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author|tin

zhuanzhuan started the "buy, buy, buy" mode. on the morning of september 23, second-hand e-commerce platform zhuanzhuan and ershe e-commerce platform hongbulin issued statements announcing zhuanzhuan’s wholly-owned acquisition of hongbulin. hu weikun, co-founder and coo of zhuanzhuan group, will concurrently serve as hongblin’s ceo. xu wei, hongblin’s founder and former ceo, will become a consultant to assist hongblin in its transition to a new strategy.

from capital injection to major shareholder to full acquisition, zhuanzhuan and hongblin have always had a close relationship.in 2023, zhuanzhuan made a strategic investment of us$100 million in hongblin. the sale and recycling of hongblin products have already entered the zhuanzhuan channel, and it is used in many "bags, accessories, trendy shoes, watches, clothing, etc." "exclusive" channel is on sale, complementing the latter's core 3c digital category. after the acquisition, the two will be fully integrated, and hongblin's second-hand luxury goods appraisal capabilities will be integrated into zhuanzhuan and incorporated into zhuanzhuan's "official experience" multi-category appraisal capabilities.

in the past, many people may have had the impression of zhuanzhuan as an e-commerce platform for buying and selling idle items. now that they have "purchased" hongbulin, zhuanzhuan's second-hand trading categories have expanded to include looking for beautiful machines (3c), red cloth, etc. lin (fashion) and caihuoxia trade brands,hongbulin may make up for the shortcomings in second luxury categories and traffic for zhuanzhuan.

at present, second-hand e-commerce platforms appear to be a tripartite structure consisting of zhuanzhuan, xianyu, and aihuishou. xianyu is backed by alibaba taotian group, aihuishou is backed by jd.com, and zhuanzhuan is backed by 58.com.

however, the second-hand industry has strong particularities and is a typical diversified market.if you want to break down the integrated transaction stories of the three major second-hand e-commerce platforms, there are undercurrents surging under the calm sea. whether jd.com integrated paipai into aihuishou, or alibaba made a strategic investment in shenzhen huishoubao technology co., ltd., it is obvious that it wants to supplement xianyu’s c2c business in terms of recycling and high-quality products.

and this time, i bought red cloth with the slogan "second-hand save the world".to a certain extent, it shows that in the context of consumption downgrade, the increase in second-hand consumption preference has promoted the acceleration of the circulation of second-hand goods, and the increase in demand has promoted the expansion of the total scale.this merger and acquisition is not only a continuation of zhuanzhuan’s investment in hongblin, but also the result of both parties getting what they need. because zhuan zhuan and hong bulin both face considerable challenges on their respective tracks.

as far as zhuanzhuan is concerned, it has been broadening its categories in recent years. i hope to find a breakthrough in traffic and resources for myself. among second-luxury e-commerce user groups, female consumers are still the main force in second-luxury consumption, accounting for nearly 70%.

although zhuanzhuan has achieved good growth in its main business of consumer electronics since this year and has built a basic network of door-to-door and store-based services, no matter whether it is faced with xianyu, which is backed by internet giants and is more famous on the c-side, or in the vertical field strong players, zhuanzhuan does not seem so "strong".

data shows that in april 2024, the number of monthly active users (dau) of zhuanzhuan was 24.08 million (without deduplication), while the dau of xianyu app was 162 million. the acquisition of hongbulin by zhuanzhuan is to occupy a more favorable position in the fiercely competitive second-hand e-commerce market.a more "labor-saving" option.

moreover, hongblin is a star startup company that has had its own "halo" since its birth. it was founded in 2017. it is a second-hand resale platform for women's fashion and luxury goods, and is favored by many capitals. the products cover all fashion categories such as bags, shoes and clothing, jewelry, and watches. at the same time, hongbulin is currently the largest independent recycling fashion brand in china. according to jiguang big data statistics, in q4 2021, the number of monthly active users of hongbulin surpassed secoo, becoming the top luxury e-commerce platform.

although the luxury goods market is still growing, the story of second-hand luxury e-commerce is becoming increasingly difficult to tell.previously, farfetch, the world's largest luxury e-commerce platform, was "sold" to a korean e-commerce giant due to financial problems. later, secoo, "china's no. 1 luxury e-commerce company," was forced to delist. in essence, the "middleman" model of hongbulin is inherently different from the positioning of luxury brands. in addition, the second-luxury e-commerce market is a mixed bag, the consumer experience cannot be guaranteed, business is difficult to do, and capital is naturally difficult to pay for.

