Business is booming for online pre-owned branded apparels

A new market for pre-owned goods is emerging in India. Initial hesitation has been replaced by excitement and more takers are there for designer clothes, electronic gadget, furniture, vehicle among other things. The reason: people find it more practical and the market is driven mostly by youngsters.

For young college goers, a pre-owned dress from reputed brands such as Mango, Zara is no big deal because it gives them an opportunity to wear premium brands at half the cost, something that they wouldn’t have been able to do. Affording such expensive brands is not everyone’s cup of tea. Even older women find it practical to go for pre-owned clothes.

Consumers flexibility boosts business

Online platform for branded, second-hand clothes for women, Rekinza, is cashing in on the flexible mindset of people. It sources high-end clothes which are not required from women across the country and then puts it up on sale at almost a fraction of the original price. The clothes are first thoroughly checked for authenticity and quality. As Vidisha Pasari, founder of site opines, the products are looked at for finer details such as stitching, fabric, finishing, country of manufacture, label and so on. Rekinza has tied up with a third party in the US for authentication luxury items. Elanic is another such portal which not only sells pre-owned clothes but also books, sports goods, electrical appliances and kids’ stuff. It is an app-based platform which has been doing well ever since its launch, says co-founder Aditi Rohan. Some other similar sites are Once Again, Revamp My Closet, OnceWear, Swapzaar, the Luxury Closet among others.

Best way to recycle used stuff

Another such initiative ShareWardrobe has been encouraging women to buy as well as sell pre-owned stuff. It is the best way, the owners believe, to recycle unused clothes. However, it’s clear that it will not accept replicas, fake or locally manufactured clothes. Aboli Salvi, who started the site in 2015, informs that only flawless and almost new items are sold on her platform. Shruti Bora, who has started a similar online platform recently, found it the best way to recycle her unused expensive clothes. She says that many of her clothes were lying around and hadn’t been worn more than 2-3 times and thus was born the idea for a platform to sell her used clothes.

The market for preowned clothes is growing. In July 2014, Confidential Couture, a site for buying and selling luxury items was launched, making it the first such site in India for luxury products. The sites specialises only in luxury brands and ends up catering to people who may not be able to afford luxury designer brands but have dreams of doing so. Another LuxuryMonk, too, has high-end luxury goods and caters to a niche market of fashion and brand conscious women. There is a huge market for luxury products now in India and most of these sites of pre-owned goods are targeting this growing segment.