As the worldwide marketplace for secondhand luxurious gadgets surges, authentication has turn out to be the defining issue separating credible platforms from the remaining.
The resale marketplace for style and luxurious gadgets is increasing at an annual fee of 10%, thrice sooner than the firsthand market, in accordance with a report launched Oct. 9 by Boston Consulting Group and luxurious resale platform Vestiaire Collective.
The report tasks the worldwide resale market might attain as much as $360 billion by 2030, from about $210 billion at this time.
With extra buyers shopping for pre-owned designer manufacturers, belief has turn out to be paramount. “As counterfeit manufacturing turns into more and more subtle, even luxurious manufacturers themselves typically fail to detect fakes, in some circumstances, unknowingly repairing counterfeit gadgets,” stated Jaewha Choi, CEO of South Korean on-line market Bunjang.
Horror tales abound on-line of individuals paying 1000’s for pretend Hermès luggage or a Rolex Oyster Perpetual watches with swapped elements. Some counterfeits are so convincing they’re dubbed “superfakes,” reportedly made with supplies from the identical leather-based suppliers as the unique manufacturers.
Purchaser beware
Nonetheless, because the resale market expands, authentication has turn out to be a rising concern. The secondhand trade has lengthy operated underneath the rule of “caveat emptor,” or purchaser beware.
To counter more and more lifelike “superfakes,” resale platforms are pouring assets into verification. Singapore-based on-line market Carousell opened its first brick-and-mortar retailer for luxurious gadgets in downtown Singapore this 12 months, permitting sellers to have their gadgets graded by one of many firm’s appraisers earlier than itemizing them for resale.
The verification staff inspects not solely the fabric of a bag but in addition particulars like stitching and stamping, Tresor Tan, Director of Gross sales, Advertising and marketing and Consumer Relations at Carousell Luxurious, informed CNBC.
“On the finish of the day, it is our status at stake as effectively,” Tan stated. “And due to that confidence, we additionally provide our consumers a money-back assure on authenticity.”
The corporate has constructed a proprietary database overlaying nearly 500 product types, and higher-valued gadgets undergo a number of checks. In circumstances the place the authenticity is unsure, the gadgets is not going to be listed, Tan stated.
South Korea’s Bunjang has additionally adopted in the identical vein, creating its personal proprietary authentication system that mixes conventional visible inspections with scientific tools and synthetic intelligence “educated on lots of of 1000’s of information factors,” Choi informed CNBC.
Bunjang claims a 99.9% authentication accuracy fee in figuring out real items, and its verification system can repeatedly be taught and adapt to counterfeiting strategies by leveraging AI.
Belief fuels gross sales
Each Carousell and Bunjang stated verification has boosted enterprise.
Bunjang stated luxurious items now make up greater than 1 / 4 of its platform’s $1.1 billion in annual gross merchandise worth. Transactions and complete worth for luxurious items rose 30% 12 months on 12 months within the first half of 2025, Choi stated.
Carousell’s Tan didn’t disclose particular figures however stated the posh phase has seen “very robust curiosity” and has recorded “nice development.”
This development that started with Carousell’s 2012 launch as a web-based platform ultimately led to the opening of its first bodily retailer.
“When somebody is shopping for and promoting a $100,000 watch on the platform, it undoubtedly catches our consideration,” she stated, saying that customers needed Carousell’s oversight in high-value transactions.
Together with its verification course of, the shop additionally presents a money-back assure for its merchandise. Tan stated that whereas costs might not all the time be the bottom available in the market, the shop goals to supply “honest worth.”
“We could also be, say, $200 dearer than what another person is providing, however [consumers] will nonetheless finally weigh the completely different choices for $200 financial savings,” she stated. “Am I higher off with a little bit of assurance?”
Subsequent wave of luxurious customers
Affordability is the highest motive for getting secondhand luxurious gadgets, cited by 80% of respondents, in accordance with BCG’s report.
However it’s not nearly saving cash. Customers are more and more drawn to uncommon or discontinued collections which are not available in shops, Samantha Virk, Chief Advertising and marketing Officer and U.S. CEO of Vestiaire Collective, informed CNBC.
“These motivations are getting stronger throughout the board as in comparison with surveys in earlier years, exhibiting that secondhand purchasing is changing into a deeply ingrained a part of how folks have interaction with style at this time,” Virk stated.
Youthful buyers, with their restricted spending energy, choose to purchase, get pleasure from and rapidly resell gadgets, Bunjang’s Choi stated.
“This outstanding development displays a elementary shift in how Millennials and Gen Z, the following wave of luxurious customers, understand and have interaction with luxurious items.”
