The RealReal customers’ next favorite store is... T.J. Maxx?
Luxury resale has suffered during the broader luxury downturn.
Who’s buying the most secondhand luxury items online? Value consumers.
New data suggests that The RealReal, a luxury consignment site that allows users to buy and sell used luxury items, might be a place where value consumers traded up. Among The RealReal shoppers, 52% also shop at T.J. Maxx, according to Earnest Analytics, which analyzes millions of US credit and debit spending data. And T.J. Maxx beat Nordstrom’s full-price store, which landed in second place, by a whopping 12% margin.
While shoppers also go to a handful of high to mid-market retailers like Anthropologie and Lululemon, the majority of the overlap was between The RealReal and discount stores, as well as other resale marketplaces that offer a wide range of items like Goodwill.
This comes as the broader luxury market has faced a downturn over the past year, following a streak of growth following the pandemic. That was largely a result of shifting consumer behaviors and declining demand in China.
The RealReal is still deeply unprofitable and its stock is down more than 80% since its 2021 peak. But by positioning themselves in front of another type of consumers who are not your typical luxury shoppers, The RealReal might be able to get through the luxury downturn, Earnest Analytics’s Michael Maloof said.
