Pre-owned luxury products arrive on Amazon

 

Amazon decided to enter the market of pre-owned luxury fashion products in Europe, a rapidly growing market segment currently worth around $49 billion globally. Thanks to a cooperation with reselling platform Hardly Ever Worn It, shoppers in Germany, Italy, the UK and Spain can now access pre-owned luxury fashion items on Amazon Luxury Stores.

 

Screenshot of amazon.de/stores/luxurystores displaying the homepage of Amazon Luxury Stores

 

However, the e-Commerce giant is no newcomer to the sale of second-hand products.

 

 

Refurbished on Amazon

Launched in 2017, Amazon Renewed is a platform where sellers can offer refurbished products to customers. Products available in this programme (e.g. electronics, mobile phones, computers, home appliances, etc.) have to go through a rigorous testing process to ensure they’re in good working condition, and also come with an extended warranty period.

 

Find out all about the sales trends of refurbished and second-hand products in e-Commerce

 

The venture proved successful: in 2023, the sale of pre-owned products on Amazon exceeded $1 billion in Europe. In the UK alone, Amazon merchants experienced a 15% growth in this sector.

 

Screenshot of amazon.com, displaying the homepage of Amazon Renewed

 

Now, with the help of Hardly Ever Worn It, Amazon expands this offering into the lucrative market of pre-owned luxury fashion products.

 

 

What is Hardly Ever Worn It

Hardly Ever Worn It, or HEWI is a luxury resale platform founded in 2012. Aimed at strengthening the circular economy for luxury products, this London-based marketplace allows consumers to sell used designer clothing, shoes and accessories.

 

Brands like Chloe, Gucci, Dolce and Gabbanna, Prada, Valentino, Versace and many others are represented on the site in categories like women’s day and evening dresses, casual wear, shoes, bags, beauty products, jewellery, accessories, outerwear and much more.

 

Screenshot of the homepage of hardlyeverwornit.com

 

Consumers who sign up for the VIP section of the platform can expect help with the collection of the products, the creation of listings, customer care, etc. Non-VIP sellers have to photograph their items, reply to would-be buyers, and eventually arrange the shipment of purchased products. While this process gives more freedom to sellers, HEWI still has to approve each new listing before publication on the platform.

 

Individual HEWI sellers can decide which countries they ship to. However, HEWI itself sends packages globally, which means that VIP sellers can expect their used items to appear anywhere in the world.

 

 

HEWI on Amazon

From early 2024 onwards, consumers from the UK, Spain, Italy and Germany shopping on Amazon can expect to run into HEWI products.

 

Each party has a well outlined task in the cooperation. HEWI takes care of the screening of products, ensuring the offering is of excellent quality and Amazon provides the necessary background infrastructure.

 

Both companies have a lot to gain by teaming up. HEWI can significantly widen its audience while Amazon is able to enter the market segment of pre-owned luxury fashion products without heavily investing in building up in-house know-how.

 

 

Screenshot of amazon.de/stores/luxury/page/87EBC1E7-9BAA-418A-A13F-13E6BC639C1B?language=en&_encoding=UTF8&ref_=sv__2 displaying the tile leading to the HEWI store

 

Screenshot of https://www.amazon.de/stores/luxury/page/C9BC777C-66B6-409B-BE64-CAEC1D19793A displaying the HEWI storefront on Amazon Luxury Stores

 

 

Related topics

Zara Pre-Owned expands in Europe

 

The rise of refurbished products in e-Commerce

 

How online brand protection contributes to circular economy

 

Tchibo opens second-hand clothing store on Sellpy

 

Advertising the partnership

Amazon wasted no time to get the word out about the new partnership. Indeed, Instagram users can already expect to run into ads for used luxury products sold by HEWI on Amazon.

 

Screenshot of an Instagram ad for a pre-owned pair of luxury pumps sold by HEWI on Amazon. Translation: second-hand Saint Laurent Opyum pumps, black. Discover luxury fashion and beauty products worth smiling for in Luxury Stores. Translated by globaleyez

 

When clicking on the ad, we land on the product page on Amazon Luxury Stores that contains further information about the actual condition of the product and about HEWI as its seller.

 

Screenshots of a product listing on Amazon Luxury Stores sold and shipped by HEWI. Translation:  Please note that these items are used and may show signs of storage, even if they are unworn and unused. Please look at the pictures and use the zoom function for more details.

 

 

What’s in it for brands?

The circular economy is becoming increasingly important for consumers who are actively trying to make more ecologically conscious purchasing choices.

 

Find out all about circular economy and how brands resort to greenwashing to elevate their reputation

 

This means that any positive association with the circular economy will be beneficial for brands’ reputation. Now, thanks to Amazon and HEWI, brands can enjoy this association simply by their products being featured on the marketplace of pre-owned luxury goods.

 

Unfortunately, there’s a downside to it as well. Just like with any C2C marketplace, brands have no control over which products appear where and in what condition.

 

However, with the experienced HEWI taking over the vetting process, luxury brands are probably safe to assume that the appearance and condition of their products on sale will be reasonably consistent with their reputation.

 

There’s the issue of counterfeits, though. Are HEWI’s experts able to identify fake designer goods? If not, the re-entry of these items into commerce allows them to hurt your brand’s reputation and bottom line all over again.

 

This brings us to the issue of revenue in general. Can brands profit from the sale of pre-owned goods? Usually, there are very limited monetary gains brands can realise from this type of recommerce. One such case is when a buyer of a second-hand product later turns to the brand to purchase a new item from them. But does that happen frequently?

 

And finally, let’s not forget about Amazon’s own reputation. Is the e-Commerce giant a fitting platform for the sale of luxury products? After all, the marketplace is known for featuring any and every kind of goods, and with virtually no control over the appearance of your second-hand products, your brand’s carefully crafted reputation may be severely damaged by showing up among a jumble of lesser quality, potentially even counterfeit products.

 

 

Online brand protection on Amazon Luxury Store

This is exactly why we developed our clean marketplaces solution. Our services work together to ensure the detection and removal of fishy listings surrounding your own, creating a clean marketplace for your products to shine on.

 

Our marketplace and image monitoring services form the basis of the clean marketplaces solution, detecting potentially IP infringing product listings and pictures on Amazon, eBay, or any other of over 150 marketplaces worldwide.

 

With a test purchase, we learn more about the product and its seller, while marketplace sales tracking helps us discover the quantities each vendor is selling, thus separating the small fish from big players.

 

Our partner compliance service detects how your authorised business partners represent your brand and whether they conduct themselves according to your contract. Finally, our enforcement service rounds off our clean marketplaces solution and ensures the removal of the infringing listings from Amazon or anywhere else online.

 

 

Add-ons

Each brand is unique and thus deserves a unique online brand protection approach. Therefore, we’re happy to provide add-ons and extensions based on the specific needs of your brand.

 

For example, if you want to try your hand at image monitoring, our very own in-house tool, infrimage is available as SaaS. Download our powerful yet easy-to-use software and monitor the internet for IP infringing imagery that hurts your brand.

 

And last but not least, our domain monitoring service detects fraudulent single webshops or any other website that infringes on your IP rights.

 

 

Conclusion

Strengthening recommerce and going circular is good for the environment and your brand’s reputation alike, which is why we generally welcome cooperations like that of Amazon and HEWI.

 

However, to minimise potential pitfalls like counterfeit products re-entering commerce, an effective online brand protection solution is necessary to protect brands’ valuable IP assets. Contact us and learn more about how we could work together to ensure the safety of your IP rights!