{"id":5495,"date":"2019-08-14T10:41:49","date_gmt":"2019-08-14T05:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vue.ai\/blog\/?p=5495"},"modified":"2024-08-12T10:24:02","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T04:54:02","slug":"guide-people-through-luxury-resale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vue.ai\/blog\/trends-and-analysis\/guide-people-through-luxury-resale\/","title":{"rendered":"Guiding People Through The Maze Of Luxury Resale"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 7<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

US-based re-commerce platform Fashionphile recently took a giant leap for the luxury resale industry by bridging the gap between primary and secondary luxury market. In April 2019, the company <\/span>entered<\/span> into a partnership with luxury retailer Neiman Marcus after selling a minority stake. With this investment, <\/span>Neiman became the first<\/span><\/a> high-end player to directly invest in the booming pre-loved luxury market.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The commercial details about the deal are not yet known. But it is a very crucial development, with regards to the resale space that is expected to touch <\/span>$51 billion by 2023<\/span><\/a>. It has brought together two different worlds of the premium fashion industry to demonstrate how both sides can co-exist and thrive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Source: Business Wire<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While announcing the news, Fashionphile\u2019s founder Sarah Davis <\/span>wrote<\/span><\/a> elatedly, \u201cOur partnership with Neiman Marcus is a historic move because of what it means to the entire \u201crecommerce\u201d category. Neiman Marcus is the first major luxury retailer to expand into the pre-owned market, and they\u2019re doing it with FASHIONPHILE. That is huge.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The online fashion resale platform has been a profitable business from its inception and has <\/span>consistently grown by 50%<\/span><\/a> year-on-year since it was founded in 1999. While they have listed watches, jewellery, and accessories, ultra-luxury handbags are the niche that the company focuses on and generates the maximum revenue. Fashionphile\u2019s popularity can be determined by its 2018 Black Friday sales when their revenue <\/span>increased by 200%<\/span>, transactions by 143% and traffic by 52%. And the company is on track to touch the <\/span>$200 million gross merchandise volume<\/span><\/a> mark in 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Having bootstrapped their company for nearly 20 years, Davis and co-founder Ben Hemminger realized that they needed to get external investors on board to fuel the next phase of growth. That\u2019s how the partnership with Neiman Marcus materialized.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOver half our customers already engage in pre-owned luxury\u2026 Fashionphile\u2019s hyper focus on curating high-quality supply and providing best-in-class shopping experiences makes it the ideal partner. With Fashionphile, we will engage with customers participating in the secondary market and introduce Neiman Marcus to younger and aspirational shoppers already devoted to luxury brands,\u201d <\/span>shared<\/span><\/a> Geoffroy van Raemdonck, CEO, Neiman Marcus Group .<\/span><\/p>\n

How and why Fashionphile caught Neiman Marcus\u2019 attention? Why did the luxury retailer narrow down on Davis\u2019 company as their first investment in the secondary market?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The answers lie somewhere between the company\u2019s last two decades.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From Law Books to Chanel<\/b><\/h2>\n

According to Davis\u2019s mother, she was industrious from a very young age. And after tracing her journey before starting Fashionphile, it is also clear that she is a visionary who wasn\u2019t afraid to experiment and take risks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Case in point: One of the <\/span>first businesses that Davis started<\/span><\/a> while in high school was a service to remove lice, where she was paid $10 dollars for each booking. As unusual as it sounds, it is a <\/span>$1 billion industry<\/span><\/a> now and companies charge more than $100-200 for the same service. Her next high school business was giving haircuts for $5 each.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The idea to resell items struck her <\/span>while studying in law school<\/span><\/a>. At first, Davis started an online site to sell used law books. In 1999, the same idea took the shape of Fashionphile when she began buying and selling pre-owned luxury bags, shoes and clothes on eBay to pay off the law school fees. That experience taught Davis about the appeal of designer labels and their value in the second-hand market.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n