A Rolex and a Cartier may sit side by side in a display case at similar prices, yet leave their owners with very different costs. WatchCharts currently estimates that in-production Rolex models trade, on average, at 14.9% above retail, while Cartier models trade at 25.7% below retail. These are weighted brand averages, and individual references vary widely. But the gap points to a calculation that is becoming increasingly visible to luxury buyers before they ever reach the counter: how much of the purchase price they are likely to get back later.
Luxury watches make that calculation unusually visible, but they are no longer an outlier. Smartphone trade-in quotes now appear beside new-device prices, while resale search tools place used and new options within the same journey. The RealReal reported in 2025 that 47% of shoppers consider resale value before buying something new. Phia, a comparison app covering primary and secondary markets, had indexed more than 350 million products across 5,000 brand partners and reached more than 640,000 downloads during its launch year.
The effect is strongest where products are durable, identifiable, and expensive enough that their residual value influences the next purchase. A $2,000 product that can later be resold for $1,200 may feel easier to justify than a $1,400 alternative with little secondhand demand. Buyers do not need a precise depreciation model to see the difference. As resale prices become more transparent, they begin to shape the economics of the original purchase.
Resale Value Is Designed Into the Product
Resale value starts with how the product is made. Patagonia can buy back eligible clothing because Worn Wear is supported by a repair program. The company offers more than 100 repair guides and accepts functioning products for trade-in, demonstrating durability over years of use.
Rolex protects value through proof. Watches in its Certified Pre-Owned program are authenticated, serviced, and tested by the brand, then sold with a two-year international guarantee. That intervention reduces the uncertainty surrounding a high-value used purchase and maintains Rolex’s authority on the watch after it changes hands.
The same principle applies to product history. An approved service record can turn repair into evidence of care, while clear identification establishes the item’s age, specification, and authenticity. Together, those records give the next buyer greater confidence in what they are buying and make the item easier to value.
That system weakens when warranties, software support, or servicing rights end with the first owner. Brands expecting products to circulate have to think beyond physical durability to whether the support around the product can travel with it.
A broad recommerce promise can backfire when customers later discover that much of the range is too damaged, too costly to process, or too weakly demanded to qualify, leaving the original brand to absorb the disappointment even when a third party sets the valuation.
Future Value Can Become Part of the Price
Samsung introduced Galaxy Forever in India in March 2026. Buyers of eligible Galaxy S26 models could pay half the device cost over 12 months, with the remaining balance covered by an assured buyback if they returned the phone after a year. The offer turned the expected exit value into part of the launch proposition and fixed a likely date for the next upgrade decision.
Trade-in has become a material source of purchasing power in the device market. Assurant estimates that US consumers received more than $6.4 billion through mobile trade-in programs in 2025, 42% more than a year earlier. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, the value returned reached $1.63 billion, up 31% from the same period in 2025.
The guarantee places depreciation risk closer to the company. Weak secondhand demand or high refurbishment costs can turn an attractive launch offer into an expensive obligation. Trust can also unravel during inspection if the final credit bears little resemblance to the promise.
The model works when the product retains enough value to support the commitment. It can protect the list price, make the initial outlay easier to assess, and give the company influence over the replacement calendar.
The Secondary Market Sees Demand Turn Early
Resale prices can weaken before primary sales do, particularly while distribution and promotion are still supporting a product.
StockX recorded a 41% annual fall in trades of the Nike Dunk during the first seven months of 2024. The average price of the Air Jordan 1 fell 18%. ASICS moved in the other direction: trades of the Gel-1130 rose 589%, and the model went on to become StockX’s bestselling sneaker of 2025 as ASICS sales on the platform increased by 45%.
StockX captures activity on a single marketplace rather than across the whole category, so the figures are an early signal rather than a market forecast. They still showed buyers moving between established styles before conventional reporting captured the shift. Nike later reported a 10% revenue decline for the year to May 2025 and a 190-basis-point fall in gross margin, partly due to heavier discounting and more money being set aside for unsold stock.
Sales show whether interest holds once buyers must pay. A product finding buyers quickly near retail suggests that demand can absorb more supply, while rising listings and weaker prices show that owners are trying to exit faster than new buyers are arriving.
A franchise can be rested or its distribution narrowed before markdowns spread. Stronger secondary demand can justify more space for an overlooked model without relying on social attention alone.
