TikTok Shop, the social commerce marketplace of TikTok, is expanding its offerings by introducing a secondhand luxury category in the U.K. This move puts TikTok Shop in direct competition with established players like The RealReal, Vestiaire Collective, Depop, Poshmark, and Mercari. The secondhand luxury category has already been available in TikTok Shop U.S. for more than six months.
With this new category, customers in the U.K. can now purchase pre-owned high-end clothing, designer handbags, and other accessories without leaving the TikTok app. At the moment, only five U.K. brands are available on the platform, including Sellier, Luxe Collective, Sign of the Times, HardlyEverWornIt, and Break Archive.
TikTok Shop has experienced significant success since its launch in 2022, selling approximately $1 billion or more worth of products. However, there have been concerns about counterfeit and poor-quality products flooding the marketplace. Counterfeit items pose a significant risk when purchasing pre-owned luxury goods online, even for well-established e-commerce platforms like Amazon and eBay.
To address this issue, TikTok Shop has implemented an anti-counterfeit policy that guarantees a full refund if a seller is found to have sold a counterfeit product. In fact, the company is reportedly in talks with luxury goods company LVMH to further strengthen its efforts to combat counterfeiting.
In the U.S., all secondhand brands on TikTok Shop are required to have certificates from third-party authenticators like Entrupy and Real Authentication. These partnerships ensure that designer handbags listed on the platform are genuine. However, in the U.K., the five brands currently available have their own in-house authentication process. It remains unclear when TikTok Shop will start accepting other secondhand brands in the U.K.
The introduction of the secondhand luxury category in TikTok Shop is a strategic move to tap into the growing market of pre-owned luxury items. Worldwide, the secondhand luxury market is a thriving business, estimated to be worth $49.3 billion (€45 billion) in 2023. This expansion also aligns with the increasing trend of people embracing preloved fashion, offering new opportunities for secondhand brands in the U.K. to reach a wider customer base.
The popularity of secondhand fashion on TikTok is evident, with over 144,000 TikTok posts using the hashtag #secondhandfashion, accumulating approximately 1.2 billion views. This demonstrates the potential for TikTok Shop to capitalize on the enthusiasm for sustainable and affordable fashion choices among its users.
The launch of the secondhand luxury category comes at a crucial time for TikTok, as the U.S. House of Representatives has recently passed a bill that could require parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the U.S. The bill seems to be gaining support in the Senate as well. A ban on TikTok would have serious implications for American merchants selling on the platform. According to TikTok, the app has generated $14.7 billion in revenue for small- to mid-size businesses in 2023 alone.
In summary, TikTok Shop’s expansion into the secondhand luxury market in the U.K. is a strategic move that capitalizes on the growing popularity of pre-owned luxury items and sustainable fashion choices. While there are concerns about counterfeit products, TikTok Shop has implemented measures to address this issue and is actively working with industry partners to combat counterfeiting. With the immense success of TikTok Shop and the potential of the secondhand luxury market, this move could bring significant opportunities for both TikTok and secondhand brands in the U.K. However, the potential ban of TikTok in the U.S. poses a significant threat to American merchants who rely on the platform for revenue.
