luxury handbag resale
Photograph by Imaxtree

This New Instant Evaluation Tool Will Tell You the Resale Value of any Handbag

This is a gamechanger in the luxury resale world.

The luxury resale industry is growing at a rapid speed – increasingly, eco-conscious consumers are opting for second-hand pieces and happily selling off items in their own wardrobes for others to enjoy. Now, reselling or purchasing a designer handbag is about to have the guess work taken out of it courtesy of luxury resale site Rebag’s revolutionary new valuation tool.

Clair, which stands for Comprehensive Luxury Appraisal Index for Resale, allows users to instantly check the value of luxury handbags. According to Forbescreator Charles Gorra (who is also the founder and CEO of Rebag) and his team “spent five years recording data that spans across 50 brands and 10,000 styles of handbags.” The tool calculates the value by taking into consideration the type of bag, the designer, model, style and size.

In an interview, Gorra said the overarching goal of the app is to bring clarity to consumers when it comes to luxury purchases, particularly given that the industry is notoriously private about pricing. “The luxury business depends on opacity in order to create desirability and drive demand. Availability of goods online (and even in stores) is limited, making products harder to access and prices more difficult to compare. A lack of information helps brands sustain and even increase pricing. Clair brings transparency to an opaque market.”

From his research, Gorra has ascertained (via Clair) that Celine bags are a relatively safe purchase, earning 40-55% of their retail value back at resale, whilst Bottega Veneta is deemed “high risk”. The safest purchases are, unsurprisingly, Chanel or Goyard whilst Hermès remains the absolute best choice for resale as it increases in value over time.

Clair comes in app and website form (both of which officially launch today), and is available to everybody regardless of whether or not you’re a Rebag customer. Once you receive a quote, there’s no obligation to buy or sell, however if you do choose to sell you have the option of receiving a cheque for the amount or store credit (which is 15% more).

More Style