Sell old Burberry online, the brand might invite you for tea

Bloomberg

Burberry Group Plc is encouraging clients to give their old looks a second life by selling them online, a move that could help pull in holiday shoppers and bolster appeal with the environmentally conscious.
In a rare partnership between a fashion house and the burgeoning marketplace for used luxury products, Burberry is teaming up with consignment website The RealReal. US customers who offer a used Burberry item on the portal during the holiday season will be invited for a personal shopping session and tea at one of the British trench coat-maker’s boutiques.
European luxury brands have long tightly controlled distribution and avoided even acknowledging the existence of a market for used products. Lately, however, some have begun pointing out that resales reassure customers about their goods’ long-lasting value. Richemont, owner of top-end watch and jewellery brands like Cartier and Jaeger-LeCoultre, purchased the resale site Watchfinder last year in a nod to the secondary market’s rising importance.
Others have tried to fight it, like Chanel — which sued RealReal and another consignment outlet, alleging that it sold counterfeit products. The brand also argued that the site’s claim of selling authentic Chanel products constitutes trademark infringement. RealReal denied the claims.
“We don’t see resale as a threat,” said Pam Batty, Burberry’s vice president of corporate responsibility. “We want to raise awareness of different options customers have when they want to refresh their wardrobe.”
Online resale for luxury goods is growing as much as 50% per year, Jefferies analyst Flavio Cereda said.