Middle-class in the county seat, "taking over" second-hand luxury consumption.
Written by｜Cen Cu
01
When the Trend of Second-hand Luxury Goods Reaches County Towns
This past Spring Festival, Wang Liang spent nearly 130,000 yuan to order 7 second-hand luxury items online, including a men's wristwatch from OMEGA, a ring from Cartier, a Burberry coat, and so on. Calculated, the average price of a second-hand luxury item is close to 20,000 yuan.
After a hard year and receiving a year-end bonus, "I want to reward myself," Wang Liang said. Even without the bonus, he would still buy. Besides for his own use, some of the 7 big-brand items he bought are for giving to friends. Last year, he noticed a phenomenon: Although living in a fourth-tier small city in Guangdong, many of his friends around him are using second-hand luxury goods, "I was also brought into this by them last year."
In the past, few people were willing to spend a high price on second-hand luxury goods. But this Spring Festival, second-hand luxury goods have gradually become the "New Year goods" for the middle class in many fourth and fifth-tier cities and county towns.
Wang Hao, a post-00s, is a teacher in a county town in Shiyan, Hubei. His income is not high but his job is very stable. He spends about 30,000 yuan on luxury goods every year, "I pay more attention to the quality of life and personal experience, and hope to show my unique taste and style through my outfits."
This Spring Festival, he bought a New Year's battle bag for himself on Zhuanzhuan - a DIOR saddle bag. The official price in the counter is more than 20,000 yuan, but on Zhuanzhuan, he only spent less than 10,000 yuan to buy the same bag with a 99% new appearance, "Although it is second-hand, it is also very face-saving to carry it out during the Spring Festival."
Yu Bo is also a senior second-hand luxury goods lover. She is a typical county town girl, "The family has a bit of money but is not a big boss," Before noticing "second-hand luxury goods", she only bought light luxury brands like COACH. Later, she fell in love with Chanel, but due to the high price, she turned to choose to buy second-hand luxury goods at a low price. This Spring Festival, she bought a Chanel WOC Lucky Bag with a good appearance on Zhuanzhuan for more than 10,000 yuan, "It's just right to give myself a good omen for the New Year."
It is not difficult to see that an obvious trend is that in third and fourth-tier cities and even county towns, whether it is a "lady of high social standing" or a young person with a bit of money, the acceptance of second-hand luxury goods is getting higher.
On Xiaohongshu, there are more than 1.9 million notes about "second-hand luxury goods", and more and more lifestyle bloggers are focusing on the "Brahmins" in county towns; on Weibo, "I was shocked by the consumption in the small county during my return home for the New Year" has become a hot topic, with nearly 13 million views. Let's see which big brands these definite middle-class people in county towns are keen on consuming.
This Spring Festival, the New Year's Eve dinner in the county town, which costs 2,888 yuan per meal, has amazed the workers in first-tier cities. Cherries of 3J and large Dandong strawberries have also been served one after another. The middle class in the county town shows a purchasing power that is not inferior to that of people in first and second-tier cities.
The county town has become fashionable, and the trend of buying luxury goods has gradually blown into the county town.
The second-hand trading platform has also quickly captured this trend. According to the Spring Festival data released by the second-hand e-commerce platform Zhuanzhuan, the order volume of second-hand luxury goods in fifth-tier small cities during the festival increased by 33% year-on-year. In addition, the platform also released the second-hand luxury goods trading data of various regions in the country in 2024. The results show that the order volume in third and fourth-tier cities maintained double-digit growth in 2024, and the fifth-tier cities increased by 8 percentage points compared with 2023; In the fourth and fifth-tier cities, the order volume of second-hand luxury goods transactions in Fushun, Liaoning, Kaifeng, Henan, Jincheng, Shanxi and other places increased by more than 100%.
According to the statistics of the Forward-looking Research Institute, at present, the consumption of the domestic second-hand luxury goods market is mainly concentrated in first-tier, new first-tier and second-tier cities, accounting for about 70%. However, as the acceptance and consumption capacity of luxury goods in cities below the third tier increase, the purchase frequency of second-hand luxury goods has increased significantly, and the developable space in the sinking market is huge.
