Young Luxury Buyers Use Resale Prices as a Purchasing Guide

Before a lot of young shoppers buy a designer handbag, they open a secondhand marketplace. They want to know what that bag will be worth once it leaves the store.

Resale Is the New Research Tool

Think of resale listings as a spec sheet for luxury goods. Shoppers use them to estimate how much a new item might be worth later, and that habit is showing up in RealReal's numbers.

A number of these fashion houses have increased their price tags over the last few years.

Chanel's Classic Flap bag is the clearest example. It rose to $11,700 by 2026, which is double its 2019 price.

Louis Vuitton has raised handbag prices as well. It is also one of RealReal's most-searched brands.

The calculation is straightforward: as store prices climb, the secondhand price gives shoppers a clue about what they might get back later. That is a useful reality check for anyone deciding whether a splurge is worth it.

It is a little like checking a car's resale value before leaving the dealership. The number does not tell you everything, but it gives you something to work with.

That habit is changing the relationship between new and used. A price increase on a new bag is not just a price increase anymore, because it also sends a signal to shoppers scrolling through secondhand listings before they decide.

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The used price is becoming a reference point for the new price. That does not mean younger shoppers are avoiding full-price stores; it means they are showing up with more information.

Secondhand Demand Reaches Beyond Bags

The trend is not limited to classic bags and big names. Rare and limited-run contemporary items are an unexpected source of growth, including 1990s clothing.

RealReal CEO Rati Sahi Levesque says those older pieces are finding a new audience. "The Gen-Z demographic is discovering them for the first time, where I grew up with those items, which always surprises me," she told Bloomberg TV.

Levesque also sees confidence in the broader customer base. "We're seeing a lot of confidence in what they're spending," she said.

Sales of items above $1,000 increased in the first half of 2026. Levesque says demand is broader than just bags, too: "I think people expect jewelry, watches and vintage."

The resale industry as a whole is growing fast. It is now more than twice as large as it was in 2021, and ThredUp's 2026 resale report projects the industry could grow to $393 billion by 2030.

What RealReal's New Forecast Means

RealReal, which operates a secondhand luxury marketplace, raised its own outlook for the year.

The forecast bump followed a first half that already showed stronger spending. It is a sign that the company expects that momentum to continue.

A revenue range is not a promise, but it points the same way. More shoppers are using secondhand listings as part of the buying process, and the company's numbers are following that trend.

No one can promise that growth will keep running at this pace. The spending numbers from the first half of 2026 are pointing up, and the company is betting the trend continues.

For your portfolio, the shift has a meaning beyond fashion. Younger shoppers are treating new luxury items as things with a future resale value, and that habit is shaping how they spend.

As that habit spreads, it could influence how luxury brands price their goods. It could also steer more of the industry's growth toward secondhand marketplaces, which makes this niche harder to ignore.

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