Not sure what to do with that pair of Balenciaga Runners collecting dust in your closet? The brand has partnered with Reflaunt, a concierge resale service, to launch a take-back program offering the highest payout on the market (at least according to Balenciaga).
Through the house's "Re-Sell Program," customers can drop off their pre-loved Balenciaga wares at participating stores, or have them collected via scheduled pick-up (reservations can be made at Balenciaga's website). Products are then authenticated, priced, photographed, and listed across Reflaunt's network of over 25 secondary resale platforms — Vestiaire Collective, Tradesey, and Rebelle included.
Once their products are purchased, customers can accept cash payment or redeem store credit at a 20 percent higher value. Credit can be used at 15 Balenciaga locations including its New York City flagship, Avenue Montaigne store in Paris, and Sloane Street outpost in London.
Balenciaga's move comes as a swath of luxury labels and retailers — from Alexander McQueen to Net-A-Porter, which recently partnered with Reflaunt — devise circular shopping programs of their own. Resale programs such as Balenciaga's might save a few products from going to the landfill, but their monetary value is in building customer loyalty.
Through Balenciaga Re-Sell, I can offload an old City bag, an iconic model that fetches thousands on Vestiaire Collective, collect store credit, and funnel that credit back through Balenciaga to purchase a new accessory. And so the cycle repeats, driving more and more customers back to Balenciaga stores.
The program also capitalizes on Balenciaga's notably high resale demand. The RealReal's 2022 Luxury Resale Report found that the French maison boasted the greatest growth in demand across all of its top 10 most popular brands: an increase of 41 percent year-on-year.
Happy reselling!
