Sales Strategy
Editorial: This Easy Resale Strategy Could Work Well For Jewelers | February 02, 2022 (0 comments)
Merrick, NY—Should anyone still need proof of how strong the luxury resale market is, look at how many brands and first-line retailers are introducing resale themselves. In an effort to tap into it and/or control their brand image, retailers like Nordstrom and watch brands like Richard Mille are figuring that if you can’t beat ‘em, the next-best thing is to join ‘em. Image: Silk taffeta and lace Oscar de la Renta dress was worn by Nicki Minaj to the 2011 American Music Awards is for sale on Encore, the brand’s own resale site.
Fashionista.com reports more luxury fashion brands are getting into resale of their own labels. “For Oscar de la Renta, the decision to tap into the secondhand space started with the customers themselves, sharing stories of discovering their mom's little black dresses from the '80s and the like,” says the article.
In the quest for such vintage pieces to add to its own archives, Oscar de la Renta brand representatives scoured all the usual vintage sites and sources, whether it was well-known online resale behmoths like TheRealReal that guarantee authenticity or other, less well-known places that don’t always get it right. All in all, it wasn’t the kind of brand experience they wanted customers to have, so they took matters into their own hands and opened Encore, a resale platform that lets customers purchase vintage Oscar de la Renta runway designs directly from the company, and also gives the brand the opportunity to authenticate and refurbish the items and make sure they’re up to snuff.
Here’s where it gets interesting: customers visiting Encore also will find a considerable amount of luxury fine jewelry. Offered for sale on Encore are pieces from the collaboration between Oscar de la Renta and by legendary fashion and jewelry designer Loulou de la Falaise, and other high-end vintage jewelry selections offered in partnership with DKFarnum Estate Jewelry—including notable pieces from Schlumberger and others.
Earrings by Loulou de la Falaise for Oscar de la Renta, above, and a brooch by legendary jeweler Schlumberger, below. Both are offered on the Oscar de la Renta brand's Encore platform.
This idea can translate into a viable opportunity for jewelers. Just as your associates reach out to top customers with new pieces, have them reach out to see what they’re not wearing anymore.
According to the Fashionista article, to obtain inventory for its resale platform, Oscar de la Renta representatives reached out to top customers to see if they were interested in consigning anything they’d bought new years ago. Surprisingly, many refused—until they were offered the option of having the brand make a charitable donation in the process. Clearly it’s not that they didn’t want to part with it, they wanted it to do some good as they were parting with it. That clearly could be spun into a jewelry-store promotion, no?
Oscar de la Renta is far from alone in this effort. Other top designer fashion brands such as Alexander McQueen and Gucci are doing “brand approved” or “curated” resale of their own vintage items or, like Jean Paul Gaultier, even doing rentals of same—all in the name of trying to gain some control over a market segment where they previously had no control.
Jewelers can do the same thing with any of their own store-branded (i.e. unbranded) merchandise—at any price level—or by offering a selection of pre-owned designer jewelry, or even by taking a leaf from Oscar de la Renta and calling top customers to see if they’re interested in trading in and trading up. With customers being more focused on both decluttering and sustainability than ever before, the time is both right and ripe for a real effort in this direction—and with the added bonus that it’s already in your wheelhouse and a lot easier than trying to figure out the latest social media platforms.