It goes without saying that not all designer bags are created equal. If you’re lucky to own the ultra-luxurious and rare ones, chances are, they might fetch sky-high resale prices. Case in point: The highly sought-after Hermès Birkin So Black was sold for a record breaking US$208,000 in Hong Kong last year.
In fact, Chanel has raised their prices a whopping three times in 2021, with some of their signature handbags costing up to double their original retail prices before the pandemic in 2019. Getting 100% of your investment in just two short years? Talk about a worthy profit margin.
However, a bag’s potential resale value is not solely based on whether it has an exclusive design or not. The Luxury Handbag Report 2020 points out that the item’s condition will also determine its selling price in the resale market; in other words, you’ll want to make sure that your precious bags are well maintained and free of scuffs or damage.
To find out which designer bags have the best resale prices, we went online and looked at resellers’ platforms, as well as the Comprehensive Luxury Appraisal Index for Resale Report (CLAIRE) which was released by the US luxury bags and accessories resale store Rebag in October 2020.
From the data that they’ve collected, the company calculated the retained value ratio of luxury items by dividing the respective market values in the resale scene by the retail prices. “The higher the ratio, the higher the desirability of the item in the resale market,” explained CEO of Rebag, Charles Gora.
So, which bags have the potential of having the best resale values? Keep reading to find out.