Balenciaga launches resale service with Reflaunt

Balenciaga has partnered with Reflaunt on a re-sell programme of its pre-owned clothing and accessories. The service is currently available to customers in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy and Singapore, with more expected to be rolled out.

After a successful Trial, Balenciaga allows users to resell their Balenciaga items via new website, where uploaded and accepted items will be collected in participating regions. The process is entirely managed by Reflaunt, who take care of photography, pricing, listing and shipping across their global network of second-hand channels.

Last year Reflaunt raised 2.7 million dollars in capital as it aims to grow and compete with pre-owned luxury leaders like the RealReal and Vestiaire Collective. The latter counts Balenciaga owner Kering as a shareholder.

The luxury resale market is thought to be worth 40 billion dollars, with 20 percent annual compounded growth forecast by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Many brands are taking ownership of this growth category, including Gucci’s Vault initiative and Valentino launching in-house sales of its customer’s vintage pieces in return for store credit.