What Goes Around Comes Around’s founders: Luxury brands 'holding things close to the chest' benefits resale
The Glossy Podcast · with Seth Weisser and Gerard Maione · March 27, 2024 · 44 min
Summary
Luxury resale pioneers, What Goes Around Comes Around (WGACA), share 31 years of insights, revealing how luxury brands' exclusivity paradoxically fuels their booming secondary market. The founders detail their successful B2B partnerships, Amazon e-commerce collaboration, and innovative livestream shopping strategies. This episode offers critical lessons on navigating brand tensions, differentiating in a crowded market, and capitalizing on the circular economy in luxury retail.
Key takeaways
Luxury brand exclusivity drives demand and value in the resale market, acting as an unintentional growth engine for platforms like WGACA.
Livestream shopping is a high-impact channel for luxury resale, enabling real-time consumer engagement and sales conversion for curated inventory.
Strategic B2B partnerships (e.g., with department stores, entertainment companies) and e-commerce collaborations (e.g., Amazon) are crucial for scaling a luxury resale business beyond DTC.
Authenticity, meticulous curation, and a strong brand narrative are essential for differentiation and maintaining market leadership in the increasingly competitive luxury resale space.
Legal challenges with primary brands (e.g., Chanel vs. WGACA) are a reality in the resale market, highlighting the need for robust operational and legal frameworks.
Seth Weisser and Gerard Maione co-founded the luxury resale company What Goes Around Comes Around 31 years ago, starting with a single storefront in NYC’s SoHo neighborhood. In the decades since, they’ve built up a strong B2B business, with distribution partners from Dillard’s to Disney. Plus, they’ve teamed up with Amazon on e-commerce and opened two more stores, including a Beverly Hills shop and a second NYC location. In the last few years, resale has been on a hot streak, which some would consider a threat to the brands selling luxury goods on the primary market. Indeed, tensions are often high — What Goes Around Comes Around was caught up in a legal battle with Chanel just last month. On this week’s Glossy Podcast, Weisser and Maione discuss how luxury brands’ extreme exclusivity is impacting their business. They also talk about the success they’ve seen with livestream shopping since opening a dedicated studio last year and the ways they’re ensuring WGACA stands out as new competitors flood the resale category. Get more from Glossy with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit glossy.co/newsletters to sign up.
What does this episode say about retail & omnichannel?
Luxury brand exclusivity drives demand and value in the resale market, acting as an unintentional growth engine for platforms like WGACA.
What does this episode say about brand & content?
Livestream shopping is a high-impact channel for luxury resale, enabling real-time consumer engagement and sales conversion for curated inventory.
What does this episode say about dtc strategy?
Strategic B2B partnerships (e.g., with department stores, entertainment companies) and e-commerce collaborations (e.g., Amazon) are crucial for scaling a luxury resale business beyond DTC.
What does this episode say about amazon & marketplaces?
Authenticity, meticulous curation, and a strong brand narrative are essential for differentiation and maintaining market leadership in the increasingly competitive luxury resale space.
What does this episode say about retail & omnichannel?
Legal challenges with primary brands (e.g., Chanel vs. WGACA) are a reality in the resale market, highlighting the need for robust operational and legal frameworks.
