Resale spots its opportunity, amid COVID and inflation

Chinese consumers appear to be warming to second-hand apparel, with luxury brands that had once benefitted from low-friction international travel and enviable in-store shopping still limited – a new crop of businesses are ready to step into the breach.

Why it matters

Traditionally, a combination of superstition and distrust of authenticity have limited second-hand apparel markets in China, but a series of macro and generational shifts have upended this narrative.

The rise of resale

Second-hand luxury goods markets picked up in certain parts of China at the beginning of the pandemic, as some people looked to offload expensive items in search of liquidity.

A combination of factors is behind this:

• A sharp rise in Omicron infections in different parts of China that have curtailed retail.
• International travel remains muted.
• Brands are hiking prices in order to protect profit margins as materials and shipping costs rocket.

As usual, younger consumers are more receptive to the idea. Some even like the search for an item, like a thrift store hunt.

Who benefits?

Online magazine The Business of Fashion has an overview of the resale platform scene, among them the France-based Vestiaire Collective but also Shanghai-based GoShare2, both aiming to carve out a slice of a market that is due to grow more than 300% by 2025.

These companies aren’t simply marketplaces, though. The threat of counterfeit goods still weighs on Chinese consumers heavily. These firms have as much of a part to play in verifying authenticity as in the logistics.

Sourced from Jing Daily, Business of Fashion