Some practitioners have noticed the phenomenon: Second-hand luxury goods originated from online e-commerce, so it naturally covers the whole country and is also easier to reach the sinking market, which also provides a new way for the middle class in county towns to buy luxury goods.
The consumption power of the middle class in county towns is also supported by data. The data released by the "2024 Research on the High-quality Development of County Economy in China" shows that from 2013 to 2023, the number of "100-billion-yuan counties" with an annual regional GDP of more than 100 billion yuan has increased from 9 to 59. The middle class in county towns with a continuous increase in income, the consumption upgrade has become a matter of course.
Facts have proved that under the trend of general consumption downgrading in first-tier cities, the consumption upgrade in fourth and fifth-tier small cities and county towns is far from over. While the growth rate of the first and second-tier markets is slowing down, the "takeover" of second-hand luxury goods consumption by the middle class in third and fourth-tier cities and county towns is becoming a significant industry trend.
02
Why the Middle Class in County Towns Are Fascinated by Second-hand Luxury Goods
The consumption trend of second-hand luxury goods sinking to county towns is still inseparable from the "system-based economy" in county towns.
In the interview of "Post-wave Research Institute", many consumers of second-hand luxury goods also work in the system. They have a stable income, complete benefits, and a relatively high social status, becoming the main force of consumption in county towns.
Yu Bo, who likes to buy second-hand Chanel, is a typical middle-class person in the county town. She and her husband both work in the system. The couple's combined fixed monthly income is more than 10,000 yuan. They bought a house and a car in the county town in full. Sometimes, they would drive for an hour to the provincial capital just to have a meal, "Having money but nowhere to spend" has become a small annoyance for the couple.
Another characteristic of the purchasing power of second-hand luxury goods is a high rate of youthfulness. According to the data of the Zhuanzhuan platform, the users who buy second-hand luxury goods on the platform are basically post-90s, post-95s, and post-00s. These young people do not resist second-hand luxury goods in concept, and their economic pressure is relatively small.
However, for the middle class in county towns, the low coverage rate of luxury goods counters has become an obstacle for them to consume luxury goods. Wang Hao said that there are no luxury goods counters in his county town. If he wants to buy new products, he can only go to a big city to buy them. But because the acceptable unit price is between 5,000 yuan and 10,000 yuan, compared with going to the counter to buy new products at the regular price, Wang Hao is more inclined to buy second-hand luxury goods. In his opinion, second-hand luxury goods have a high cost performance, and he can buy big-brand luxury goods with a good appearance with less money.
For the middle class in county towns, the biggest attraction of second-hand luxury goods is still the cost performance.
Da Lin, a post-90s who works in Yibin, Sichuan, is a senior second-hand luxury goods lover. She used to consume in the counter, but once she went to the second-hand luxury store to sell a bag, she found that the recycling price of a very new bag was only 40% of the original price, almost half, "It's heartbreaking." Since then, she has rarely set foot in the counter again, "Why not buy second-hand directly? Moreover, when you carry a bag out, no one will come and ask if your bag is new or second-hand?"
Since then, Da Lin has fallen into the pit of second-hand luxury goods. She likes to visit Hongbolin (a second-hand luxury goods platform under Zhuanzhuan) and thinks that Hongbolin has a complete range of goods. She has also found many good things on it, "I have bought many times on that APP. basically, the bags that are 99% new or 95% new are very new, but the price can be several thousand yuan less, which can save me money."
Before, she bought a GUCCI belt. The official website price is 3,200 yuan, and the second-hand website marked it as 95% new, "When I got it, it was almost brand new, but I only spent 1,700 yuan. This experience feels very good."
It's not that they can't afford the first-hand ones, but the second-hand ones are more cost-effective. Under the consumption trend of cost performance that has prevailed in recent years, second-hand luxury goods consumption also happens to fit the current popular "cost performance" consumption concept.
