Secondhand

Some secondhand buyers contacted me recently, asking to buy and they resell my Louboutin heels. I refused.

This is how I am exposed to this second-hand industry.

In Hong Kong, this industry works like this: secondhand buyers give you a sum of money to buy your products, then they resell it; Or they sign a contract with you, keep your product in their stores for a period of time and sell it at a price you desired. You can take it back at anytime.

Sounds alluring, as Hong Kong is a materialistic city. No matter how much we can spend, we all have a closet full of clothes, handbags and shoes. That only means we have to throw away of some of them regularly.

It is desirable, if you can get money back when you try to get rid of it. Actually, this can be a reason we used to justify ourselves in buying luxury products.

However, if you are trying to gain profit by reselling luxury items, it may not be easy. Think about it, why would one wants to buy secondhand products? It is either because one have limited budget, or one truly wants to buy them as collectibles.

People would like to pay a lot for collectibles, but if they are the one who buy secondhand items because of limited budget, they want to pay less.

Unless you are having a limited edition Chanel or Hermes handbags, secondhand-product reseller usually prise your product at 40-60 % of the original price. To gain profit, they can only buy your product at 20-30% of the original price.

So, again, unless you are truly trying to throw away your handbags, your shoes… you no longer need them or love them, or else, you are actually losing money by reselling.

However, if you want to throw it away, why would you pay thousands of dollars for them in the first place? And if you have limited budget, why would you want to buy a luxury product?

This leads to a deeper thought into the value of luxury and shopping psychology.

My conclusions are :

1.     Think twice before buying anything, only buy if you would like to keep it for lifelong and the quality worth your money
2.     Craftsmanship is irreplaceable. The only concrete aspect you can count on when buying.
3.     If you have less to spend, money is the first priority, buy practical items instead. If you have extra money to spend, go for something made of fine craftsmanship, not because of brand names.
4.     What you buy should be an asset instead of debt
5.     If you want to earn from reselling, go for something that people would like to pay even if overpriced. They are usually things that are of limited edition, which are not usually assessable by the general public. That is why I say it is difficult.

~Toni