The murky world of high-end second-hand trading

In the current financial climate, it’s safe to say that side hustles are here to stay. As our wallets shrink, and prices rise more and more of us have turned to second-hand marketplaces to earn a few extra Euros. From upcycling furniture to tech refurbishment there are many opportunities open to budding entrepreneurs. We even made our own top list of side-hustles if you’re interested. Luxury or high-end second-hand trading, however, is one niche that we’d only recommend for the brave. Today, we’re going to explain why.

Many hopeful hustlers end up with bloody noses on their first foray into the luxury pre owned market and that’s thanks to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Remember, where there’s blood, you’ll find sharks. Wherever there’s the chance to make substantial money, you’ll find opportunists waiting to take advantage of the less informed. Too many people see trading in high-end goods as a way to get rich quickly, and we all know that “get-rich-quick-scheme’’ is just another way to say “scam”.

Buyer beware

The main reason would-be traders get burned is a lack of knowledge. The higher the price of an item, the more reason a nefarious individual has to counterfeit it. Fakes are the biggest concern facing anyone entering the high-end pre owned market. Before considering a career, or even a side hustle, in this potentially lucrative field, it’s critical to ensure you know your stuff.

The devil’s in the details

Even if the item you’re considering is real, you need to have an encyclopedic understanding of its history and its niche. Lots of people have gone home smiling after closing a deal on a fine art painting only to find out it’s a reprint and others have found out too late that their big ticket first pressing vinyl LP was a 2nd edition. Remember, it’s not enough to know a little about your field, you need to know everything. Even experts get fooled, watch this Youtube video in which a specialist trader peruses a storage locker of luxury goods. Cutting a long story short, the trader thinks he has discovered a priceless Stradivarius violin, and spoiler alert he hasn’t. I am a collector of instruments, which to be fair this YouTuber makes no claim to be, and I could tell in seconds it’s a copy. It’s all about product knowledge, but if you watch the video, you’ll notice the storage owner quite clearly says he believes the crocodile skin case is worth a couple of thousand dollars, but oddly in all the time he’s owned the instrument we’re expected to believe he’s never thought to look inside? The fact the violin is a copy is obvious to anyone who knows these instruments.The colour, the shape, and the f-holes are all wrong, but there’s a bigger clue. The Youtuber mentions at one point that the violin has a date stamp. Well, Antonio Stradivarius always hand-wrote the first digit of the date on his instruments. Still, with 1.75 million subscribers and over half a million views on this video alone, this story leads nicely into the next section.

More than one way to earn a buck

Sometimes the real money in the luxury second-hand market doesn’t come from buying or selling. As mentioned in the example above, if you have a specific niche and your business model and product knowledge marks you as an expert in the field then other revenue streams may be open to you. Like Micheal above, you could have your own channel on a platform like YouTube, Whatnot, or Twitch. There are channels dedicated to all manner of high-end goods from vintage watches to retro toys. If you don’t fancy taking your side hustle public you could also offer your services as an appraiser. I recently had the pleasure of having some of my instruments appraised by the renowned organologist Dr James Westbrook. James works for sites like Bromptons and his help was invaluable. There are different levels of expertise too and you don’t need to have qualifications to be the local go-to expert in your area. All you need is a thorough knowledge of any specific niche and work of mouth will do the rest.

So hot, it’s smoking

Alas, something else to watch out for in the luxury second-hand world is stolen goods. As the value of anything goes up, so does the risk of theft. Some goods are hard to track too. If you can, try to look up serial numbers. Taking a little UV (ultraviolet) torch with you when viewing anything valuable is also a good plan. Many people mark their property with a substance called smart water, which is only visible under UV light. Remember if you end up with someone else’s stolen property you could end up in trouble and there’s a good chance, you’ll lose your money and the item too.

Stay safe

There’s money to be made in the luxury pre-owned market, but we want to keep you on the right path. We even have our own guide to staying safe in the second hand online marketplaces. Today though, we’ve come up with a few ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ to help you navigate the opaque waters of the high-ticket price second-hand world.

• Do know your niche and don’t be afraid to do more research on the fly to ensure you know what you’re looking at.
• Don’t forget to factor in an item’s condition. Make sure the item is complete; nothing is missing and only pay what you think is fair based on the state it’s in.
• Do pay via bank transfer or a service like ‘goods and services’ via PayPal or Wallapop’s in-house escrow system. You might get a better deal with cash, but what happens if anything goes wrong?
• Don’t let the item out of your sight. Scammers will often switch out high-ticket price items at the last minute. Beware of anyone who says anything like, “let me put it in the case for you” or, “I have another one all boxed up.” Also, watch out for anyone who seems to be rushing you or claims to be short of time as this is another way to amplify stress levels and force people into rash decisions.
• Do take someone with you if you’re meeting someone to see an item, particularly if the seller insists on cash.
• Don’t be afraid to walk away. No deal is better than a bad deal.
• Do make sure you use a service like Google Lens or Riloop’s multi-market search to make sure the item actually belongs to the person selling it.

In conclusion

As side-hustles go, the high-end market is one of the riskiest, yet most rewarding. At Riloop, we suggest you approach all sales and trades with caution and do all you can to mitigate the dangers. As a tool, Riloop can help you find luxury and big-ticket price items, but we can’t be there to watch out for the sharks. So, good luck and happy hunting. Oh, and don’t forget you can get unlimited searches and up to 200 results each with Riloop just by signing up.