The world of designer handbag sales is quite a fickle market, seeing as style trends shift ever so quickly. One day, you might find that a Hermes Birkin is the way to go, but the next thing you know, it’s all about western style handbags. Nevertheless, handbags that do not have a home are finding new love in Hong Kong, where the used handbag market is positively booming. 
According to a story from Google News, reselling luxury handbags has become a boom industry in the major city, where bags are not hard to find:
“[Byron Yiu’s] Milan Station retail chain, the first of its kind in the fashion conscious city, buys trendy bags — luxury tote or shoulder bags to evening clutch — from the ladies who lunch in Hong Kong’s upscale neighbourhoods. Locally known as “tai tais”, the small and often thrifty demographic, rarely seen without Prada, Chanel or Gucci on their arm, provides the retailer with a steady flow of bags which are later authenticated by Yiu’s team.”
The styles of bags are what is important – not the age of the bags. As long as the bags are genuine, women want to buy them, says the article. As new styles are discovered, it can be difficult to charge exorbitant amounts for the designer bags. However, this is excellent for women who are looking to add new styles to their wardrobe but can’t afford expensive handbags. The business owners are seeing the benefits of this used handbag industry:
“The idea not only turned traditional shopping habits on their ear and made Yiu a rich man himself, but the company set a record for the most popular initial public offering in the Asian financial hub’s history earlier this year. Investors were abuzz with excitement when the firm…went to market in May with an initial public offering oversubscribed a whopping 2,180 times.”
Can you see this type of store becoming successful in North America? I’m pretty sure it won’t be too long until this is a boom industry here in the States!
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