We spent a week and a half sourcing bags across the world. Our first stop before Tokyo was Shanghai, China. What you may not know is that the new/lightly used luxury bag market in China is booming, and their authenticity standards are highly advanced.
While Japan is known for its vintage luxury market, China leads in newer collections. Danziger wrote on the matter in Forbes two weeks ago, noting, "Years of aggressive primary luxury sales created a massive domestic backlog of high-end goods, which is now fueling a secondhand resale boom as consumers pivot toward value-driven shopping. Because the market has historically been plagued by highly sophisticated counterfeits, this entire shift relies entirely on a rigid, tech-driven 'strict authenticity guarantee' to survive." At its peak, the luxury retail market in China accounted for just over one third of the entire world's...and this was only a few years ago. The decline seen in recent years aligns with the increasing popularity of secondhand designer goods. Years of strong retail sales only fueled the resale of these mint-condition bags.
Although my intention is not to drop a poorly cited informational essay on you all, I find it important to note the strict, authenticity-driven secondhand luxury market in China, along with the enormous market flooded with pristine, recently released designer bags, in order to address the common misconception about luxury goods originating there. The fact is, fakes are everywhere. It's simply about trusted sources and authentication processes. I was going to attempt to explain the depth of the rigorous authentication process in China specifically, but I worry that it is an essay in itself. To summarize, person-to-person selling of designer bags really does not exist. Once an item is purchased, it does not ship directly to the consumer. Rather, all secondhand luxury pieces are first authenticated in a mandatory centralized hub where, if an item fails authentication, the seller faces the risk of being blacklisted or incurring legal fees. Not only does every piece we purchase from Shanghai or Wuhan come tagged with an RFID-scannable COA from China's leading authentication software, but we also use our own system, Entrupy.
Shanghai and Wuhan were the largest cities I have ever seen. The incredibly clean city streets were lined with towers extending as far as I could see. Inside these megacities is an endless supply of newer designer bags that we can bring home to you all. Then, we head to Tokyo.
I love you all,
Alex
ps I haven't been in school for years so forgive the poorly cited source below. It's just the link.
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