Re-selling coveted designer bags can make savvy investors a ginormous profit – but not all designers brands are equal on the secondhand market.
Luxury brands hate the re-sale market because it can allow people to profit from fake products – especially when secondhand websites don’t have strict authentication checks.
However – another worry for the expensive companies is that certain designs are selling for more on the resale market and making the re-sellers a fortune – which can cause consumers to snub merchandise that doesn’t hold its value.
Over the past four years, shoppers dropped $1.3 trillion on new luxury goods – handbags, clothes, watches and jewelry, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The re-sale market has doubled in size over the past four years and in 2023, $49.3 billion worth of luxury goods were sold worldwide.
Re-selling coveted designer bags can make savvy investors a ginormous profit – but not all designers brands are equal on the secondhand market
Over the past four years, shoppers dropped $1.3 trillion on new luxury goods – handbags, clothes, watches and jewelry
Hermès bags are so sought-after and exclusive that aspiring owners are willing to seriously splash out on a used bag to avoid waiting on lists
According to data from The Real Real, a popular online marketplace for selling luxury goods, handbags from Louis Vuitton lose an average of 40 per cent of their value when they’re re-sold – even if more rare designs like this one seen on Rihanna fare better than most
The brand’s iconic Kelly bag was named after princess Grace Kelly and is now an expensive status symbol, which Kyle Richards is pictured clutching here in epsom leather with palladium hardware. The Real Housewives star is an avid handbag collector, and at Hermes in Paris with the brand’s executive and VIP Whisperer Michael Coste
Hermès bags are so sought-after and exclusive that aspiring owners are willing to seriously splash out on a used bag to avoid playing the Hermes game – which normally involves developing a relationship with a sales associate, a pricey pre-spend, and a waiting list of a year or more.
A basic Birkin 25 bag costs around $10,000 at retail value – but can re-sell for $24,000 or more.
The 25cm Ostrich Birkin bags from Hermès have proven to be rare – with just 25 selling at auction the the last decade. Their average selling price has been topping $35,000 since 2020 – with a 2021 Noir Ostrich Birkin 25 being sold for a generous $40,420 in 2022.
Rare Hermès bags bring in even more cash – with a Himalaya Birkin setting a world record in 2020 when it was sold at an auction for a whopping $382,295.
Birkin bags aren’t just a fashion statement – they’re an indication of not only wealth but also status and often fame.
Stars like Kyle Richards, Victoria Beckham, Paris Hilton, Pippa Middleton, the Kardashians and of course Jane Birkin herself have all famously clutched Birkin bags at some point.
The brand’s iconic Kelly bag was named after princess Grace Kelly and is now an expensive status symbol.
On average, second-hand Hermès bags cost 25 percent more than brand new ones purchased directly from the store.
While used products from luxury brands like Hermès, Patek Philippe, and Rolex bring in more money than their brand new versions, most other designers have lower resale values than the original price.
According to data from The Real Real, a popular online marketplace for selling luxury goods, handbags from Louis Vuitton lose an average of 40 per cent of their value when they’re re-sold.
An ostrich Birkin like the one seen here on Jordyn Woods can fetch $40,000 on the resale market depending on size, color, hardware and condition
Beth Silverberg, an expert in the re-sale market and a savvy investor, insists that designer handbags are just as lucrative as real estate, art and even stocks
Christian Dior bags lose half of their value on the re-sale market.
Meanwhile, other brands are seeing drops in their re-sale value – with Burberry’s average falling 17 per cent since they hired their new creative director in late 2022.
Paris-listed luxury group Kering, which owns Gucci, Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta, have seen values slip with their top three brands slipping 10 per cent, 14 per cent and 23 per cent respectively.
Chanel increased the price of its popular medium-size Classic Flap bag by a staggering 70 per cent during the pandemic – but the bag’s re-sale price has yet to catch up to the new tag.
Some designer brands tried to interfere with the competition of re-sale markets by partnering with them, a model attempted by Gucci, Stella McCartney and Burberry, but their efforts were short-lived and didn’t pay off overall.
Beth Silverberg, an expert in the re-sale market and a savvy investor, insists that designer handbags are just as lucrative as real estate, art and even stocks.
Beth Silverberg is pictured with a white vintage Hermès Kelly bag which she bought for $600 but has a retail value of $15,000. She is also holding a rare hot-pink Chanel handbag bought for $6000, and an extremely rare Birkin 20
Silverberg, a former professional poker player, estimates she has made more than $100,000 by buying and selling purses from brands including Chanel, Hermès and Louis Vuitton since she started her collection aged 16.
And her earnings are only set to grow after a report by wealth manager Credit Suisse projected handbags to be one of the best ‘collectible’ investments of 2023 – outranking jewelry and art in terms of resale value.
‘My first ever bag was a Louis Vuitton 30 Speedy which I bought for $150 from the tips I made waitressing,’ the 55-year-old, from Pennsylvania, told Dailymail.com.
‘I flipped mine for around $600 years ago – but they’re worth $1,500 now.
‘I’ve always invested in stocks and shares but my bags have far superseded anything I’ve made the traditional way.’