I’ve spent years dealing with luxury goods, and one thing I’ve noticed is that people have become smarter about where they spend their money.
Now, nobody thinks twice about seeing someone wearing a £40 high street outfit with a handbag worth hundreds or thousands of pounds.
People don’t feel they have to choose between high street and designer anymore. They’ll happily save money on one thing and spend thousands on another. I think a lot of it comes down to people questioning what they’re actually getting from their money.
There are some things where paying designer prices doesn’t make sense to everyone. You might be perfectly happy buying a T-shirt, jeans or a trendy dress from the high street because you know you’ll probably replace it in a couple of years.
Then there are things people want to keep. A well-made handbag, watch, piece of jewellery or coat can be something you own for decades, and people are usually prepared to spend more when they believe they’re getting that longevity. That doesn’t mean expensive automatically means better.
I’ve handled enough luxury goods over the years to know that a designer name doesn’t guarantee value. I’ve seen pieces that are still incredibly desirable years after they were bought, while others that originally cost thousands can be harder to sell.
There’s been so much talk about the death of the high street, but people clearly haven’t lost their appetite for affordable fashion.
The high street gives people choice. You can experiment with a trend without breaking the bank, replace everyday basics relatively cheaply and put an outfit together without it costing an arm and a leg. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
I’ve never believed spending a lot of money means you have the best taste. Some people are incredibly good at mixing an inexpensive item with something much more valuable.
It really comes down to deciding which purchases matter to you.
If someone can buy a good jumper for £50, they might struggle to see why they should pay £500 because it has a particular name on the label. But the same person might happily spend thousands on a watch they expect to wear for the next 20 years.
That makes complete sense to me. People aren’t necessarily looking for the cheapest option; they’re looking at what they’re actually going to get from the money they spend.
Luxury will always have an appeal as people like beautiful things. They like craftsmanship, exclusivity and owning something special, and I don’t see that changing.
What I do think has changed is how easy it is for people to understand what a designer purchase might be worth further down the line.
Anyone considering an expensive handbag or watch can now look online and get a good idea of what similar pieces are selling for second-hand. They can see which models are popular, whether certain pieces are difficult to find and how prices compare with buying new.
Some luxury pieces just never seem to go out of fashion. Hermès Birkin and Kelly bags, the Chanel Classic Flap and certain Rolex and Cartier watches are good examples. They aren’t tied to one particular season or trend, and I see people coming into my stores looking for them.
That doesn’t mean you should only buy luxury goods that will hold their value. If you love something and can afford it, there is nothing wrong with buying something because you want it. But if you’re spending thousands of pounds, it makes sense to understand what you’re buying.
The growth of the pre-loved market has also given shoppers another choice. I’ve certainly seen attitudes towards pre-loved luxury change over the years. Buying second-hand is another way of buying the brands and pieces they want.
People are comfortable buying pre-loved luxury now, especially when they realise what their money can get them. Why spend more on a brand-new piece if you can find the same thing in excellent condition second-hand for less?
You can also find pieces that aren’t available in shops anymore. That can be part of the attraction. Older, discontinued pieces or those that are hard to find can have an appeal, especially when there is demand from collectors.
At Prestige Pawnbrokers, we see that first-hand. People come into our stores looking for everything from classic watches and handbags to particular models that are no longer available new. For some, buying pre-loved is about price, but for others it’s about finding something that they can’t buy in a boutique anymore.
That’s very different from the way we think about most high-street fashion. It also means there’s now another option between buying something affordable on the high street and walking into a designer boutique and paying full retail price.
Someone might spend £40 on a high-street dress because they know they’ll wear it for a couple of summers, but spend hundreds or thousands on a pre-owned handbag because they expect to own it for years and know there will probably still be a market for it if they eventually decide to sell.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from dealing with luxury goods is that a high price tag doesn’t tell you whether something is going to be a good purchase.
If you buy a £30 item, wear it twice and throw it away, you haven’t necessarily got a bargain. Equally, something costing £3,000 doesn’t mean good value because it has a famous logo on it.
Brand, rarity, condition, materials and demand can all affect what somebody is prepared to pay for an item further down the line. Even within the same brand, two pieces that originally sold for similar amounts can perform very differently on the second-hand market.
It’s why I always think people should do their homework before making a major luxury purchase, especially if retaining the value is important to them.
I don’t think high street versus designer is really the choice anymore, because for a lot of people it’s both. They’ll buy affordable pieces where they don’t see a reason to spend more and then put their money into one or two items that matter to them.
Second-hand sits naturally alongside that because it gives people another way into the designer market without paying full retail prices.
People are less interested in proving how much they’ve spent and more interested in whether they’ve spent it wisely.
Having worked with luxury goods for years, I’ve learned that the price tag only tells you what something costs today. It doesn’t necessarily tell you how well it was made, how much you’ll use it or what somebody else might be prepared to pay for it in five years’ time.
Sometimes the best buys will be designer and other times it’ll be pre-loved. And other times it’ll be something you found on the high street for £30.
The important thing is knowing why you’re spending the money in the first place.
About James Constantinou
Constantinou currently runs eight Prestige Pawn stores across the country. The business, which brought a premium approach to the traditional pawnbroking industry, has become a multi-million-pound enterprise.
TV show Posh Pawn ran for seven series, proving a fly-on-the-wall view of James’ revolutionary take on high-end pawnbroking and the astonishing items he was offered, from a mini submarine, planes and yachts to a Swarovski crystal drum kit used on a Kylie Minogue tour.
James and Posh Pawn became the go to place of choice when it came to high-net-worth individuals wanting to raise extra money fast or dispose of their luxury goods.
