Retail News CRM

Tag: secondhand

  • Secondhand market emerges as battlefield for South Korean retailers

    Secondhand market emerges as battlefield for South Korean retailers

    South Korea’s retail giants are invigorating efforts to dominate the second-hand transaction market, and this focus is expected to accelerate further with Naver Corp poised to make an entry.

    The internet portal giant is reviewing the idea that its recently acquired Poshmark Inc., a US social commerce platform specializing in secondhand apparel trade, could step into the South Korean market, according to industry sources.

    Once the equity acquisition is completed in April next year, Poshmark is expected to become an independently operated Naver subsidiary.

    If Naver Shopping, the Naver’s online shopping site and Coupang Inc.’s only rival in the e-commerce market, unites forces with Poshmark, it would create a huge ripple effect.

    Other major retailers are also making bigger forays into the secondhand market.

    Lotte Group, for instance, announced that it would enable a non-face-to-face pickup service for direct secondhand transactions through the convenience store chain 7-Eleven, which is currently operated by Lotte’s affiliate Korea Seven Co.

    After buying items at the secondhand marketplace platform Joonggonara, which was acquired by the group last year, customers will be able to take delivery of the items at 7-Eleven convenience stores.

    Shinsegae Group also invested in the secondhand transaction app Bungaejangter via its venture capital subsidiary in January.

    Bungaejangter opened an online store at SSG.com, the online mall arm of Shinsegae, and provides resale services with a focus on secondhand luxury items.

    According to the Hana Financial Management Research Institute, the size of the nation’s secondhand market jumped from about 4 trillion won (US$2.77 billion) in 2008 to 20 trillion won in 2020.

  • Alibaba apps like Idle Fish help secondhand trading boom in China

    Alibaba apps like Idle Fish help secondhand trading boom in China

    Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is going to invest at least 100 million yuan (US$15.4 million) this year to develop a digital flea market on the mainland, Chinese media report. The firm launched a used-goods mobile app called Xianyu (Idle Fish) in June 2014 that has since attracted more than 100 million registered users, according to news website yicai.com.So far, about 170 million used goods have been traded through the smartphone app, the report said.

    CES Asia returns to Shanghai as Alibaba heats up China’s trade show market with new event.

    The firm is planning to invest 100 million yuan to introduce a flea market into 100 urban cities across the country, where users of Xianyu can trade second-hand products in local communities, according to the report.

    Shanghai-based data analysis agency CBNData said the used-goods trade market could reach 400 billion yuan in mainland China this year.

    Xianyu’s customers can use their smartphones to run their stores, taking and uploading product photos, creating catchy product descriptions, and adding promotional voice recordings.

    Both buyers and sellers can get a sense of belonging, and recognize and assess each other, which makes the app more akin to a social network than a shopping website, the company said.

    Users’ transactions are backed by e-payments provider Alipay, a third-party online payment platform that works like a “money remittance service” as Xianyu sellers are also rated by buyers and Taobao’s customer service centre fields consumer complaints.

    Alipay is owned and operated by Ant Financial Services Group, a company separately formed by Alibaba and various private investors. Alibaba also runs Taobao, China’s biggest online e-commerce platform.

    The trading online of second-hand goods has been booming in China recently, with Ganji.com offering classified advertisements, 58.com selling used cars and Dangdang second-hand books.

    Moreover, China is rapidly embracing the sharing economy since this was endorsed by the central authorities and included in the communique of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee.

    Typical in forms of car-pooling and home-rental services, sharing-economy platforms in China created a market worth 1.95 trillion yuan (US$298 billion) last year, according to a report released by the Internet Society of China in February.

  • Limited Editions Thrive in Secondhand Markets

    Limited Editions Thrive in Secondhand Markets

    The latest hype in Korea has been over the Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 v2 “Zebra,” co-designed by American rapper and producer Kanye West. This extremely limited edition pair of shoes sold for a retail price of 289,000 won ($255.75), but they now cost somewhere around 1.5 million won on secondhand platforms online. 

    Similarly, the pair’s predecessor Yeezy Boost “Bred” (black + red) with the same retail price now sell for at about 600,000 won on secondhand markets, which isn’t as impressive but still double the original amount. 

    Such popularity, and the subsequent resale of limited or special edition shoes is nothing new. 

    The Nike Air Max 95s, launched in August 2015 to celebrate their 20th anniversary, sold out in Korea in less than two hours, and were later resold at prices roughly 100,000 won higher than their retail price of 189,000 won. 

    Nike’s Air Jordans, likewise, have long been popular among shoe fanatics with every new release. The Air Jordan 1 Bred (2016), for instance, peaked at 600,000 won on secondhand platforms after selling for 199,000 won at shoe stores. The shoes are still traded at a little over 400,000 won.

    Overseas collectors share the same enthusiasm. The most notable is perhaps Kanye’s Air Yeezy 2 “Red October,” which the rapper co-designed with Nike before he teamed up with Adidas. A pair of the shoes, which were produced in a limited run of only 1,000 pairs, was traded for $93,000 on eBay at one point in 2012, and they still cost thousands of dollars for anyone trying to add them to their collection. 

    Some resellers have even decided to take this business model to a professional level. 

    For example, Yeezy Mafia, a group of some 50 individuals from countries around the world, provides shoe collectors with early information on new Adidas releases (often before official announcements) and resells them to those with a Yeezy Mafia membership. Sneaker resellers Allen Kuo and Benjamin Kickz are also big players in the market. 

    Of course, shoes are not the only items that attract devotees.

    Starbucks’ special edition merchandise usually sells out quickly in Korea, and items are later traded online for higher prices, while clothes by specialty retailers or private label manufacturers co-designed with other designers are also frequently found on secondhand markets. 

    H&M’s collaboration products – which the company releases each year with world-class designers such as Balmain, Isabel Marant, Alexander Wang, and Maison Margiela – are particularly popular. In 2015, hundreds camped out at an H&M outlet in Myeongdong for days to get their hands on the newest Balmain x H&M collection. 

    One of the dresses, which rose to prominence after Suzy of idol group Miss A was seen wearing one on a local TV show, was going for roughly 250,000 won, up from its retail price of 159,000 won.