A Quick Guide to Identifying Higher End Brands
Looking to up your game in the resale industry? Check out our guide below to identifying higher-end brands that can be sold online as another stream of revenue.
What to look for:
- Quality
- How does it feel? If it feels like sturdy quality fabric, it might be a high-end item.
- Check the fabric content. In general, items of value will choose cotton, linen, etc over polyester.
- Brand Names
- Don’t markup big box store brands (like Forever 21, Charlotte Russe, H&M, etc.). These items you can usually purchase new for cheap in the clearance section of the store so it’s unlikely that a customer will be willing to pay more than the unit prices.
- Not knowing your brands is a real barrier to successfully pricing up, but learning the brands takes time. . Anthropologie, for example, is a popular store among women 18-45 but it carries over 300 brands. A majority of the items are expensive but because the chain has so many brands, it’s hard to quickly identify which ones come from that store.
- Look up names on eBay and other reselling websites. On eBay, filter your results to only show the “sold” listings as a way to see what price you could sell your item for.
- Get familiar with obvious high-end mainstream brands, like Gucci, Chanel, etc., and also brands found at Anthropologie, Nordstrom, and other indie shops. Check out their websites to learn their brand lists.
- Style
- Just because it’s a designer brand, doesn’t mean it’s worth a lot. Check the style and see if it fits in with recent popular styles or vintage. That’s not to say a blouse from 2007 Gucci isn’t worth listing, but a mid-level high-end brand – like anything from Bebe from 2006, isn’t worth the time to list.
- Embroidered shirts and dresses are a popular style right now. It doesn’t hurt to list a few items that fit current trends if the brand is only mid-level – people will still buy it.
- Item type
- Consider what category of items to resell. For example, pants are hard to sell. It doesn’t matter the brand – they just don’t move quickly. Shirts and dresses for women’s clothing move fast on the other hand.
- Accessories are often forgotten but they can be a great profit generator. Be sure to check the labels on ties. We recently found and listed a Burberry tie and sold it for $50.
Below are some examples of brands and styles worth listing.
Pictured in the grid is an Eileen Fisher sweatshirt, Anthropologie blouse, MaxMara dress, and a Kate Spade purse. These can be listed for prices well above traditional thrift store amounts.
Below are some items that are popular high-end brands but the style is too outdated or damaged to be worth reselling.
Commonly missed brands with their logos:
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