Luxury Resale Brands: The Real Real Way Of Shopping?
Once Carrie Bradshaw said that “Year after year, twenty-something women come to New York in search of the two ‘L’s: Labels & Love.” In my opinion, when most people who are into fashion hit their mid twenties, labels become our biggest loves.
Obviously, no one needs a branded accessory to look stylish; however, carrying a trademark of one of the founding fathers or mothers of what we know as fashion is never a bad idea! Still, most of us don’t have the $2000 to drop on a YSL, so how can we do so?
Over the past decade online fashion resale websites have offered a more affordable way to up your closets game! Brands such as Fashionphile, The Real Real, Tradesy, and Rebag allow people to buy renowned designer brands for up to 80% off the retail price. For example, a Stella McCartney Shaggy Deer Falabella Tote, which would usually cost you $1200, is on sale for half the price at Tradesy.
Resale websites not only allow you to save money on luxury items, but also give you the opportunity to make money through consigning, which can make you up to $9000 a year! Consigning to Fashion resale websites has been very popular amongst GenZ and Millennials, representing 31% of the consignors for the world’s largest Authenticated Luxury Fashion Brand, the Real Real, in 2020.
While Luxury resale websites seem to hold the key for a game-changer in your closet and be a huge relief to your wallet, certain precautions should be taken before buying and selling items from stores as such. Firstly, as with any type of online shopping for clothing, it is a bet: you never really know how a piece of clothing or accessory will look before trying it on. I bought a YSL bag for a miraculous price at one of these websites, and when it arrived, it was too little to fit my phone! I should have been more cautious about the bag’s measurements, still, I would definitely not have bought it if it was at a physical store,
Moreover, counterfeit items may slip through the authentication process. In companies such as The Real Real, where they have a team to make sure that all the items sold are authentic, problems as such are rarer; nonetheless, they do happen. In 2018, Chanel filed a lawsuit against The Real Real for selling counterfeit products, which the website claimed to be authenticated.
Buying resale luxury items you have been dreaming about at affordable prices, go for it. Still, remember to see beyond the image in the website: be careful about the sizes, authenticity and materials of the items.