this acquisition, which is not surprising to the outside world, occurred in a downturn in the second-hand luxury e-commerce market.affected by the downturn in the consumer market and changes in user demand, it is a fact that luxury goods cannot be sold.as the primary market share of luxury goods shrinks, consumers are more willing to choose secondary market transactions as an alternative. but now, in addition to second luxury e-commerce platforms, cross-border e-commerce platforms such as douyin and xiaohongshu are also involved in second luxury goods. business, the pressure on the vertical second luxury e-commerce platform is visible to the naked eye.

talking about the second-hand luxury industry, you will find that the rise of small second-hand luxury stores and large-scale second-hand economy is actually the awakening consumption concept of young people.

in recent years, "second-hand stores" have gradually appeared in shopping malls, and many "second-hand luxury" bloggers have appeared on short video live broadcasts such as douyin and kuaishou. there is a feeling of maturing the second-hand luxury industry both online and offline.in 2023, tiktok also recruited a new e-commerce team in the united states to develop the second-hand luxury jewelry market. on tiktok, related tags are very popular, with #secondhand having 3.1 billion views and #luxurybag also having over 500 million plays.the reason why the "second luxury trend" is blowing both online and offline is also very simple. without money, most consumers have become more and more rational.

offline, ershe physical space has not only taken root in super first-tier cities such as beijing and shanghai, but also entered many new first-tier cities such as hangzhou and chongqing, and has won high attention.some of these growing physical spaces appear in shopping malls in the form of medieval markets and traveling exhibitions, and they also serve more segmented groups in the form of community stores.

online, since second-hand luxury goods are non-standard products and the prices are relatively high, trust is very important in the transaction process. the essence of live broadcast is actually an interactive community. the sense of proximity established in the community can provide both parties with the transaction with a sense of trust. provide a sense of trust, and as a platform business, how to balance "fun" traffic and "brand" quality assurance may be a direction that zhuanzhuan needs to explore with hongblin in the future.

“zhi er”, which was once well-known as an online trading platform, tried to use the coin-operated gashapon machine games that emerged in the online retail process to present them offline in physical form. this model has emerged in many online markets. it appears in the second luxury brands that have gone online and started to deploy offline.

in the third quarter of this year, jpmorgan chase’s relevant research report pointed out that after experiencing the surge in sales after the epidemic, the profit margin of the luxury goods industry may fall back to a lower level, valuations are also declining further, and the revenue growth rate may be lower than operating expenses growth rate.

zhuanzhuan’s acquisition of hongbulin is now more of a group-building effort driven by profit, but how can zhuanzhuan, which has weak e-commerce genes, open up the operation of the post-merger system and use zhuanzhuan’s offline stores to bring hongblin’s business? it is crucial to provide more empowerment, jointly open up a larger traffic transaction opening, and feed back the entire category of zhuanzhuan.

as early as 2022, zhuanzhuan invested in hongblin, and the two parties began to cooperate at the capital level. according to reports, huang wei, ceo of zhuanzhuan, said that the reason for the cooperation between the two parties is that hongbulin and zhuanzhuan are both c2b2c models. the two companies with different starting points actually have many similar concepts. for example, when considering second-hand c2c business, zhuanzhuan and hongblin the platform quality inspection will be emphasized to ensure the quality of the products to a certain extent.

so,appraisal is one of the biggest investment steps for ershe platform.as a leading platform, hongbulin has been promoting the standardization of the industry. in order to ensure the "authenticity" of its products, hongbulin has an appraisal team of more than 100 people, including dozens of appraisers who have appraised more than 100,000 pieces. each product undergoes a 20-step appraisal process, multiple authenticity verifications, and cross-identification by appraisers of different levels before an appraisal certificate is issued.

but despite this, the regulatory environment of the second luxury e-commerce industry and the platform’s commission logic determine that consumers are particularly at risk. the reasonableness of the recycling prices and the fact that the goods look like real ones also discourage many businesses. but it was precisely because zhuanzhuan valued hongblin’s appraisal ability that he entered into the acquisition cooperation. looking at the history of the development of japan's second-hand luxury industry from a distance, it is accompanied by 30 years of lost economic experience. combined with the current domestic economic situation, the consumer trend is a more rational consumption trend and a more diversified consumption concept. in the future, second-hand luxury goods may welcome come new spring.

