When I was growing up resale stores were where the less fortunate shopped. Often staffed by hospital board ladies, these stores were mostly dark and tired...laden with clothes and items that people didn't want any longer but still had some usable life left. Today resale is different. Resale, or the proper 2022 name, consignment, has changed significantly and has, according to Rati Sahi Levesque, the President of The Real Real, " gone mainstream". Consignment is no longer the 'White Elephant Resale Store, it's now where quality high end brands find a new life, where Tiffany and Gucci attract new buyers and where vintage includes high value Nike sneakers.
What is driving this change is simply a change in the way people shop. After years of consumerism shoppers are becoming more 'conscious consumers'. Of note, 40% of TRR shoppers are replacing fast fashion with resale and 43% shop resale because it’s more sustainable. These changes combined with supply chain disruptions that have created supply constraints have driven shoppers to explore the secondary market...the resale market.
In resale the luxury sector has one distinction that sets it apart: "every demographic actively participates in luxury resale,” says Levesque, “From Gen Z to the Silent Generation, every demo increased its adoption of secondhand luxury in 2021, and nearly every brand saw rising resale value as a result.”
Attached is the Annual TRR Luxury Consignment Report for 2022 which highlights these changing trends and behaviors.
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