In addition to the cost performance of second-hand luxury goods, for the middle class in county towns, the shopping experience and shopping mentality of buying second-hand luxury goods online are much more relaxed than in the counter. In the eyes of many people, the second-hand luxury goods e-commerce platform can almost achieve "hit wherever you point", "The detailed pictures on the Internet are taken very clearly. Where there are scratches or abrasions, they are taken very carefully, and every detail is shown to you, including the length, width, height, material, year code, etc. of a bag." Liu Bo, who has bought second-hand luxury goods online, said.
Da Lin likes to buy Hermès very much. She has bought a Lindy for 30,000 to 50,000 yuan and a Picotin for 20,000 yuan, "When I buy second-hand Hermès, I will buy the classic colors because I need to match the goods in the counter, and I may be frustrated and have to look at the salesperson's face, and I also have to go to the city." She would rather buy it at a higher price on the second-hand luxury goods platform.
Da Lin not only buys second-hand luxury goods herself, but also recommends this channel of buying second-hand luxury goods to her friends, and friends will also share reliable second-hand luxury goods platforms with each other.
It is worth noting that people's acceptance of buying second-hand luxury goods is also gradually changing. " Before, people might think that using second-hand items would be a loss of face and have more thoughts in their minds, but I personally don't think it's a big deal. People abroad have a very open attitude towards second-hand items. They will only think that I bought a luxury item at a good price today, and I like it and I'm happy, and that's enough. " When Wang Hao consumed second-hand luxury goods before, he also felt a bit uncomfortable in his heart, but later he became fond of second-hand luxury goods.
In his opinion, people's consumption concepts are becoming younger, and some traditional and fixed concepts are gradually being broken.
03
Buying Second-hand, Also Deserves Better
However, an issue that cannot be ignored is that when buying second-hand luxury goods online, the biggest risk is still "counterfeit goods".
Da Lin once bought a fake vintage bag. She posted on Xiaohongshu, and some netizens recommended Hongbolin to her.
" I will choose to buy on the platform now because they have checked the authenticity, so I don't have to worry about this problem, and the after-sales service is also more guaranteed, including disinfection and cleaning, bag maintenance, anti-counterfeiting packaging, etc. " Da Lin once had some doubts about a bag consigned by the platform. The platform customer service directly contacted the seller to provide the purchase certificate, "The sense of security is instantly filled."
It is understood that Hongbolin has a professional appraiser team of nearly 100 people, including many senior appraisers with an appraisal volume of more than 100,000 pieces. In order to improve the accuracy, the platform will also conduct a re-examination or even a triple appraisal for high-risk goods.
Some netizens have personally experienced the strict appraisal process of the platform, " The appearance, accessories, smell, hardware, stitching, edge coating, and everything else need to be appraised and evaluated. For items with large stains and cracks, they are returned to the original place. " The netizen said that before, he wanted to sell a Loewe geometric bag to the platform for recycling, but in the end, because the bag was seriously deformed, it was returned, "There's no way. The platform's appraisal is very strict. But this is also understandable. After all, it is to ensure that everyone can buy good things."
Liu Bo also prefers to find a reliable platform to buy second-hand luxury goods, especially after being inspected by a third-party agency, and he is almost not worried about buying counterfeit goods, "The platform has a 72-hour no-reason return policy. I think the platform is relatively reliable to be able to do this." Liu Bo said.
Consumers are very dependent on the trust of the platform when buying second-hand luxury goods. How to improve the platform's own credibility and establish a continuous and reliable deep link with consumers is crucial to the second-hand luxury goods platform.
In September 2024, the second-hand e-commerce platform Zhuanzhuan wholly acquired Hongbolin. Since then, Zhuanzhuan has also been continuously working to improve the platform's trust. "For the second-hand luxury goods industry, it is an urgent pain point to enable more people to easily and conveniently handle their own goods. Our way to solve the pain point is to turn it into a service. Sellers do not need to learn how to be a professional seller. If the seller wants to sell, we will come to your door to help you solve it." Hu Weikun, the co-founder, COO of Zhuanzhuan Group and CEO of Hongbolin, said, What Zhuanzhuan can do is to enable every luxury item to achieve "painless circulation".
