Recently, I called Client Services, waited on hold forever and then the call just dumped. I’ve never had this problem before. Also, not receiving callbacks. Kinda screwy.
**Selling/consigning** with Fashionphile
- Thread starter Vegas Long Legs
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I think they are having some staffing issues, not sure what's going on, I have had the same issue with extremely long call times. I noticed I didn't get a call back from the previous day, so I called again and it said I was still on the callback list lol. Right after I hung up, I got a call back about 5 minutes later.
Anyone getting insanely low quotes from Fashionphile? It’s horrible! I was quoted $3150 for an excellent condition Kelly 35 from candy collection and $6700 for a Birkin 35 that’s a year old in a desirable neutral. Insane. And $1000 for a brand new Fendi mini peekaboo!
Yes, I’ve been getting ridiculously low quotes too. They offered me a super lowball price for a new Constance bag—no way I’d sell at that. I think they’re just pushing to see what they can get away with. If more of us hold off and stop accepting these offers, they’ll have to start raising their bids. It would be one thing if they were reselling at similar prices, but they’re marking up by 100% or more. It’s gotten greedy, and I’m not interested in feeding into that.
I don’t think they will raise their bids. The offers are going low because they’re getting too many requests. Last year I asked for a quote and there were only 3000 requests. About a month or two ago that number was more than double. A LOT of people are selling their bags. They have over 80 Constance 18 for sale last I checked and that’s just the ones listed. They have more in queue. At least they are making offers. I have a friend who was trying to get a quote for a b25 in neutral and they actually turned her down saying they had too much inventory. I think this is just the reality now and don’t think it will go that much higher with them. I see many many coveted colors and sizes in brand new or excellent condition just sitting and not actually getting sold till they’re 20% off. Just a few days ago I saw an excellent condition b30 noir ghw sell for just over 16k. Let’s just face it the market is bad and so fp has the upper hand.
Edit- I’ll add that h jewelry and other brands like Cartier seem to be selling very well. Items are going very fast. You may want to try real real for a consignment for your bags. I have had luck selling Chanel bags through them and getting a bit more than what fp offered but their process is extremely slow.
Totally hear you, and I agree the market is oversaturated right now. But like I mentioned earlier, this would make more sense if their pricing strategy reflected that. Instead, they’re still listing bags at extra high prices while sending out lowball offers to sellers. If inventory is truly overflowing, then the retail side should also adjust, basic supply and demand.
You also mentioned the increasing number of bags being sold at steep discounts, like 20% off or more. That’s exactly the problem. If they don’t start pricing more competitively from the start, buyers will just wait for the inevitable markdowns. Once those kinds of discounts become common, the original prices lose credibility, they start looking inflated and artificial. It defeats the whole point of listing high if the bags aren’t moving until the price drops significantly.
And yeah, thanks for the recommendation, I’ve actually been using The RealReal a lot lately too. Sales there can take a while, but the final payout is usually much higher than what you’d get from those initial low offers from FP.
My guess is that they have researchers who have looked into this before and perhaps the studies have shown that they’re not better off with a lower price point at least at this point. I’m not in marketing so can’t say which way is the better way.
I’m in marketing, and predictable discounts are rarely a sustainable strategy [*can be sustainable in some models (e.g. fast fashion, outlet retail, CPG), but not when you're positioning yourself as a premium or ultra-luxury platform] they teach buyers to wait and devalue the product. Fashionphile may have done some analysis, but if their pricing model was really working, we wouldn’t be seeing so many high-demand bags sit until they’re marked down 20–25%. They also don’t show final sale prices, unlike The RealReal, which suggests they’re selling below list more often than they’d like to admit. It's true that they’ve reported strong profits recently, but the lack of transparency and growing inventory tells a different story which points to price resistance and a strategy that may not hold as supply continues to rise. I guess we’ll see over the next year or so whether they adjust or continue as is...
When you guys see much higher than normal market prices of normal birkins etc high price items, they possibly are consignments.
This market is totally different to before 2021, as right now, buyers and resellers don’t have confidence in the market, if a reseller buys a less popular high price items, they may offer you 1/3 of market value for buy out, that way they can ensure them not losing money.
For less expensive and popular items, resellers wouldn’t mind pay you higher prices, because more people can afford them so they would sell faster, and they don’t eat their cash flow even if sit a bit, which also brings them traffic.
I’m not here to say who is right and who is wrong, just want to say I understand both sides. If was me, when quotes are low, I might wait a bit to sell if I have confidence in the item, or cut the losses if I don’t have confidence.
This market is totally different to before 2021, as right now, buyers and resellers don’t have confidence in the market, if a reseller buys a less popular high price items, they may offer you 1/3 of market value for buy out, that way they can ensure them not losing money.
For less expensive and popular items, resellers wouldn’t mind pay you higher prices, because more people can afford them so they would sell faster, and they don’t eat their cash flow even if sit a bit, which also brings them traffic.
I’m not here to say who is right and who is wrong, just want to say I understand both sides. If was me, when quotes are low, I might wait a bit to sell if I have confidence in the item, or cut the losses if I don’t have confidence.
Not sure if this helps anyone buying or selling with Fashionphile, but I always stick with the same salesperson for all my deals. He usually gives me fair offers on both sales and trades—probably because he’s on commission. If you’re selling to them regularly, it might be worth calling and getting the name of someone you can work with consistently. Just let them know you’ll be asking for them in the future. In my experience, having that relationship gets you better service and pricing than just dealing with whoever gets your item for pricing. Just something to think about!
I sell to Couture USA and receive a paper check and there is no fee. I think there was a fee to be paid by PayPal but I chose not to take that…
My experience is the same. Also, over-stating the condition and selectively photographing the flaws is the norm now. I’ve been a buyer for over 10 years but with the quality for high-end and the quotes so ridiculously low in recent years, that I am ashamed of myself for playing the but-sell game with them, especially as I’ve spent so much and lost so much.
True, recently I bought a high price item from them, from the pictures looked in new, like new condition, when I received it, I was shocked, it was in very used condition, lots of obvious wear were not pictured at all.
The only reason I decided not to return was because I had sold a couple of items to them just before this purchase and they gave me very good prices, so I talked myself out of the return, considered in and out balanced out.
