The second-hand luxury goods market is gradually becoming a blue ocean, but the penetration rate still needs to be improved. Recently, at the 2023 High end Consumer Product Inspection and Market Sustainable Development Conference, Zhang Mengxia from the Luxury Research Center of the University of International Business and Economics mentioned a set of data that currently, the conversion rate from first-hand luxury goods to second-hand luxury goods in China is low, only 5%. In contrast, the consumption scale of second-hand luxury goods in developed countries accounts for 20% -30% of the total size of the luxury goods market, and the second-hand luxury goods market in China has the characteristics of low turnover rate and great development potential.
It is worth noting that in second-hand luxury goods transactions, resources are also tilted towards top brands. Zhang Mengxia disclosed a set of industry data, stating that the number of brands and market share in the second-hand luxury goods market are concentrated, with the most popular 8 luxury brands accounting for about 80% of the second-hand luxury goods market share. This means that second-hand luxury goods in China is a polarized market led by a few brand winners.
Previously, the second luxury platform Hongbulin released this year's "Double 11" battle report, which showed that the top three best-selling brands of Hongbulin were Louis Vuitton, GUCCI, and CHANEL. During the "Double 11" period in 2022, the top three best-selling brands are CHANEL, LOUIS VUITTON, and GUCCI. Although the transaction data rankings of the brands have increased and decreased over the past two years, the second-hand commodity transactions of the three brands mentioned above have remained at the forefront.
Regarding this, Zhang Mengxia stated that as consumer fashion demand gradually deepens and becomes more refined, diverse, and diverse, second-hand luxury buyers will also pursue personalized expression of product diversity and uniqueness. In the future, some unique and niche brands and products will be welcomed by buyers, with a clear long tail effect.
In addition, Zhang Mengxia mentioned that in the second-hand luxury goods market, luggage is the most active category in transactions, and clothing categories such as ready to wear and shoes are expected to experience explosive growth. Compared to mature global second-hand online trading platforms, the trading of second-hand goods in categories such as ready to wear and shoes is comparable to that of luggage.
Since 2020, the second-hand market size of global clothing, shoes, and accessories has nearly doubled. This shows that with the popularization of the concept of circular relativity and the gradual shift of consumer mentality from showing off their identity through conspicuous consumption to recognizing and appreciating unique design and high-end quality.
Zhang Mengxia also mentioned that over 90% of second-hand luxury goods are currently the mainstream of transactions. How to repair and recreate second-hand luxury goods with high wear and tear is expected to become a new selling point.
Mei Yuhua, a luxury brand expert, said that at present, the second-hand luxury goods trading market is in an unstable state, and the key factor is that the standardization of the market is not in place. The whole market is still in a state of separatism and confusion, whether from the perspective of technology such as identification and maintenance, or from the perspective of recycling quotations and sales. The second-hand luxury goods transaction is a manifestation of the circular economy, which will drive the rise of a new luxury industry and solve a large number of job opportunities. In the future, brands will gradually enter their own luxury market to compensate for the impact of the luxury market on themselves and generate new profit models.
