isolate at home due to the epidemic and pick up the goods a month late. I found that the reservation Hermes actually increased by 50,000 yuan; it is difficult to find a bag of out-of-print handbags, and second-hand platforms can only buy it after thousands of yuan...
Recently, as major luxury brands have raised prices one after another as they made an appointment, the topic of "Investing is worse than buying a bag" has been hot.
Is "luxury financial management" really reliable?
reporter learned that even for practitioners with rich experience, mastering the so-called "financial management password" requires continuous exploration and summary in "fighting monsters and upgrading". In the current situation where most luxury goods will be greatly discounted after entering the second-hand market, it can be considered profitable if you don’t lose money.
After picking up the goods after one month of isolation, Hermes bags rose by 50,000 yuan
Ms. Jin, who is keen on the second-hand luxury goods platform Taobao, has purchased 4 big-name bags in the past five years, of which bamboo green and national flag red Hermes Birkin were more than 130,000 yuan and more than 120,000 yuan respectively when purchasing. Now when you go to the second-hand market to look at the price, there is at least 20,000 yuan for to increase . However, it has no practical significance for Ms. Jin, who is used for daily use. "I always carry it out. If it is a collector who intends to increase the price, he will pay attention to protection. Hardware and other parts will be protected."
, a friend of her, who has the same "Taobao" hobby, Ms. Li, on the same platform two years ago, bought a CHANEL mini CF gold ball bag based on the counter price by about 5,000 yuan. The difference is that this is a "brand new and unused" popular model. "We generally cannot buy some popular models, and they cannot buy them. They must be VVIP customers with large consumption records in the store to be qualified to get the goods. So after I take a fancy, I can only buy at the second-hand platform at a higher price."
In Ms. Li's opinion, although her self-used handbag has risen from more than 38,000 yuan to 45,000 yuan in more than a year, if she sells now, including the wear and tear discount after use, there is no "making a fortune". "You must talk about financial management, then the seller of this bag made money in the past, but her early investment is also considerable."
During the interview with reporters, many luxury buyers and even practitioners in the second-hand luxury market smiled at "luxury financial management". In their opinion, the so-called "financial management theory" is more of a joke or a topic of conversation after dinner, and at most it can only be regarded as a "little happiness" to find fun from one's own hobbies.
Sissi, the operation director of Alooooha Vintage, a veteran middle-aged store in Shanghai, has been in this industry for 4 years. During the transactions and communication with customers, this kind of surprises actually occur very frequently.
For example, in May 2020, Sissi sold an Hermes crocodile leather antique bag produced in the 1960s and 1970s to an old customer for a price of 50,000 yuan. As a result, two months later, he saw an exact same antique bag at Christie's auction house and finally sold for 220,000 yuan. "I called the customer to report the good news immediately. In fact, this young lady may not necessarily sell the bag, but we all felt a sense of pride that I have a good vision."
The latest surprise happened at the end of last year. A customer ordered a Hermes and completed the payment, but because of the epidemic in Xi'an, he had to be quarantined at home, and finally picked up the goods one month late. When I got it, the second-hand price of this Kelly had increased by 50,000 yuan.
is "fighting monsters and upgrading" while mastering the "traffic password".
is in the second-hand luxury goods industry and has to handle hundreds of bags every day. Sissi will also practice his vision after work: choose second-hand bags that he likes and has a certain ability to maintain value, and take action after a while. In 4 years, he has completed the flow of some idle second-hand bags on hand.
In this process, as long as she doesn’t lose money, she will be considered a profit.
The first one that made me make money was the evergreen KEEPALL of LV. It was very cheap when I bought it at the Middle Ages store, only more than 3,000 yuan. About a year later, due to the epidemic, business trips and travel have decreased. I felt that it took up some space at home, so I simply sold it for more than 5,000 yuan.
Sissi said that if you hold it until now, the price of this travel bag in the second-hand market can be at least 7,000 yuan. The CHANEL mid-style CF she carries now also belongs to the "value-preserving ceiling" in the market. The replica version sold by the counter will increase by 20 to 30% almost every year.
She calls this kind of personal interests and hobbies developed from work "fighting monsters and upgrading" in the second-hand market.
The first stage is to choose to buy some bags that are cheaper than counters and have good quality in the second-hand market; now she is in the second stage, which has achieved "in and out", and focuses on value preservation, appreciation or the star effect when purchasing - once the bags that have become popular because of celebrity products are in short supply in the counter, the same styles that have flowed into the second-hand market will immediately become "hot cakes" and the pricing will also rise accordingly.
For example, the LV DAUPHINE that Gu Ailing has been carried by LV DAUPHINE recently, and its popularity has soared.
The third stage requirements will be higher. Some buyers will be targeted to collect rare leather and limited edition bags for collection. This not only requires professional vision and knowledge reserves, but also requires a certain financial foundation.
reporter learned that luxury second-hand stores or platforms will comprehensively consider multiple factors when pricing products for sale, including color, leather, hardware accessories, etc. For example, the staff who handled it will carefully check whether the bag has been maintained, otherwise it means that some defects may have appeared before; the oxidation and gloss of the hardware accessories, whether there are scratches, wear on the inner and outer skin, and whether the ID card marks are complete will affect the final price.
Therefore, the price of actually used bags will naturally be discounted after entering the second-hand market. In addition to the classic models of top brands such as Hermès, LV, and CHANEL, the second-hand prices of other leather goods and handbags are far from the counter prices. Some well-known brands' bags are more likely to fall below 20 to 30% off, or even lower "fragment prices".
How long can consumers "buy up or not buy down"?
Since 2022, the news that major luxury brands have adjusted their prices has been constantly stimulating people's nerves on social platforms. So we saw that the highest increase in LV predictions exceeded 15%, and there were long queues in front of each store.
Then GUCCI announced a price increase on February 18, and people rushed to study "classic recommendations". Even after the price increase, the popularity of Ruiou Department Store's brand stores is still high. The price of the Marmont series medium-sized products has increased by 500 yuan and the 1,955 small products has increased by 1,000 yuan. In the eyes of many people, it is actually a bit irrelevant.
rumor that CHANEL will raise prices again in March in the past two days has become very popular. Although it has not been officially announced, it has become the focus of heated discussion whether in specialty stores or second-hand metropolitan stores.
Take LV as an example. The official explanation of the reason for the price increase was "related to the rising global manufacturing and transportation costs", but the fact is that the cost of luxury goods itself is actually very low, and what consumers value is its additional attributes with certain symbolic significance. Adding the two can bring a continuous profit growth rate to the luxury goods industry.
consumers are naturally understandable to "buy up or down". The recent shout of "buy luxury goods as financial products" has also earned a lot of marketing gimmicks for the luxury goods industry. It is worth noting that under the price changes of luxury goods, the buying trend has fallen into a vicious circle of buying more and more expensive, but it is not a long-term solution.
Industry insiders pointed out that the new normal of China's luxury retail industry will be a market dominated by localized consumption, and young consumers will inevitably become the main force. This group not only wants to buy big brands, but also hopes to have more diverse choices and a richer fashion tone. This concept is obviously in conflict with luxury styles with "preservation and appreciation" attributes. "Young consumers are reshaping China's luxury goods market and will continue to exert influence on the market. In the true youthful and personalized competition, the competitiveness of luxury goods is actually not too strong. Unlimited price increases will one day break through the psychological bottom line of the existing audience and even arouse rebellious psychology."
(Morning News)
