Why Second Hand isn't Second Best

I'm a big fan of getting things second hand. Call it what you will: thrift, vintage or zero waste, there's almost nothing I draw the line at getting second hand. It turns out I'm not alone in my love of preloved. A new survey from Vestiaire Collective, a second-hand sales platform, and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) reveals why luxury brands should celebrate the pre-owned phenomenon and see it as a boost rather than a threat. 

There's always been a market for second-hand and pre-owned diamonds. Men pass down their grandmother's engagement ring to their brides to be. Mothers gift their jewelry to their daughters. And savvy shoppers buy vintage to get the best value for their money. In addition, some diamonds are even more famed and desirable because of the esteemed owners who have worn them in the past.

With Gen Z's love of sustainability and access rather than ownership, there is increased acceptance of the resale market. Global luxury resales are predicted to grow at an average of 12 percent year-on-year compared to 3 percent for the core luxury market. By value, the resale industry is forecasted to increase turnover from $25 billion in 2018 to $36 billion in 2021.

That's a decent chunk of the market, but rather than feeling threatened, brands should embrace the resale market.  

The report explains that 71 percent of pre-owned buyers surveyed buy items and brands they could not afford to buy new. That's a huge swath of people who want to own a particular item and want to be part of a brand's story. 

It's also why brands should stop looking at these buyers as people who are siphoning of revenue from their company and instead start thinking as them as pre-buyers or embryonic buyers. The will is there, the ability isn't, making the second-hand market an effective way to connect with future primary customers, what the report terms a recruiting mechanism for luxury brands.  

One reason buyers sell on an item is to reinvest in a new, full-priced luxury product since second-hand sellers are mostly first-hand buyers who don't like to buy second hand. Thirty-two percent of those sellers said they were primarily selling to purchase new firsthand goods. And, 44 percent of sellers said they purchase more expensive luxury items than they would have bought without a resale market. (Of course, the second-hand diamond market does not work in the same way as the rest of the luxury world, with sellers often getting only half or even less than half of what they paid for what is often the exact same product.)

The final takeaway from the report is that in a world that increasingly values sustainability (of those that shop ethically, 57 percent say that environmental impact is extremely important to them), the pre-owned market clearly extends the lifetime of luxury products. According to the survey, most products sold on pre-owned luxury platforms are of high quality, with 62 percent unworn or hardly worn.  

This is certainly something that brands can and should get behind. Luxury companies that support sustainability, no matter how it comes about, can benefit from positioning themselves as part of a more responsible ecosystem. After all, it's what consumers are looking for, and there's nothing second best about that.

Have a fabulous weekend.