Shinsegae adds its allure to second-hand luxury

Luxury bags are sold on SSG.com [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The Shinsegae Group is getting into the ever-expanding second-hand market for luxury goods like handbags and shoes.

SSG.com, Emart's e-commerce company, announced Monday it will partner with a secondhand goods online marketplace and start a resale service for high-end products. It will also introduce its own resale service, but only for customers who originally purchased luxury goods from its website.

The company's partner was not named, but venture capital firm Signite Partners — 50 percent owned by Shinsegae International, an affiliate of Emart — invested an undisclosed amount in secondhand marketplace Bungaejangter on Jan. 11.

The secondhand market is attracting big retailers.

Last March, a consortium that includes Lotte Shopping, Eugene Asset Management and Opus Private Equity acquired 93.9 percent of Joonggonara, an online marketplace for used items. Naver’s subsidiary SNOW owns 75.46 percent of Kream, a sneaker resale service.

Shinsegae’s focus will be on secondhand luxury-branded goods.

Last August, the Shinsegae group introduced an authenticity guarantee program known as SSG Guarantee for luxury products sold on its website. It issues a certificate of authentication in the form of a non-fungible token, which assures customers that they're not buying counterfeit items.

There are some 10,000 products currently guaranteed by SSG.com, and the company aims to increase the number to 30,000 within this year.

“By offering high-end products that are authenticated by SSG Guarantee, we are familiarizing customers with the idea of digital certificates of authenticity,” said Koo Hyo-jung, head of SSG.com’s luxury goods merchandising team. “We plan to offer a one-stop service, starting from the purchase of luxury goods to secondhand resale.”

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]