Hermès and Louis Vuitton, meet ROI and liquidity.
Resale is coming for luxury retail.
The secondhand fashion and luxury market is growing three times as fast as the firsthand market, and it is expected to reach as much as $360 billion by 2030, according to an October report from Boston Consulting Group and pre-owned fashion marketplace Vestiaire Collective.
Items bought secondhand accounted for 28% of the total closets of the nearly 8,000 people surveyed and 40% of their handbags. Revenue at luxury secondhand retailers like Fashionphile and The RealReal is up in the double-digit percentagesso far this year.
There are a few reasons for the secondhand surge: Affordability — in contrast to the price hikes from many luxury brands — has attracted buyers in an uncertain market, the proliferation of resale platforms has increased accessibility, and increased guardrails around authenticity have made shoppers more confident.
"It's becoming something that's much more sustainable and part of the way people engage in the category," Pierre Dupreelle, a managing director at BCG and one of the report's authors, told Business Insider of luxury shoppers.
For every secondhand buyer, there is a seller — and people are cashing in on the trend.
People now shop with ROI in mind. Online thrift store ThredUp foundin a 2025 survey that 47% of consumers consider the resale value of clothing before making a purchase; among those aged 18 to 44, that number ballooned to 64%.
"You own a piece of capital that you can apply to something else; it's money in your closet, sitting and waiting to be spent," Lara Osborn, the SVP of merchandising and fulfillment at Fashionphile, told Business Insider.
But buyers who want to be sellers, beware: Like with stocks, investing in luxury is not a sure thing. So if you are going to shell out for a Hermès Birkin or Rolex, make sure you actually like it.
A good rule of thumb is to consider it a shopping victory "when you can buy, use, and enjoy it, and sell it at some point and get a big portion of your money back," Osborn said.
Business Insider has spoken with experts at luxury resale platforms like Fashionphile, The RealReal, and Bob's Watches about which items hold their value the best, and what can be resold for more than its list price. Read on for their tips and tricks before you become a fashion flipper.
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