Would you fork out 8,000 dollars for an old handbag? For fashionistas who
simply must get their hands on a rare model from an iconic brand, the
answer is an emphatic yes. Thanks in part to the economic downturn, some of
the stigma of buying second-hand accessories has eased in recent years —
although many buyers still prefer to use euphemisms like “pre-owned”.
The market for used luxury bags, watches and jewellery hit 16 billion
euros (17.5
billion dollars) last year, according to a study by the consultancy Bain
and Altagamma, an Italian body representing luxury goods manufacturers. And
while 80 percent of the sales are still in bricks-and-mortar shops, online
sales are rocketing, their study found.
“If you add up the sales of all the big luxury groups for the past 20 years,
you’re talking about two to three trillion euros of merchandise sitting in
people’s closets,” said Loic Bocher, co-founder of Collector Square, a website
that touts itself as giving “another life” to luxury items. The website,
which launched just two years ago, did that for 5,000 luxury cast-offs last
year.
A quilted blue Chanel, a Gucci made from python-skin, or a brown
pony-hair Fendi
Baguette: Collector Square has more than 1,600 bags on its site, including
over a dozen Birkins, the legendary Hermes model that is by far its most
sought-after. “The Birkin is most difficult to get hold of and often sparks
overbidding, but you need to be aware that it is not at all representative
of the second-hand market,” said Bocher.
The most highly prized second-hand Hermes models can command prices up to
20 percent higher than their brand-new equivalents, while other pre-owned
brands sell at a discount of between 30 and 90 percent, according to a study
by Exane-BNP Paribas published in March in collaboration with the website
InstantLuxe.
For a Birkin, “the market goes crazy: a bag can be sold within a few hours and
hit 10,000 or even 14,000 euros. It’s the Rolls-Royce of handbags,” said Yann
Le Floc’h, the founder of InstantLuxe, which saw its business double between
2013 and 2014.
Carefully cultivating desire
Designed for actress and singer Jane Birkin in 1984, the bags are hand-made in
France and come in a variety of sizes, colours and leathers. The bags
are instantly
recognisable by their flap fastener and padlock, with the classic 35-centimetre
(10-inch) model in calfskin selling new for 7,400 euros. It is not hard to
see why Birkin fans are taking to the Internet: you can have one hanging
off your arm in just a couple of days.
It could take months to find a new one in a Hermes store — the brand carefully
controls supply — especially if you are set on a particular colour or
leather. “That’s the key to luxury: carefully maintain a gap between supply
and demand,” said Bocher. “And the brands work so hard to cultivate
desire.”
For Le Floc’h, one explanation for the online second-hand rush is that people’s
views on luxury products have changed. Today, it is “the state of mind of
using a luxury product” that is important, whereas “before it was owning
and handing down”. Asian customers in particular are driving the Birkin
buying spree, Le Floc’h added.
“It’s the Chinese who have dictated the Birkin market,” he said. “Two years ago
the 35-centimetre model was the norm, but today it’s the 30-centimetre model
because there are more Asians on the market,” and they prefer smaller
bags. Clamour
for one particular Birkin led to it setting a record recently for the most
expensive handbag ever sold at a Christie’s auction.
The fuchsia-coloured crocodile-skin number, with a white gold clasp and padlock
encrusted with diamonds, was snapped up by an Asian phone bidder for 222,912
dollars in an auction that saw “fast-paced bidding from start to
finish”, Christie’s
said in a statement.
Luca Solca, an analyst at Exane-BNP Paribas, said much of the European demand
for second-hand luxury bags is suspected to be from ‘daigou’ —
Chinese middlemen
who buy second-hand products in excellent condition in order to sell them
in China as new.
In order to ensure the authenticity of the items sold on their websites, both
Collector Square and InstantLuxe call upon experts, who also evaluate
the condition
of the bags. But it remains unclear what impact the thriving online
second-hand market will have on luxury brands that go to great lengths to
control their sales.
“We give value to these products and prove that they’re timeless,” says Bocher
in defence of websites like Collector Square.”And for the brands, it’s
better to have a structured second-hand market with checks on
authenticity.” (Katia Dolmadjan, AFP)
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