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This $28B Trend Could Be a Huge Growth Opportunity for Jewelry

It’s ‘a potential avenue for luxury brands to reach a new audience and enlarge their customer base.’

Published

5 years ago

December 2, 2019

INSTORE Staff

The secondhand market presents a major opportunity for growth in jewelry and other luxury markets, according to a new report from Bain & Co.

The secondhand market hit 26 billion euros ($28.67 billion) in 2019, according to the global luxury report.

Jewelry showed particularly strong growth of 9 percent at constant exchange rates in 2019. Other outperformers include shoes, leather goods and beauty.

Watches, however, demonstrated sluggish performance, declining by 2 percent at constant exchange rates.

“We see the secondhand market as a potential avenue for luxury brands to reach a new audience and enlarge their customer base,” said Federica Levato, a Bain partner and co-author of the study. “For many customers, this may be their first luxury purchase but luxury brands shouldn’t see this as a threat and should manage it strategically to grasp the full potential of this opportunity.”

Bain anticipates that the luxury customer base will expand to 450 million by 2025, up from 390 million in 2019, mainly thanks to the growing middle-class, especially from Asia. This will further stimulate the entry-price segments, which in 2019 already represent a sizable part of the market (30 percent in the jewelry category), as well as the off-price channel, which grew by 11 percent at current exchange rates in 2019 reaching €36 billion ($39.89 billion).

Four Decades of Excellence: How Wilkerson Transformed a Jeweler's Retirement into Celebration

After 45 years serving the Milwaukee community, Treiber & Straub Jewelers owner Michael Straub faced a significant life transition. At 75, the veteran jeweler made a personal decision many business owners understand: "I think it's time. I want to enjoy my wife with my grandchildren for the next 10, 15 years." Wilkerson's expertise transformed this major business transition into an extraordinary success. Their comprehensive approach to managing the going-out-of-business sale created unprecedented customer response—with lines forming outside the store and limits on how many shoppers could enter at once due to fire safety regulations. The results exceeded all expectations. "Wilkerson did a phenomenal job," Straub enthuses. "They were there for you through the whole thing, helped you with promoting it, helping you on day-to-day business. I can't speak enough for how well they did." The partnership didn't just facilitate a business closing; it created a celebratory finale to decades of service while allowing Straub to confidently step into his well-earned retirement.