Why Swapzaar wants you to shop, shop and then... shop some more!

It's September, fashion's favorite month, and we have made it pretty clear- we want you to shop.
(Correction: we need you to shop)
That is actually not as twisted as it sounds. We aren't making fun of you either.
Give us a minute to explain.

You are going to shop anyway, it's fall and all, you need to prepare your wardrobe for the next 3-4 months.
We get it, in fact no one gets it better than us.

So, instead of feeling guilty about your upcoming shopping spree, here is what you should do-

1. The coming weekend, go to your closet and take out 5 (or 10)  items that meet these simple criteria. (You're such a fashion person we don't think you'll have any problems) -
1. You haven't used it for 6 months for **WHATEVER** reason. Be ruthless.
2. These items can be tops, bottoms, shoes, bags, Sunglasses or fashion jewelry.
3. Must be Branded: Zara/Mango/H&M/GAP/Levi's/Aldo/ M&S/Forever New/Forever 21 and all premium/ designer brands are most welcome.
4. Must be gently used and in good condition. No tacky stuff please- you have class.
2. Now think of how much you bought each of them for and roughly when.
3. Think of the cash you would like in return for these. Refer to our pricing tips below.
4. Click some good pictures and create detailed listings on Swapzaar- it's really easy once you get started you can create 5 listings in under 20 minutes.
5. Now go shopping strategically so that you always have good stuff to sell and then you have cash to invest some more in your own wardrobe! Stuff that sells well:
1. The best brands for resale are Zara, Mango and H&M and premium brands.
   Go for quality over quantity.
2. The best stuff to sell is bags, outerwear, formal wear, watches and sunglasses.
   Shoes and garments sell too, but they really need to be in great condition.
3. The best styles are classic and in standard neutral colors.
4. Sometimes the rare pieces (part of some celebrity collaboration maybe?) that were such a hit that they sold out in the shop, can be sold for the same price you bought them for- maybe more!
6. Do you see the opportunity here? You buy the best stuff on sales or when they are brand new in the shop. (Because you have great style and you are gifted at finding incredible stuff during sales)
   Then you enjoy them a few times and then you #Zaar them on Swapzaar.com
7. Start doing this every single month and once your sales cycle starts ( It takes a month or two, be patient), trust us, you will easily have an extra 5-6K to shop every month.

Do you see how this isn't so bad?
Do you see how this could be the sign you have been waiting for- that something good will
come out of your world-class shopping skills?

It's all so Genius in fact, that we are surprised why you aren't doing this already!
It's what all Global  Luxury and Fashion lovers do now...and they're making a killing.

Swapzaar suggested pricing strategy, indicative only.

Fashion and the 21st Century: exploring the new mindset of the young Indian fashion consumer.

Fashion and the 21st century swapzaar from Veena Srinath

© 2016 Passion Vision Art Pvt Ltd ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Swapzaar.com is a genuine, direct and simple online peer-to-peer marketplace for pre-owned fashion. People can simply list their gently used branded fashion pieces with us and sell them to other people who are genuinely interested in buying good stuff. We accept apparel and accessories from high-street brands including but not limited to Zara, Mango, H&M, GAP, Aldo, Steve Madden, Forever New, Only, UCB, Levis, Adidas, Puma, Tom Tailor, Charles & Keith etc. We also accept all premium and all Luxury brands: Guess, CK, Tommy Hilfiger, Coach, LV, Hermes, Burberry, Fendi, Gucci, Prada etc.

We have a simple approval process before your item gets listed with us for sale, once it is sold we allow you to request for an encashment and we charge 10-20% of the sale value as platform fees. Our process offers both Buyer and Seller protection through a unique store credits system of operation which makes everything safe and transparent.

Swapzaar.com is a registered domain of Passion Vision Art Pvt Ltd.

Comic strip by swapzaar- war of the roses no1

War of the roses is a comic strip based on the archetypal rivalry between two very different type of young girls in college.Think Jenny Humphrey VS Blair, there is a bit of envy, friendship and rivalry involved.

Ultimately who wins in life depends on talent, determination and a pinch of luck.
We are going to chart the course of these two girls- Ritu and Gurleen, through their college years to see how they fare.

If swapzaar were betting on one of these girls, guess who it would be?

And, who would you bet on?


 Made using bitstrips.

War of roses no 1 comic strip by swapzaar from veena srinath


swapzaar.com is India's first dedicated online marketplace for pre-owned fashion.
So if you have fabulous gently used fashion items sitting unused in your wardrobe right now, register on swapzaar and list it there.
We will help you find fashion lovers who will pay a good price and really value your pre-loved stuff.
We already have brands like Coach, CK, Aldo, Mango, Guess, Zara, Forever Newm, Vero Moda, Accessorize and more being uploaded by our early members! 

Thrifty like a Rockstar OR The Resale market: what consumers want.

Before we do a post introducing everyone to swapzaar *, and why we think "eCommerce is great,

but Re-Commerce is even better" here is a post that talks about why this business trend is big and sustainable, and it's from the business that inspired us- threadflip.

A recent study conducted by Global Market Insite (GMI) shows that shopping for Vintage/ resale/pre-owned/pre-loved (no one calls them second-hand anymore, honey) items is growing in popularity across the board (men, women, young and old alike) , a part of this growth could be attributed to the media attention that is being showered on Celebs who embrace the "un-extraordinary life" through Vintage fashion and Thrifting, like regular young fashion lovers.

And while eBay is the most popular place to buys second-hand goods, garage sales and car-boot sales are popular across age groups too.
The cash-strapped young folks between 18-24 prefer to shop online for resale/second hand items mostly for the cost, convenience and variety factors.
Second had goods can be surprisingly trendy, especially now that 70s/80s/90s looks are back.
Older folks do second-hand shopping too, but the reasons they state are different, they are more likely to buy re-sale stuff if they can support a charitable cause.

Younger people pick up more clothes and fashion items, while the older folks prefer to pick up Books or Furniture etc. Women are more likely to shop for Vintage clothes, Books and jewelry while men tend to pick up DVDs, Tools, Books and so on.
Women state that they like to do it for the bargain hunting thrill, but men are a little slower to adopt second hand shopping for reasons best known to them!

Some reports state that UK consumers have over £30bn worth of clothes in their wardrobes, of
which 30 per cent haven’t been used for a year, and it is likely to be a similar figure across most
developed and developing nations, so there definitely is a lot of stuff to be sold and bought!

Overall it looks like the second hand goods market is likely to continue growing, especially since shopping has become the world's favorite pass time! The mixed motivations of finding a bargain and/or supporting a cause (a charity or fashion with a conscience) seems to be resonating with consumers.

This fantastic info-graphic reveals a lot about the preferences of second-hand goods shoppers.
(click on image to see the larger version)

* Swapzaar, of course, is our new Indian online fashion re-commerce store, and we are excited to be launching it in June this year!! We'll keep you posted on how things go...
Btw, if you are an Indian fashionista and you have amazing fashion items idling in your closet, feel free to list them on swapzaar!

Some research reports that are available for download (not the one by GMI) are linked below:

http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/study-consumer-second-hand-shopping-identify-re-use-behaviour-0

http://dominique-roux.e-monsite.com/medias/files/Roux-and-Guiot-RAM-English-edition-2008-23-4.pdf

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2135785



NOTE- This post also appeared earlier on a sister blog: