Designer label? Bargain? Two words most women love especially if strung together! Launched this July, Confidential Couture aims at combining both these loves with a guilt-free luxury shopping experience.
Confidential Couture is said to be India’s first online portal for luxury buying and reselling. They curate, authenticate and resell pre-owned luxury accessories by international designers at great value. With the motto that ‘A classic remains a classic even if it changes hands’, Delhi-based Anvita Mehra launched this portal in India sensing the opportunity in the expanding luxury market in India. “The consumers today are more aware of international designers and look at luxury buying from an investment point of view, seeking value for money. Normally, one would have to explore international options for something as simple as reselling a designer bag. As international transactions become troublesome for most, we identified this need and tried to introduce a simplified option for luxury sellers and buyers.”
Popularly called re-commerce, pre-owned high-fashion goods get a second life and ‘gently used’ designer accessories and bags are purchased and sold by savvy-shoppers at jaw-dropping deals. This ‘realistic luxury shopping’ experience is huge in the West with resale sites like ShopHers, Snobswap, Yoogi’s Closet stocking pre-owned world’s top luxury brands.
Many desire to have their fashion fix at a budget and these portals give them the thrill of luxury at less. It’s like always having great designer products on sale, year-round. This portal serves both as a ‘moneymaker’ if you want to sell your unwanted fashion treasures and ‘money saver’ if a careful spender wants the taste of designer luxury for less.
Anvita says their products interest fashion-forward women who strategically plan luxury purchases. On the website, the products are listed under three categories, ‘Never been used’, ‘Gently used’, and ‘Fairly used’. “Luxury products from brands like Chanel and Hermés are currently retailing at $4000 and above. These prices appreciate every six months and from an investment point of view, buying pre-owned makes a lot of sense. Also, I believe the young consumers aren’t greatly affected by the stigma of pre-owned goods and more and more people are open to buying second-hand goods.”
They stock high-end, on trend labels only after they get a thumbs-up from an expert authentication agency that uses industry-approved methods.
“Guaranteed authentication is our USP, which is a very tedious task as we look for up to 40 different markings and codes per item to authenticate it and it varies per brand. We sensed an initial scepticism in queries pertaining to the authenticity of products. To make the experience comfortable for buyers, we offer a 100 per cent refund on any product that is proven to be counterfeit.”
People approach them to get good value for products they don’t use anymore, as they were gifts or outdated. Sometimes a love affair with a product can end and people crave new styles wanting to dispose of their existing ones.
She shares the procedure on how they receive such consignments: “We accept merchandise of certain brands that actually have good resale value. Condition and trend is always a priority. One can fill up a form online and submit their request for consigning. Our team then gets in touch and gathers details and arranges for a pick-up in any city. The product is then authenticated and valued for selling.”
Confidential Couture sells all the products online. It also offers services in Delhi and Mumbai for private viewing and personal appointments to help people decide better.
