The Resale Premium Is Dying

Chen Mo opened at nine thirty. He turned on the lights first, then the computer, then the Hongbulin seller backend.

The Birkin 25 had been listed for three weeks. He had bought it last November for 138,000 yuan. Elephant grey, silver hardware, 9.8/10 condition. At the time, comparable listings on the platform were averaging above 180,000, and he had thought it was a quick profit. Now he had it priced at 152,000. Twenty-one days listed, 140 views, six favorites, two hagglers. One offered 140,000, the other 135,000.

He hit refresh. A peer’s latest listing appeared: 148,000, same color, same size, 9.5/10 condition.

He put the phone face down on the desk and went to boil water. When the water was ready, he came back and looked again. He changed the price to 146,000. After staring at the screen for a few seconds, he changed it back to 150,000. Then he closed the backend.

At ten past ten, Sister Lin pushed the door open. She had been Chen Mo’s customer for five years, worked in foreign trade, and used to come in every season for a Gucci, sometimes two: one for herself and one to give away. Chen Mo stood up when he heard the door and said Sister Lin hadn’t been in for a long time. She said tell me about it. She hadn’t bought much of anything since last year.

She made a round of the shop, her fingers trailing across a row of bags, and stopped at the Gucci Dionysus row. She picked up a medium one, turned it over to look at the interior label, and put it down. Chen Mo said the condition was very good. A customer had consigned it last year and had barely used it. Sister Lin said it was pretty, then paused, and said her daughter had told her last week: Mom, if you carry that out, you look like my classmate’s mom.

Chen Mo laughed once. He didn’t reply.

Sister Lin made another round and walked to the counter at the very back, looking down at the gold. Chen Mo had started buying Laopu Gold last year, not much, just a small display in the corner. Sister Lin pointed at a gufa bangle and asked to see it. Chen Mo unlocked the cabinet and handed it to her. She slipped it onto her wrist, turned it against the window light, and said her daughter wouldn’t say that about this one.

She bought the bangle for 19,000 yuan. Before leaving, she asked Chen Mo whether he was still buying Hermès. A friend wanted to sell a Picotin. Chen Mo said he was, but it depended on the price. Sister Lin said okay, she’d have her friend add him on WeChat.

After Sister Lin left, Chen Mo put the Gucci Dionysus back on the shelf. He glanced toward the warehouse, stood up, walked over, and pulled up the roller shutter. The warehouse wasn’t big. Three shelves, the top row all Gucci: Marmont, Dionysus, Sylvie, eleven in total. He wiped the dust off the flap of the outermost Marmont with his sleeve, then lowered his sleeve. The dust was still there.

He squatted down and did some numbers on his phone. Eleven Gucci bags, at 2024 purchase prices, had cost about 180,000 in total. At current market prices, clearing all of them would bring back around 110,000. A loss of 70,000. If he didn’t clear them, storage and tied-up capital would cost about 2,000 a month. He squatted there thinking for about two minutes, stood up, patted the dust off his knees, and sent a WeChat message to a peer, Old Zhao: Three Gucci Marmonts, black, grey, white, as a bundle. You name the price.

Old Zhao replied fast: 38,000. Chen Mo replied: 42,000, no haggling. Old Zhao said okay, he’d come pick them up tomorrow.

A little after two in the afternoon, the friend Sister Lin had mentioned arrived. She was a woman in her forties carrying an Hermès Picotin, gold brown, TC leather, good condition. Last year, Chen Mo would have bought it for sure. The Picotin moved fast and wouldn’t sit in stock. But first he opened Hongbulin and searched the same model. The number of active listings came up: 137. He searched recent transaction prices. They were down about 2,000 from half a year ago. He turned the phone around to show the customer and said, Look, ma’am, with this volume, even if I buy it I can’t move it. Try listing it on Xianyu. Individual sellers move better than we do. Price it realistically and someone will buy it.

After the customer left, Chen Mo flipped over the acrylic sign on the counter that read “High-Price Hermès Buyback.” The back was blank. He found a marker and wrote four characters: 收老铺金. It meant “We buy Laopu Gold.” The characters weren’t straight, and the last stroke of 金 dragged long. He wiped at it with a tissue. It didn’t come off, so he let it go.

He put the sign back on the counter and stepped back to look at it. Then he went back to the computer, opened the Hongbulin backend, and changed the price of the Birkin 25 to 148,000.

After that, he shut down the computer and went to the back to boil water. While waiting for it to boil, he stood at the warehouse door, looking at the three rows of Gucci. The top row had three empty spots, leaving three clean square marks. The water boiled. He went back, made a cup of tea, sat down behind the counter, and opened his phone to check Laopu Gold prices.