Editor’s Note
This article highlights the remarkable performance of the Telfar Shopping Bag in the 2023 resale market, where it commands prices exceeding its original retail value. It underscores how value retention has become a critical factor for luxury consumers, blending investment savvy with fashion enthusiasm. The insights are drawn from Rebag’s annual Clair Report, a key industry analysis.
The resale brand Telfar topped the list for best performance in 2023.
For luxury shoppers, value retention and resale value are the most important factors for both savvy investors and fashion enthusiasts. Rebag, a global online luxury resale platform for buying, consigning, trading, and selling luxury accessories such as handbags, fine jewelry, and watches, recently released its fourth annual Clair Report on December 13 (local time), providing valuable insights into the resale value of luxury brands.
Peeling back the layers of this year’s survey results reveals the impact of primary market scarcity, pop culture influence, and the rapidly growing pre-owned watch market on resale value. The 2023 Clair Report shows the impressive performance of some luxury brands that have maintained or even increased their brand value despite a challenging macroeconomic environment.
As resale value emerges as a key factor in leather goods purchases, luxury brands have begun leveraging resale rates in their marketing to prove their products are wise investment items.
With the luxury market growing and the fashion industry embracing resale more actively, and as relatively affordable young brands redefine luxury, the view of handbags as investment items is spreading more widely and extensively than ever before. As highly educated consumers adapt to a new environment where they treat handbag purchases like real estate or car purchases, primary market fashion brands and retailers are also communicating messages about resale value.
Whether you’re a seasoned collector or new to the luxury industry, understanding the resale value of high-end brands is crucial. Rebag’s 2023 Clair Report will serve as a guide to the most valuable investments in this glamorous industry.
Rebag’s 2023 Clair Report, a comprehensive luxury appraisal index, is based on meticulous research and analysis. The report utilizes millions of data points from Rebag’s transactions related to the purchase, sale, trading, and consignment of luxury items such as handbags, fine jewelry, and watches. Notably, this year’s report is remarkable for revealing the most valuable investments and how market dynamics affect the resale prices of luxury goods.
The report clearly shows which luxury brands and items hold value and which promise the best return on investment through insights based on Clair, Rebag’s proprietary technology that utilizes millions of data points.
The star brand of the report is Telfar, the innovative bag brand created by designer Telfar Clemens, winner of a CFDA award. The New York-based genderless brand Telfar is dominating competitors with its “off-the-charts” value retention rate. The brand, which performed best in the 2022 Clair Report, continued to demonstrate formidable strength in 2023 with an impressive average value retention rate of 228%. Rebag assessed that the brand’s ‘average value retention rate in the secondary market’ surpasses all established brands, including Hermès. For example, the Telfar x Ugg Shopping Tote maintained 211% of its retail value, and the signature Shopping Tote maintained 193%.
Among the three brands—Hermès, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel—that achieved ‘unicorn’ status in 2022, only Hermès maintained its position in this category in 2023, joined by the French luxury brand Goyard. Hermès was selected as the brand with the second-highest investment value after Telfar, maintaining 110% of its retail value for the fourth consecutive year, with the Hermès Constance and Picotin Lock bags showing the highest value retention.
Following Goyard, Chanel saw its resale prices rise due to its own price increases, with items like the Deauville Tote, 22 Chain Hobo, and Coco Top Handle tending to sell for higher than retail prices. Louis Vuitton is closely trailing Chanel in terms of value retention. The Neverfull Tote, launched in 2007, reached peak popularity this year after introducing a waitlist. With scarcity highlighted, the Neverfull Tote maintained an average of 136% of its retail price, an 8 percentage point increase from the previous year.
The report explained that this result occurred despite a slight decline in the average value retention rate of some brands because the primary market price increase rate outpaced the secondary market price increase rate. In other words, many handbags are not seeing significant price increases in the resale market these days.
Fendi rose by 4%, driven by styles like the Baguette, First, and Sunshine Shopper. Similarly, Celine, Prada, and Valentino also showed strength, maintaining their value from the previous year despite a challenging macroeconomic environment throughout the year.
In the accessories sector, Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe emerged as the most notable watch brands with increases of 41 and 14 percentage points, respectively. Audemars Piguet tied for first place with Rolex for the first time with a 107% value retention rate. Cartier’s Tank watches, particularly the Must de Cartier Tank and Tank Solo, proved to be watch brands with excellent investment potential, recording average value retention rates of 95% and 94%, respectively.
Celine’s Triomphe
‘Quiet luxury,’ one of the most talked-about fashion trends in 2023, also influenced accessory sales. Brands like Loewe, The Row, and Bottega Veneta led this movement by moving away from flashy branding toward sophisticated craftsmanship. These brands became archetypes of this trend, maintaining impressive retail values of 59%, 60%, and 52%, respectively, in the resale market. Among notable items, the Loewe Basket Tote recorded a remarkable 92% of its selling price, while The Row’s N/S Park Tote and Bottega Veneta’s BV Jodie Hobo maintained 85% and 73% of their original prices.
Another color trend that swept the fashion industry this year was the revival of Barbie pink. Barbiecore, which gained immense popularity on runways and red carpets and significantly impacted the market, also influenced every corner of the fashion industry, including the secondary luxury market. Pink handbags maintained an average value of 81%, significantly higher than the 76% average value of all other colors combined. Unsurprisingly, Chanel’s Bubblegum Pink Color Classic Flap Bag ranked first with an average value retention rate of 110%, thanks to Chanel’s prominent appearance in the on/off-screen looks of the movie “Barbie,” starring Margot Robbie. However, it should be noted that this trend is likely limited to 2023.
The influence of pop culture on fashion trends was also clearly evident in the impact of the second season of the “Sex and the City” reboot on Fendi’s iconic bags. The average residual value of the Peekaboo and Baguette bags featured in the series increased by 48% and 34%, respectively, after the finale. This demonstrates how powerful television and celebrity endorsements are in boosting consumer interest and market value.
In terms of overall popularity, Celine’s Triomphe, a style endorsed by celebrities, was the most searched bag on Rebag in 2023. Following the Triomphe, Louis Vuitton’s Neverfull ranked second, and Prada’s Re-Edition ranked third. Meanwhile, Hermès’ Kelly Pochette recorded the highest value increase this year (+93%).
Additionally, after Tiffany & Co.’s acquisition by LVMH, the brand has regained vitality, with specific styles like the Return to Tiffany Heart Tag Choker Necklace recording an average resale rate of 94%. This revival is thanks to the ‘Return to Tiffany X Beyoncé Collection,’ which reintroduced iconic designs to a new customer base.
