Insider Secrets-Selling Your Handbag

At Posh Pawn we buy or give  loans against designer handbags every day.

From the $50 Coach to the $50,000 Hermės Birkin we see it all.  In an average day we field about 10 handbag inquiries to our site or in person. 

We'd like to share what we think will help you get the most cash for your bag. 

 Selling it online or locally yourself:

  This is usually going to be the best way to get the most money. It does require more effort  and there are some pitfalls to be careful with i.e. online fraudsters, etc.

As a private sell people are naturally going to be suspicious of fakes. It is well worth the money to have your bag authenticated by a company like AuthenticateFirst. Even though you know your bag is authentic this will give the buyers piece of mind and increase the value of your handbag. We do it all the time even though we are 100% sure our bags are authentic. 

There are a number of sites that have popped up that are handbag specific like Tradesy, Lolipuff, Portero and more. Be sure to read their terms as many charge anywhere from 19%-50%. The devil is in the details but they often have a captured market of handbag buyers. 

That said, we once sold a luxury item on an online reselling site. The buyer shipped back a piece  to us with a signature required receipt. We didn't know why we were receiving this paper so threw it away. A month later the buyer filed a claim with his credit card as having returned the item, indicating that packages tracking number.

We were not allowed to fight directly with his credit card company. The reselling site said they would fight it  on our behalf.

We were told we lost due to his proving he returned it. We lost several thousand dollars.These are the types of scams that are nearly impossible to protect against. Most of the time it goes fine but beware it may not. 

 Selling to a company:

Your second option is to give it to a consignment boutique or sell it outright to a company like ours. Before you visit them you need to follow these steps: 

 Know the real value of your bag first:   Sounds simple but this is where we see most people struggle the most. Once you know what you can reasonably expect to receive you can decide to sell or keep it. 

It may be you think your bag is worth more then it is or just the opposite. By knowing what the market is really doing you can save yourself time and heartache. 

Let’s explore how to find the value. No matter how you feel about Ebay we believe it is an excellent resource for getting this info. The key here is using the proper search terms and then clicking over to the SOLD items.

There are thousands of people out there asking the moon for there handbags but most sit there for sale for years. Only “sold” items can tell you what the market says your handbag is worth.

Note: There are sites besides ebay that release the sold prices but for ease of use and the sheer number of handbags sold we think ebay is the easiest to use.  If you don't know the name of your handbag and its a Louis Vuitton check out our Louis Vuitton Style Name Guide.

I mentioned the importance of searching correctly. Let me give you an example: Say you have a "Louis Vuitton monogram mm alma" so you put that in ebay search bar. 

First, notice the sale numbers are in green? That is because I clicked the “sold” button on left side of the filters. Now notice there are only 13 results? 

Now lets search a little more broad. This time just putting "Louis Vuitton Alma mm" Now we have 39 results to look at. If we take out "mm" we will have 500 sales to look at. To me 39 gives me a good idea of what the market for this bag.

Always start with the least amount of key words in your search and add more until the list is a manageable amount.

So now that we know the value we also have to consider the selling fees that were involved. On a $1,000 handbag this can be considerable. On ebay that seller actually received $880 after paying ebay and paypal. On Tradesy that seller would have received $822. 

Now you are armed with what the bag is really worth and you can make a much more informed decision. 

So you decide you are going to sell it to a reselling company like ours. What else can help you get more cash?

PRESENTATION

Sounds simple but every day we get inquiries on handbags over our website that have one blurry picture and almost no information regarding age, condition, receipts, dust bags, smells, etc.  

Wipe the dirt and makeup off, take it outside in the sun and snap a few pictures with your phone. If stitching is coming loose take it to a shoe repair and have them fixed. 

Find your dustbag and receipt. All these things add value. Who doesn't feel more comfortable when you show you have the receipt, dust bag, original tag, etc.

Write a couple sentences about the condition.  We love it when our customer gives us a bunch of information and several pictures to go by. Even better, stop by with the actual bag but I do understand that many of the companies are online only so you will have to send the info. 

The less information we get the more conservative our quotes get. I'm sure the other companies feel the same. 

Are you wanting a different bag? We will definitely pay more if we are making a sale on another bag. This is a sure way to get more and a win win for both parties. 

Also, understand that if you go to a company and tell them you want $1,000 for your bag that is selling for $1,000 they are likely to not make you an offer at all. With the advent of Yelp and other online reviews we don't want to risk getting a negative review for making an offer 40% below what you want. 

Lastly, unless you still have all the receipts, find a company near you that offers an Entrupy evaluation. We do.

They use state of the art photography/computer algorythms and then provide a certificate of authenticity. They also provide a financial gaurantee to any owner of the bag for it's authenticity. This takes the fear out of the buyers that it might be fake. 

To consign or sell? 

Obviously we are going to be biased here since we only buy outright, for cash on the spot, but lets talk about the pros and cons of each. 

        Consignment: You have to wait until it sells and don't have much control over the process. There are usually markdowns as time goes buy. Commissions are usually 40-50%.  Could work out good if you plan to not cash out and get more using the credits to buy other items at the consignment store. 

       Outright sell: Since most retail works on a 50% margin or less you should be able to get as much as selling it on consignment. On really hot selling bags we are often willing to go to 30% margin as we know it will sell really fast. 

What does this mean? On a hot selling handbag that goes for $1000 we would offer roughly 70% cash, or $700. 

We believe selling outright will almost always be a better option. Now some consignment stores will buy your bag outright so you should inquire. 

We operate from the perspective that if we didn't make the best offer or provide the easiest service then we didn't deserve your business. So If you are in San Diego and would like a quote on your handbag hop over to submission page now that you are armed with all the best tips.