Rising prices, declining purchasing power, growing economic and geopolitical tensions… The sector is experiencing its first slowdown in thirty years. Despite everything, the desire for luxury remains strong among consumers who are behaving more rationally. What lessons can luxury brands learn from this? Capable of transforming the way products are designed, managed, and extended, the second-hand market is now establishing itself as a real strategic lever.
Second-hand: from a parallel market to a tool for competitiveness
The trajectories are converging: unlike the new goods market, the second-hand market is booming. With 10% annual growth, it is growing three times faster than the main market and is expected to reach $360 billion by 2030, compared to nearly $220 billion today, according to a BCG & Vestiaire Collective study (2025).
Some brands have grasped this trend and, rather than suffering from it, have decided to take back control of this market by structuring their own systems. Brands such as Chloé, Gucci, and Balenciaga have launched initiatives with platforms such as Vestiaire Collective and Re flaunt to enable their customers to resell and exchange their products.
More than just a new sales channel, second-hand goods have become strategic on several levels. First, by extending the desirability of products: an item that circulates continues to exist long after its initial purchase. Second, by reinforcing scarcity and exclusivity: products that are difficult to find remain in high demand. Finally, by inscribing value over time: a bag that is resold does not lose value, it creates new value, both for its owner and for the brand.
This is a change in dynamics: the item sold becomes an asset that the brand must manage, protect, and grow over time. Luxury brands therefore have a new responsibility: to support their products well beyond the initial sale.
Regaining control of the life cycle: towards a luxury service model
When 54% of luxury customers say they are willing to buy second-hand, but only from brands, as noted in EY’s Luxonomy study (2025), this implies new operational requirements. For luxury players, second-hand must move from a simple sales model to a service model.
Certification, repair, and reconditioning cannot be outsourced: they must remain under the brand’s control.
Partnerships with external platforms provide access to the market, but verification, refurbishment, and warranty must be handled internally. After all, how can traceability be controlled without total control of the supply chain? To guarantee quality service, it is first necessary to be able to authenticate the product—which is impossible without knowing its origin. The arrival of the digital product passport in 2027 will facilitate this identification and is a significant accelerator for structuring the market.
But regaining control of the product is not just about guaranteeing authenticity or quality. Each resale also generates valuable information that profoundly changes the way luxury brands can manage their business.
A lever for operational and supply chain management for luxury brands
Second-hand sales offer luxury brands unprecedented insight into the real life cycle of their products: observing when, how, and at what price an item is resold; knowing the duration of use, the speed of turnover, or even which models remain in vogue the longest…
This information is not accessible through sales alone. It enables them to refine their industrial decisions: produce differently, adjust volumes, better anticipate real demand, and produce just enough.
Second-hand goods are profoundly transforming the supply chain
As products circulate, luxury brands no longer manage just a sales flow, but an entire life cycle: a more precise, more responsive approach that is, above all, better aligned with the value perceived by the market.
The rules of the game are being redefined: luxury brands can no longer think of their products as simple items for sale, but as assets for which they remain responsible over time.
Those who know how to integrate second-hand goods will not just open a new channel: they will build a more resilient model that is better aligned with market expectations. In a struggling sector, second-hand goods are emerging as a strategic lever for competitiveness.
Read also > [COLUMN] The paradox of luxury retail: exclusive but scalable, reconciling emotion and global hyper-growth
Featured photo: Vestiaire Collective corner at Selfridges © Vestiaire Collective
