As promised, I am back with Part 2 of more shopping lessons for The RealReal. (And check out Part 1 here.)
Focus on less popular brands, if you want to get a good deal
I hear that The RealReal stocks millions of items and hundreds of brands (maybe thousands??) at any given time. So it makes sense that some of those are going to be more popular than others.
If you want to get a lay of the land, check out their 2022 Luxury Resale Report. While it’s meant to be helpful to sellers in identifying what’s hot, you’re on the other side of this transaction. So you want to steer away from “hot” and head towards the “hidden.” That means skip The Row, Tiffanys, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Hermes, Cartier. Look instead at smaller, lesser known brands.
I keep a list of my favorites (not sharing- sorry!) But you can do your own sleuthing in your closet and online at your favorite luxury retailers. A lot of the brands on Net-a-porter and Matches, for example, were/are completely unfamiliar to me. If I like the look (but not the price), I’ll hop right over to TRR to check out what they’ve got.
The same principle-look for the less popular items- applies for fabrics. Cashmere sweaters are always going to be hot sellers, particularly this time of year. For whatever reason, wool just doesn’t get the same love. So instead of searching for a black cashmere sweater, check out the wool versions– maybe 20% of the price and just as cozy in many cases.
Keep a list of your sizes- US, EU, IT, FR- and use it!
And if you are really motivated, keep a list by brand too. Even for the items you return. You may not love something and want to return it, but it’s a smart idea to jot down how it fits. Something like “The Row oversized sweater in Medium was too big.” It’s not fool-proof, but brands (in general) try to keep their sizing somewhat consistent from year to year. This will increase your odds of buying something that fits immensely.
If something you wanted sold, and it’s popped back up as available, be skeptical before buying
The RealReal allows you to put a Sold item on to your wishlist. So if it’s returned by the purchaser, you get a notification that it’s available again. I am not a huge fan of doing this. If someone (who is presumably somewhat like you- after all, they bought the very thing you have been looking at!) returned an item, there’s a decent chance that you aren’t going to like it either. So while there may be a chance that you score a great deal, I’m very wary of this approach.
OK folks, what shopping lessons for The RealReal do you have for the rest of us? Do share in the comments!
