Designer handbags are the largest sales sector of the booming pre-loved luxury economy. Recent statistics put the market share at approximately 40 per cent, compared with other categories like clothing, shoes and watches.
“We’ve seen a massive increase in clients shopping for vintage pieces, specifically bags,” Courtney Watkins, owner of the Vancouver-based luxury resale boutique Mine & Yours, says. Purchasing a preloved piece lowers the financial barrier of entry into the luxury accessories market, while also providing luxury consumers with the ability to offload their no-long-loved items in favour of purchasing something new.
“As buyers, we can make multiple clients happy even if their items have a bit of wear by providing them with either store credit or money to buy something new from us and to give their items a new home,” Watkins says. “From a sustainability point of view, we can achieve a circular economy. We keep the lifecycle of the item going by giving it a new home and we stop the vicious fast-fashion cycle from taking place by encouraging consumers to buy second-hand items with us.”
While some designer consignment and resale boutiques look to sell only items in very good, excellent or pristine condition, Mine & Yours offers handbags that also fall into the good and fair condition categories.
“Mine & Yours offers a range of pre-loved pieces in different conditions to allow consumers to get their hands on vintage or collector’s items that they otherwise would not be able to find,” Watkins explains. “By offering an item that is pre-loved or with some wear we can make pricing more attainable for consumers.”
A good example of condition rating standards exists on California resale company Fashionphile‘s website, which offers descriptions of items ranging from giftable—in new condition with all original packaging and retail tags—to flawed, which is described as “generally nice condition overall but with a major defect.” Fair condition items are those that feature concerns such as “well scuffed edges or significant scratches.”
The overall condition of a handbag is reflected in its resale price; more pre-loved often means a lower price. But just how far gone is too far gone? According to Watkins, there is no right answer to that question. What might be too used for one shopper is perfect for another—especially if they opt for restoration.
“Some great pieces at Mine & Yours could be dream items with the right amount of tender love and care,” Watkins says. “Don’t be afraid of getting pieces repaired, tailored or dry cleaned. Luxury resale is like a treasure hunt and often there’s a diamond in the rough that just needs a little bit of vision and extra love.”
Julie Sumner is very well versed in the art of handbag refurbishment. As the operations manager and director of Luxe Bag Spa, the restoration division of the Calgary-based company Luxe Du Jour, Sumner oversees all aspects of the refurbishment process, from first quotes to final restoration. With a background in fine arts, she has a mastery of paints and colour matching. At Luxe Bag Spa, Sumner sees handbags in virtually every stage of repair, and disrepair, applying her practical knowledge of art to each designer piece in need of some love.
“We do colour matching, so we can either do full colour restoration, which is a thin layer of paint to keep the bag’s integrity,” she says. “We do re-gold plating, corner touch-ups, exterior and interior cleaning.”
There are some things that they can’t do, though. Repairs of lining materials and replacement of hardware must be sent directly to the handbag brands, Sumner says. Exterior and hardware scratches can prove impossible to remove completely and, due to its delicate nature, she also won’t work with suede. Sumner advises owners of Hermès bags to think twice before sending their precious pieces to a third-party spa like Luxe Bag Spa versus dealing directly with the French brand so as not to void the item’s warranty. “We still do get them in, but it’s something that we always disclose,” she says.
The restoration process begins with an online quote submission detailing the handbag’s overall wear and tear, along with photos of its condition and problem areas. Sumner and her team then examine the submissions and reply with a restoration plan and quote. Prices vary between the age of the bag and the severity.
“I would say that the most common quote that I do is for $220, which could include a corner touch-up and a deep clean,” Sumner says. “That’s typically the price that I start at.” She points to full-colour restoration and corner touch-ups as the most common services done at Luxe Bag Spa. A full colour restoration typically costs around $200 to $500, depending on the brand.
Luxe Bag Spa also offers a suite of care products for people to complete small touch-ups at home, including a black touch-up pen in gloss or matte finish, a leather moisturizing cream and a patina leather cleaner for Louis Vuitton vachetta leather. If they have questions, Sumner advises customers to send photos to her before they try to do anything on their own. “Then I can either offer them a spa service, or I can offer them one of our products. If it’s, say, a black Chanel bag with a scuff on the corner, they would be able to fix that on their own. We are able to guide them through that, as well. We also have lots of tutorials on our Instagram for corner touch-ups.”
While she’s happy to help people tackle small handbag glow-ups, Sumner strongly cautions against doing full-on restorations at home armed solely with the help of a YouTube tutorial video: “It could look simple even from the videos that we post. But, at the end of the day, I have a background in art. I have a whole bunch of eyes looking at the bag in order to make sure it’s good to go before it goes out. We have all the products that are suitable—I think is the biggest thing. And they’re not cheap products. I think it is hard for people to grasp that, though. We are in a sustainable culture. We’re also in a DIY culture. But, it could really bring down the value of your bag.”
A “simple” DIY at home could end up costing thousands of dollars, Sumner cautions. But, with the proper care and refurbishment, she is confident people will see preloved pieces in a whole new light—whether it’s an old favourite or a new-to-you piece. “We’re able to make you fall in love with your bag again,” she says. —Aleesha Harris
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April 19th, 2022 at 12:27 pm
Vintage designer bags are so hot.