Can't Afford Prada? Try Shopping at Designer Luxury Consignment Stores

Luxury resale and designer consignment stores are proving popular, and are cropping up for business across Canada. There’s Mine & Yours in Vancouver, Vespucci Consignment in Calgary and Edmonton and Love That Bag in Montreal. Consignment shops are not just limited to brick and mortar stores. There are also online consignment sites, such as The RealReal headquartered in California and The Vestiaire Collective hailing from Paris that are bringing new online life to pre-loved pricey clothing.

Each piece that is bought and sold has to be priced what it’s worth. Designer consignment is like a triangle where the designer, seller, and customer walk away with something that makes them feel good. It creates a win win situation for everyone as the customer comes in for a second-hand deal while the seller acquires a certain percentage of how much the item is sold.  

So is shopping the second-hand economy worth the hunt?

Brit Rawlinson, Owner of V-S-P consignment in Toronto thinks so. 

“Resale luxury can be a lot of searching around so you just have to take a peek,” she says. “Don’t worry about sizes because every designer fits differently. Sometimes you find 20 things that fit and sometimes you find nothing. The right piece always finds you.”

3.1 Phillip Lim Powder Blue Bag: Originally sold for $1400. Resale price at $295 at Mine and Yours.

Black Suede Valentino Booties: Original sold for $1475. Resale price at $275 at Mine and Yours.

Bottega Veneta Cardholder: Original sold for $760. Resale price at $175 at Mine and Yours.

"For the full article on the Globe and Mail, CLICK HERE"