to paraphrase a classic hermès advertising slogan: behind a handbag, a person’s experience is told. when consumers purchase luxury goods, what they value is not the connotation of the products, but the image they represent.

in recent years, the main force of luxury consumption is shifting to the post-90s generation and the millennial generation.on the one hand, it is difficult for them to completely strip away the impression of luxury goods as a "symbol of differentiation" and regard luxury goods as part of a fashionable lifestyle; on the other hand, they are full of personality, and the traditional concept of luxury goods is undergoing some subtle changes among younger groups., a consumer survey of millennials and generation z showed that more than 70% of the respondents believed that purchasing luxury goods should be based on their quality, design and personal preferences, rather than simply pursuing the brand name.

if luxury brands are compared to the "primary market" and luxury brands are compared to the "secondary market", as early as 3 years ago, the primary market also noticed changes and took action. for example, bvlgari, vancleef & arpels began to launch 10,000-30,000 yuan the products are marketed by "traffic" celebrities to bring goods. this is to some extent an effort by brands to promote the purchasing power of young people. luxury goods group lvmh's financial report for the first half of 2024 shows that the group's revenue fell by 1% year-on-year. it is an industry consensus that luxury goods will gradually become unsaleable.

so,in addition to the most luxurious and youthful product lines, the relatively low-priced second-hand luxury goods are naturally suitable for young people as their first luxury goods because of their practicality and high cost performance.

what is reflected in the xiaohongshu community is that there are more than 100,000 notes when searching for "second-hand luxury goods", and more than 1 million results for keywords such as "medieval" and "vintage". the content of the exchanges is mostly about new items bought in a certain season but not liking them, or personal favorites that have been out of season and have not been able to buy, and hope to exchange or consign them. in short, they are all looking for the favorite models.

it seems that more and more young people are entering second-hand luxury stores - intending to spend the least money and buy the best-looking products. on dianping’s beijing-area luxury goods list, it’s not just first-tier luxury stores that rank high. there are also second-hand second-hand stores such as musevie, which are also on the list.the second-hand luxury goods white paper shows that in 2020, the size of the second-hand luxury goods market will only account for 5% of the domestic luxury goods industry, which is far lower than the average of about 30% in developed countries such as the united states and japan. this also means that the future development of second-hand luxury goods in china will there is a lot of space.

but the most critical issue in the second-hand luxury market is trust. for e-commerce platforms, the key to profitability is also to improve customer trust, optimize user experience and improve identification capabilities.the conclusion of the "2023 luxury consignment report", an annual report on second-hand luxury goods released by the realreal inc., the leading second-hand luxury e-commerce company in the united states, shows that combined with economic environment factors, second-hand bags have changed from ultra-luxury and head-to-head luxury goods to more popular and more popular. easily available, less expensive styles.

compared with the past when they bought collectibles that could increase their price, most young people now are not too keen on buying them and have no money to buy them. especially offline, what everyone wants to visit when visiting the ershe store is the experience. the store is spacious and bright, well-selected, and beautifully decorated. the products are carefully sorted and classified and covered with pvc transparent dust covers, giving you a sense of luxury. the price is commensurate and it feels worth checking in and taking pictures.

in china, transactions in the offline second-hand luxury market are forming a younger trend, which emphasizes experience. the stores are spacious and bright, well-selected, and beautifully decorated. the products are carefully sorted and classified and covered with transparent pvc dustproof the cover gives you a feeling that is commensurate with the price of luxury goods and worth checking in and taking pictures.

compared with the explosive growth in previous years, the second-hand luxury market is currently slowing down. some media reported that a bag bought at a public price of 10,000 yuan, which ershe could sell for 8,000 yuan in previous years, may be sold for 6,000 to 7,000 yuan this year. there are also nearly 4,000 complaints about ershe on the black cat complaint platform, covering various issues such as after-sales maintenance, fake goods, and unreasonable prices.

according to hongbolin ceo xu wei, it has been two years since the effective circulation of data on the public platform reached 100 billion. there is a question mark as to whether the data is still growing. but the fact is that if you are good, you will not "sell yourself" at this time. the integration of hongbulin into zhuanzhuan represents to some extent the “end” of the domestic second-luxury vertical e-commerce era.

however, from the perspective of the long-term development of the industry, the entire second-hand market can only be left behind after the waves are washed away by "complete goods" and "guaranteed". because consumers will become more and more rational, their requirements for products will become higher.