High-end luxury goods are considered luxury items for a multitude of reasons. Luxury goods are made with expert craftsmanship and from the world’s finest natural and synthetic materials. Pieces are hand-crafted, hand-sewn and made with incredible attention to detail and workmanship. Luxury goods have limited production, and they are priced accordingly. The RealReal, the leader in the luxury goods resale market, encourages both the purchase and resale of top-quality, timeless and rare luxury clothing, handbags, shoes, jewelry and accessories.
Maybe you are unable to afford to be able to walk into a Louis Vuitton boutique and pick out a brand new Speedy bag. The RealReal gives women the opportunity to shop for gently-used couture and designer goods at a mere fraction of the retail price. Their team of shopping experts forecasts trends in the resale fashion market and prices their items accordingly. If there is a particular upsweep in trending items or a particular designer, this compiled data is sent to shoppers and consignors. If consigning clients have these trending or coveted items sitting in their wardrobes or closets and they are collecting dust, shoppers can take advantage of offers to consign their highly-sought-after items for top dollar.
Our real-time data lets us price our items according to trends in the market and basic supply-and-demand principles. All of our product tags are encrypted with RFID codes. This lets us track where and how our items are moving throughout our warehouses and in the dressing rooms in our boutiques, for example. We get a bird’s-eye-view of what items are being added to virtual shopping carts, which items are being tried on in our boutiques and what types of items are selling consistently.
The luxury resale market affords shoppers the opportunity to try brands and styles they would not typically be able to afford. Since many items from many couture designers like Gucci, Chanel, Rolex and Cartier, for example, retain their value, you can invest in these products and still retain a 60 to 80 percent resale value if you decide to sell your pieces in the future.
Fast-fashion brands do not retain or hold their value in any capacity. Every now and again, a fast-fashion trend or particular item achieves coveted status when a celebrity is seen wearing it on the red carpet. For a brief moment in time, these pieces have a fashion moment, sell out online and in stores and see a price hike for a short duration. Generally speaking, however, fast-fashion pieces have a short shelf life and do not retain any sort of resale value. This is great for the luxury retail market. The classic marquis brands and heritage pieces of each respective brand always do well and have a solid resale value. As savvier and more informed shoppers gain awareness of the negative impacts that fast fashion manufacturing has on our environment, people are investing their money into the luxury goods market. While fashion can sometimes be perceived as a disposable commodity, many people are realizing the investment opportunities that arise from purchasing and reselling luxury goods.
The RealReal has changed the way people shop and perceive designer goods. They have expertly walked the fine line to put more designer goods in the hands of consumers without devaluing the respective brands and making them seem too attainable. When a luxury brand or designer’s pieces become too saturated in the retail market, their value declines. Luxury goods are about exclusivity, and building an investment wardrobe should take a considerable amount of time as a result.
