Should You Trust Buying Pre-Owned Luxury Online?
One of the biggest fears people have when buying pre-owned designer fashion is accidentally falling for a fake. While enthusiasts can sometimes spot a counterfeit in person, you typically can’t inspect a piece before making an online purchase. So how do you know that a product from a designer resale site is genuine? It all comes down to luxury authentication. A trustworthy reseller thoroughly authenticates every piece they offer to guarantee no counterfeit ever makes it onto their platform.
Is Online Pre-Owned Luxury Trustworthy?
When it comes to luxury fashion goods, there are, unfortunately, a lot of fakes on the market. If an online platform doesn’t vet every piece, these counterfeits can slip in. So how do you know if a luxury marketplace can be trusted?
Start with authentication. A trustworthy designer resale platform should be transparent about its authentication process, and that process should be thorough. True luxury resale should also come with a guarantee. For example, if you purchase an item from The RealReal and you doubt its authenticity, we’ll completely reauthenticate it and provide a refund if it fails inspection.
What Does Authentication Mean?
When a luxury good is authenticated, that means an expert has thoroughly examined it for any sign it might be counterfeit. Authenticators examine a variety of metrics that might give away a fake, such as appearance, materials, weight, craftsmanship and identifying marks. Authentication separates genuine luxury from even the most convincing fakes, so a trustworthy marketplace goes through the process for every item it offers.
How Do We Authenticate Luxury?
At The RealReal, we use a combination of proprietary AI analysis and human expertise to ensure every piece has been thoroughly authenticated. As the premier online luxury marketplace for pre-owned items, we are committed to offering only the highest quality, genuine, pre-loved luxury.
Our Process
We have a unique multi-step luxury authentication process for every brand depending on the metrics that define an authentic item. Every piece is examined first by our proprietary machine learning software, then by a real human expert.
TRR Vision™ and TRR Shield™
Our proprietary programs, TRR Vision™ and TRR Shield™, test each item before they can be approved for sale. These machine learning software systems are trained on over 50 unique metrics to help separate true luxury from fakes. Because The RealReal is the largest online luxury resale marketplace to do this kind of authentication, we have a massive library of data for our software to draw from—both genuine items and counterfeit—to help the software identify any signs of fakery. Of course, no software is perfect, even one as well-trained as ours. That’s where our team of expert authenticators comes in. Any piece that passes software inspection moves to the next stage in the process, where a real expert in the brand gets their hands on it.
Expert Authentication
After being analyzed by our machine learning software, the item is inspected by an expert. Each authenticator boasts extensive credentials, often including a history of working with the actual brand they authenticate.
When an expert examines a luxury item, the first step is to look for any obvious identifiers—a serial number, a copyright number, a maker’s mark or signature, etc.—that can help verify a piece’s authenticity. If those don’t pass inspection, our experts can mark the piece counterfeit right off the bat. However, not every luxury piece comes with these identifying marks. The next step, then, is to examine the item more closely.
Experts determine the materials to ensure they’re the right metals or fabrics. They may even weigh the item to check that it’s the correct weight for those materials. They may also check the size of the item against brand standards.
Our authenticators also examine the design of the item using magnifiers, or even microscopes. These are people who are deeply familiar with the originals, so they know how to spot imperfections or issues with quality or craftsmanship.
High-Risk Items
Some coveted brands or pieces are at higher risk for counterfeiting than others. When one of these items comes to us, it’s flagged and sent through an additional authentication process so you can be doubly sure it’s the real deal. Although every item we offer goes through a rigorous and thorough analysis, we inspect every inch of these high-risk items not once, but twice. Nothing slips by us.
Our Experts
Our authenticators are all top luxury brand experts, gemologists and horologists. Many have worked for luxury brands such as Hermés, Tiffany & Co. and Rolex, giving them first-hand experience with the genuine article. Others have worked for major auction houses, such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s, with equally rigorous luxury authentication requirements. It’s important to note that although authenticators may have a history with a brand, neither they nor The RealReal are currently affiliated with any brand. We’re simply experts and enthusiasts seeking to remove counterfeits from the market.
Additionally, every authenticator at The RealReal participates in ongoing training. We’re constantly updating our guidelines, our knowledge and our software databases to include the most recent counterfeiting trends and the latest luxury goods.
These are people with a passion for luxury fashion. They know every piece they examine inside and out. When they say it’s real, you know it’s true.
Get Pre-Owned Luxury You Can Trust at The RealReal
With all the counterfeits out there, when you’re looking for pre-owned luxury goods, you want to know they’re the real deal. At The RealReal, we guarantee they are. Our luxury authentication process is one of the most rigorous in the industry, backed by both incredible human expertise and unmatched AI analysis. Check out our spectacular selection of designer goods, or learn how to have your own pieces authenticated for resale on The RealReal.
