buying such an item secondhand was not something to be bragging about or mentioned in society. However, this view has drastically changed in the last few years, with consignment, resale luxury websites, and shops opening left, right, and centre.

Conscious Consumers?

A huge part of what is driving this resale surge, is, conscious consumption. This is heartening and positive as it shows a potential for consumers to really look at their shopping habits and change them for the better (of our environment). On the other hand, it is not necessarily anything consciously to do with sustainability; as we have seen luxury brands hiking their prices up year by year, those who shop for luxury, are starting to look at how to buy their favourites that bit cheaper.

Not only that, buying an item preloved, can often lead you to finding a rare vintage piece, which studies show, Gen Z in particular, love a unique, investment piece.

Quality over Quantity

Reselling of clothes, on a whole has been growing exponentially for years now. Which as a reseller myself, I fully get behind and applaud anyone who chooses to shop this way. The issue that still remains however is that it doesn’t remove the vast amount of over produced, poorly made clothes which can’t or won’t be resold.

Here is where the luxury resale excels, because the quality of the items is so high, it gives them the ability to be sold and resold time and again. There are vintage Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci etc… which are 30, 40 + years old and they still stand the test of time. The more people can get into the mindset of purchasing quality over quantity, the more likely we are to see an improvement in the amount of wasted landfill destined clothes.

The way forward

It is predicted that used clothing will eventually take over the high street, with more and more high end fashion retailers stepping into that mode of thinking and changing the way they buy & sell. Selfridges London for example plan to have half of their sales to be resale, repair or rented by 2030. ( The Guardian 02.09.2022). The fact that resale of luxury goods is growing so much at the moment is hugely positive. It encourages brands to produce less and find new ways to reuse or recycle what already exists, and for consumers, it is the way forward and is the more sustainable choice for both the environment and for your own wallet!