Selling your old clothes was once something furtive and fleeting – done under a pseudonym on eBay or at a secondhand designer store for a small return. These days, however, there’s a growing selection of reselling sites whose specialism in designer clothes has made them favourites among well-heeled women on a mission to make money from their clearout.
The two major businesses smartening up the eBay model are Vestiaire Collective, founded in 2009, and Covetique.com launched at the end of 2011. Both work on a commission basis, with sellers earning 62.5% of the sale price at Covetique and 75% at Vestiaire Collective. Both also provide the kind of service fashion insiders appreciate; teams at the sites evaluate potential pieces, verify their authenticity, pick them up through a courier service and work as the middle man between seller and buyer. While the commission sounds hefty compared to eBay, it takes away all that pesky post office time, and speaks directly to a designer-literate customer. These sites work on a members service, with nearly three million subscribers at Vestiaire. Bestsellers include Chanel, Hermes and Louis Vuitton.
“It’s about seeing your wardrobe as an investment portfolio,” says Nicola McClafferty, the founder of Covetique, which has investment from Asos. “You should be thinking about the resale value of everything you buy.” More and more women are, apparently. A survey conducted by Vestiaire found that 60% of respondents in the UK had sold or would like to sell pre-owned clothes, and 26% said they bought more pre-owned clothes online than they did five years ago. McClafferty says they receive between 500 and 1,000 items to sell a week, with 70% of sellers in the affluent south-east of England.
So, who is this woman, making a nice little earner selling her cast-offs? The kind with the disposable income to buy designer clothes in the first place, but the smarts to buy into McClafferty’s investment theory. “It’s for flipping,” says Carolina Marte, a 35-year-old banker who uses Covetique. “I am a big fan of Chanel and had a bag that was looking old. I sold it and bought a new one with some of the proceeds.”
Laura Fantacci, a stylist behind the blog Wearing it Today, has a system. “I start over every season and do a clear out then,” she explains. “I use the money to buy new things. It all goes into a PayPal account that I don’t touch and then I use it buy something, like an Anya Hindmarch Walton bag, that I couldn’t justify using my salary for.”
Inevitably, some of that money goes back to the site’s coffers – sellers are often buyers too. With a somewhat overwhelming amount of stuff on sale on these sites, and a relatively long-winded process of getting orders from sellers to the site and onto the buyer, patience is key.
Clothes here are often half, if not less, of the price you might buy them new. See an Alexander Wang dress, originally £835, for £250. Marte sees this as justification to be a bit frivolous. “I got two Herve Leger dresses for half price with the tags still on,” she says. “That’s great because you can only really wear them to cocktail parties.” Glamorous cocktail dresses and Elle Macpherson school run favourites, this is the world of high end reselling sites. “The client is someone who realises that there is a natural flow in fashion,” says Fiona Leahy, an event designer and reseller. “something that is really valued to one person might not be to another.” Time to start thinking about that sartorial investment portfolio now.
Tips on how to use reselling sites like a pro
Look after your clothes to get the most out of them. “Always stuff your handbags and store them properly,” says McClafferty. “You should be thinking about the resale value all the time.”
Buyers should go in with a plan. “I don’t tend to browse,” says Fantacci. “I bought a pair of Joseph leather leggings that I couldn’t afford to buy new. Don’t get lost – go in there with a focus.”
Keep the receipt - authenticity is key. “I never thought about packaging and receipts,” says McClafferty, “but those things will get the most out of a sale.”
