‘Pre-owned’ luxury booms in China
SHANGHAI, CHINA—With China’s economy still struggling to recover from the pandemic, even global fashion icons are beginning to feel the pinch as consumers turn instead to the secondhand market or buy upstart new homegrown brands.
Chinese were once massive buyers of luxury Western brands, accounting for around a third of worldwide spending and earning firms such as LVMH and Hermes billions of dollars.
But consumers’ belt-tightening has forced them to rethink their strategies, with Louis Vuitton closing five stores in mainland China in the past two years—including a chocolate boutique in Shanghai—while Galeries Lafayette shut its Beijing flagship in May.
“People used to compare who had spent more,” dance teacher Yuan told Agence France-Presse (AFP) at a new retail space in central Shanghai filled with luxury handbags, belts and jewelry items—all secondhand.
“But now everyone compares who got a better deal and spent less,” the 24-year-old said at the two-story warehouse-style store in the center of the Chinese financial hub.
After plunging as much as 19 percent in 2024, mainland China’s personal luxury market contracted another 3 to 5 percent in 2025, according to consultancy Bain & Company.
LVMH recently blamed a “slowdown in demand in China” for a drop in organic sales in the third quarter in its fashion and leather goods unit, a slump expected to be mirrored in its peers’ results.
China’s secondhand luxury market meanwhile exploded 15-20 percent in 2025, according to Bain & Company.
And domestic industry consultancy Insight & Info Consulting estimates total sales reached 38.4 billion yuan ($5.7 billion) in 2025, while forecasting it could top 100 billion yuan by 2030.
At the new Shanghai store Super Zhuanzhuan, shoppers have to wear black gloves to avoid their greasy fingers touching the products.
Customer Phoebe Ma, 24, said that when her mother’s generation was young, China “wasn’t so developed” and people were initially familiar with only a handful of luxury brands.
“Consequently, they formed a deep-seated impression that, OK, Louis Vuitton was the absolute best and most prestigious,” the freelancer told AFP.
“I just feel that the [LV] monogram is dated. It suits my mother’s generation, but Gen Z would rather buy trendy Korean brands,” she said.
