What: The secondhand market in Asia is growing as the younger generation shows an interest in pre-owned fashion.

Why it is important: The global secondhand market is set to grow to USD 248 billion by next year and USD 351 billion by 2037 with demand from the Asia-Pacific region fuelling the growth.

The Asian luxury retail market is fragmented due to differences in language, culture, and regulation in varied countries. Though, the homogenous societies across Asia prefer shopping for the same brands as they find comfort in conformity and emulate each other’s style.

Kream is a South Korean retailer of trendy sneaker styles with 5.3 million monthly active users that pulled USD 1.4 billion worth of gross merchandise volume last year. 50% of the GMV comes from sneakers, but the company hopes to broaden their market to appeal to women.

The customer-to-customer resale is a growing trend in each country, and Kream sets itself apart from other C2C platforms by offering a storage service. This allows sellers to store their inventories in Kream’s warehouse and facilitates a better experience for the buyer by speeding up the sale and authentication process.

The company cemented its reputation as a reliable platform after Kream halted sales of Essentials T-shirts when a buyer attempted to sell a counterfeit and noticed more questionable products on their site. Kream reimbursed clients who had bought fakes at double the cost of their original purchase.

There is clear potential growth for Asia’s resale market and as it moves online, platforms will adapt to streamline the process and provide a high service level.

How big can luxury resale get in Asia?