Prices of used luxury goods are rising sharply in Japan. Demand for overseas luxury bags and watches is increasing, and some products are priced at three times the regular price. The price of the French luxury brand Hermes’ flagship “Birkin Bag” (unused item) has risen 1.8 times from about 2 million yen in 2019 to about 3.6 million yen in 2023 based on large second-hand goods distributor “Gourmet Hyo Holdings.” Compared to the regular price, it is three times the price.
The Birkin bag displayed in offline secondhand stores is also more than double the price of a new product. Some ultra-high-priced items cost more than 10 million yen.
The second-hand price of Daytona, a popular Swiss watch brand known as Rolex, was 2.7 million yen in 2020, but it jumped to 6 million yen in February 2022 when the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic broke out. It fell slightly to 5 million yen in January this year, but is more than double the regular price.
The reason for the growth of luxury mid- and high-end prices is that distribution has decreased. The COVID-19 pandemic stopped many factories and reduced production.
A Gomehyo official said, “There have been several price revisions made once a year during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also affected by the ease of raising prices.”
On top of that, rare products that can only be obtained by accumulating purchase history, such as Hermes Birkin bag, have become even more scarce.
The value of Birkin Bag’s assets in second-hand market sales rose 14.2% compared to the 1980-2015 average. Recently, it has attracted attention for investment purposes.
An industry official said, “There are many people who choose high-end products that do not lose value even if they have them.”
In addition to Birkin bag and Rolex, Chanel’s chain bag “Matrasé” model black is representative of luxury goods that rarely collapse in price.
The yen’s low yen is also a factor that has fueled demand amplification and price hikes. A tourist said, “Japan’s used products are not only cheap but also reliable because there are few fake products. Japan is the best place to buy used luxury goods.”
The second-hand luxury goods market is expanding through smartphone apps. The market size was counted as 235.7 billion yen in 2021, a 33% growth from nine years ago, and purchases through the app increased six-fold compared to 2015 to 124.7 billion yen in 2021.
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