Resale Can Reach Customers Without Training Them to Wait for a Sale
In a 2025 survey of 7,800 members of the Vestiaire Collective community, BCG found that more than half preferred buying a premium label secondhand to choosing a cheaper brand new. Resale had enabled 66% to discover or buy a brand for the first time, rising to around 80% among Gen Z respondents. The sample reflects consumers already active in resale, but it also shows how secondhand can serve as a first step into a brand.
The relationship often begins outside the brand’s view. BCG found that 55% of purchases among those surveyed took place on multibrand resale platforms. The marketplace owns the transaction and learns which product the buyer selected, what price cleared and what else competed for attention. The manufacturer may gain exposure without gaining a customer record.
The first direct contact may come when the product needs work or its authenticity must be confirmed. That encounter gives the company a chance to establish the new owner, demonstrate its service standards, and link the product to a fresh customer record.
Trade-in can catch the relationship at the other end. The owner is preparing to leave the product and may already be considering its replacement. Credit keeps the recovered value inside the portfolio and gives the company a reason to participate before the money moves elsewhere.
Brands that sell new and pre-owned products side by side can recover a relationship that might otherwise remain with the marketplace.
The Economics Extend Beyond the Used Transaction
Vestiaire Collective said in 2026 that about 85% of purchases on its platform replaced a new purchase. The figure cannot show whether that lost sale would have gone to the same brand, a cheaper competitor, or the category at all.
Secondary-market data records what sold and at what price. Research is needed to establish what buyers would have done without the resale option and whether secondhand ownership later changes their willingness to buy new. Following buyers and sellers through their next purchase can show whether resale introduces customers to the brand, changes when they replace a product, or simply captures demand that already existed.
Eileen Fisher says that about 40% of customers in its Renew program also shop full price. The overlap indicates that new and used purchases can coexist within a single relationship, although it does not prove that resale caused the later purchase.
Because every used item must be processed individually, a trade-in may generate little direct margin yet still lead to a profitable new purchase or bring back a lapsed customer. Strong resale revenue can also conceal slow-moving stock, expensive processing, or credit that subsidises a purchase that would probably have happened anyway.
That makes the economics broader than the margin on the used item itself: the return may come through stronger new-product pricing, another purchase, or better evidence for product and launch decisions. Its operating costs must be assigned to the same customer relationship.
Market research can also test whether authentication, future trade-in value, or access to repair makes the new product more attractive. Those effects vary across categories or price points.
The Second Sale Has to Strengthen the First
The strategic choice is not whether every brand should enter resale, but how much of the secondary market it needs to own.
Some companies will benefit from selling new and pre-owned products in parallel. Others will use a specialist, offer a trade-in, or leave the transaction to third-party platforms while studying prices and customer activity around their products.
The decision should begin with the primary business. Resale deserves investment when it supports the price of new products, improves portfolio decisions, or increases the value of the customer relationship. Where those gains cannot be demonstrated, the secondary market is more useful as intelligence than as another channel to operate.
Is resale changing how customers value your brand?
Secondary-market data can show what is selling, but it cannot explain whether resale changed the original purchase or what customers would have done instead. Kadence can help you measure how resale affects pricing, product choice, and future purchasing, giving you the evidence to decide whether to operate a resale channel, work with a partner, or learn from the market.
FAQs
Should every brand launch its own resale platform?
No. A branded resale channel makes sense when it improves pricing power, customer retention, or access to useful product data. Some brands will gain more by working with a resale specialist, offering trade-in or monitoring secondary-market activity without handling used inventory themselves.
How can brands tell whether resale is cannibalising new sales?
Transaction data alone cannot show what the customer would have bought without a resale option. Brands need to compare similar customers and track whether secondhand buyers later purchase new products, upgrade sooner, or remain with the brand longer. Research can also establish whether the alternative was a full-price purchase, a competitor, or no purchase at all.
What can secondary-market data reveal about a brand?
Resale prices, selling speed, and listing volumes can show which products retain demand, which designs are gaining interest, and where a franchise may be approaching saturation. Condition and repair data can also reveal weaknesses that may not appear in conventional brand tracking or early sales reports.
Which products are most suited to branded resale or trade-in?
Resale is most relevant where products are durable, identifiable, and valuable enough for their remaining worth to influence the next purchase. Strong candidates usually have reliable secondhand demand, clear authentication or ownership records, and repair or refurbishment costs that remain below the value recovered.