THE country’s secondhand luxury market is booming as more young and environmentally conscious consumers search for affordable high-end products. With much of the consumer goods industry increasingly focused on sustainable development, China’s secondhand luxury market is growing quickly.

Chen Shiyun has been a luxury buyer for more than a decade, but two years ago, she started to see the appeal of trading in her secondhand items.

“There are more and more such secondhand stores nowadays, with some even doing promotions on livestreams or WeChat Moments,” said Chen.

While Chen has mainly sold secondhand luxury goods, there are plenty of others around interested in buying them. One big attraction is the often lowered prices.

Bags at a secondhand luxury store in downtown Shanghai usually sell within a month of their previous owners’ parting with them. Business has been so brisk since last year that one of the companies, Glamour Luxury, has expanded from just one store before the COVID-19 outbreak to five now across China.

“Both collecting and selling secondhand luxury products are going well,” said Zheng Yalan, co-founder of Glamour Luxury.

A recent report from Bain & Company shows that Chinese consumers will account for nearly half of the global luxury market by 2025. However, sales of secondhand luxury products in China only accounted for 5 percent of the nation’s overall luxury market in 2019, compared with 28 percent in Japan and some 30 percent in the United States.

Zhou Ting, a luxury industry expert and co-founder and CEO of luxury platform Yaok Group, said China’s secondhand luxury market has developed based on the firsthand luxury market.

(CGTN)