This simple argument is enough to conclude a second-hand sale.
Second hand is popular in France. It is estimated that 16% of French people use vintage exclusively in their consumption, and therefore only buy second-hand objects and clothing. At a clearance sale, at a flea market or even on Vinted : the possibilities of buying clothes with an old life are endless today. But while second-hand land and new types of merchants are multiplying; when you are a salesperson, how do you emerge among all this noise? Specialists give us a little-known technique that allows you to sell your fashion pieces every time.
On the waves of France InterSophie Coisne, deputy editor-in-chief of 60 million consumersreveals this still obscure trick to us. Extremely effective, it is also widely used by brands on the new market. It comes down to a very simple selling point: highlighting the fact that the clothing or accessory sold is a unique piece. According to the specialist, this is enough to conclude a transaction: “This notion of a unique piece is very highlighted in new goods and we find it in flea markets or second hand (…) since often if you pass by the stand and you do not buy the item of clothing at that time, well there will be no more, since there is only one.” An effect of scarcity which adds desirability to the piece concerned and which ultimately encourages people to buy. A communication lever widely exploited by the luxury industry.
On the second hand side, this uniqueness is even more multiple. In fact, vintage clothing is unique since it is no longer produced by the ready-to-wear industry today; but also unique in the history it carries within it: the garment has already lived, it therefore conveys the history of the person who once had it. Sophie Coisne explains that this storytelling, a marketing technique used by the new home market, is just as useful for making a profit on the second life side. Indeed, seasoned flea market enthusiasts and Vinties look for these scraps of past life in the objects they hunt for. Sandra, a follower for several decades, confirms it on Ali Rebeihi’s microphone: she loves buying second-hand “because there is a story, because no one has the same thing as me.”
“Today brands rely on the history of their objects, this is what we call storytelling in English. And when we go flea market (or online sales, editor’s note), we have live storytelling. We talk with the seller, who will explain to you that this slightly worked piano stool was his grandmother’s. You have what we are ultimately looking for, the history of the object”explains Sophie Coisne.
If the tip is especially valid for physical points of sale such as flea markets, garage sales and so on, it also works wonders on online second-hand platforms like Vinted. Just highlight it in the ad and the profits are yours!
