I’ve been thinking about the nature of sample sales and that so many of you want to have good quality pieces for affordable prices. With this in mind, I considered that in a way there are always online sample sales happening, especially when you consider second-hand retail sites like Depop and Vestiare Collective. What’s even better about these is that when big brands do online sample sales they often don’t feel they have the time to describe and upload every individual piece.
This often results in online sample sales using the product photos instead but this doesn’t give you much information about the condition and quality of the piece. Sample sales are famous for their sold as seen policy and no returns but the trade-off is that you get better discounts than regular sales and potentially one-off pieces.
So I thought it would be great to do a round-up of some second-hand jewellery I’ve seen for sale, useful tips to consider when buying from auction and second-hand designer sites and how to best spot fakes.
In this article, I’ll cover the following websites: Vestiaire Collective, Xupes, LXR & Co, Depop and eBay.
Vestiaire Collective
If you’ve not heard of Vestiaire Collective I might be about to change your life. This pre-loved website is a vintage and designer clothing and jewellery dream. The condition has to be incredibly good and they have teams to authenticate the items which is often the scary part of purchasing a second hand. This is no different when it comes to jewellery.
I know the site is filled with lots of costume jewellery from places such as Gucci, Dior and Hermes but there are also some fantastic pieces from indie designers. The discounts are pretty substantial as well.
Katie Rowland Ring
This is a piece that honestly if I had some more cash to hand I would totally buy for myself. Katie Rowland was a favourite designer of mine for a very long time and to see a ring like this going for £80 was shocking. Essentially this ring is 50% off from the original price with all the packaging included. And just what we like to see “never been used”. It’s a shame this piece hasn’t been used but I bet someone other than me would be dying to have this piece in their jewellery box.
If you’re eyeing up something on Vestiare Collective you can get £15 off your first purchase by purchasing through this link.
You can also use code Welcome200 for £25 off when you spend over £200.
Ebay
Ebay is still a hugely strong market place to buy amazing second hand items. In terms of jewellery or designer items I think there are some better alternative websites where vintage hunters and designer addicts might be selling such as Vesitaire collective which we’ve already talked about.
Ebay hasn’t changed much from it’s original model. There is no item verification and you’ll need to have an idea of what you are looking for. So if you’re shopping on eBay make sure you do your homework before you buy. I love that you can still set up strong searches/alerts for when an item comes up for sale. This is probably still one of the best features but means you might need to be patient.
I always recommend looking at what the sold prices where so you can get an idea max bids. My other pro tip is to reach out a seller whose item didn’t sell. Perhaps they would be willing to negotiate if they haven’t relisted the item yet.
Monica Vinader Bracelet
I spotted this bracelet which is currently listed for £75 down from the RRP of £175. I picked this bracelet as I’m fairly sure it’s real. The box looks real from my own experience of owning Monica Vinader jewellery boxes. It’s definitely a piece from the Nura collection. I love the mink cord with rose gold and I think the metal disc is gorgeous with it’s asymmetric and organic shape.
Depop
Depop is a lot more informal than Vestiaire Collective and has a scrollable Instagram vibe. Every item listed gets five hashtags and sellers can negotiate with buyers by DM’ing.
The items are not verified on Depop so I would recommend having a really good look at the photos and trying to find a photo of the item from the original brand online if possible. Make sure you are 100% happy with the authenticity of the item before buying and thoroughly checking the returns policy.
Astley Clarke Biography Bracelets
These two bracelets are a pretty good offer. Reduced to £40 each (80 for the set) down from £125 each. This is 68% reduced from the RRP. You’ll get the box with them as well.
Xupes
Xupes is a UK based second-hand designer jewellery store. You may recognise the name as I have written some articles for their online magazine.
Their USP is that all the items are verified by their expert team and all photos are of the actual item you will buy. Although you can buy online it is possible to arrange an appointment to see the jewellery as well. The jewellery and brands Xupes have for sale tend to be more high end and not indie or demi-fine jewellery then what you will find on Vestiare Collective.
Stephen Webster Bracelet
I love Stephen Webster jewellery and it was cool to see some for sale on Xupes. There is a real thorough description of the bracelet including details of the stones and their carat weights. The bracelets RRP is £1500 and the sale price on Xupes is £899. This is40% off the RRP.
LXR & Co
I used to think of LXR & co as a destination for second-hand designer handbags, especially for Louis Vuitton. However, their jewellery offering has grown considerably since all those years ago. LXR & Co is based in the US so it’s sometimes worth checking to see slightly different items from the UK.
Just like Xupes, LXR & Co specialise in authentication and brands such as Hermes, Chanel and Versace.
Hermes Enamel Bangle
How to make an offer?
Remember on websites such as Depop, eBay and Vestiaire Collective that although there is a listed price many sellers are often happy to negotiate the price. It’s not a bad suggestion to make an offer and see if the seller takes a bite. Especially on Depop as it’s more informal, it’s easy to speak to the sellers and see if they do multi-buys or discounts.
I think that if you want to make an offer it should be fair. Some friends of mine ask for 50% with an aim this might get them to about 30% off in the end.
If the item has been listed a long time the seller may not have it any more which is not uncommon on Depop. If it’s been listed a long time the seller may be willing to take a lower offer. Some items on Vestiaire have been listed for a long time and this might prompt the seller to take a lower price to complete the sale.
How to avoid buying fake designer jewellery
There are several good tips to follow to avoid ending up with a fake item. I think a lot of sites try to be vigilant about this and have good buying guides on their websites as well.
Too good to be true
If it’s too good to be true it probably is. If you can’t believe an item is so cheap it might not be the real deal. This is a common feature amongst many scams, not just selling second-hand designer jewellery. Typically sellers will say something like “this was an unwanted gift” but how come they haven’t returned the item. I have seen men selling items advertised as belonging to ex-girlfriends when really they just want to flip the item quickly.
You should be able to ask for more photos especially if it’s an expensive item. Don’t be afraid to ask to see hallmarking if this is relevant.
If you are really unsure you can sometimes ask a brand nicely. I have once DM’d a brand to check something I saw for sale. The item looked very suspicious with a very low price and the advert was misleading about the name of the item.
I googled the name of the piece and a completely different piece by that designer came up.
The seller has a photo from the brand’s website under the listing and one they had taken. These two items didn’t match. I was convinced this was a scam. I message the brand who very kindly confirmed that these were genuine pieces albeit very old.
Original Packaging
Items with original packaging is definitely a good way to make sure it’s definitely real. Jewellery tends to be a bit more obscure than something like designer sunglasses or handbags so the packaging is less likely to be widely copied compared to something like Lois Vuitton.
This is one of the reasons you should never sell empty packaging online. Old boxes can be bought in the hopes to convince someone an item is authentic.
Verification Services
One of the reasons I prefer Vestiaire Collective is they do have a verification service. They won’t do it for every item automatically but you can search by items that have been verified or pay extra to have an item checked over. If you’re buying something that’s a bit more expensive then this can be worth it for piece of mind.
LXR & Co and Xupes also have verification services and these are key features of shopping with websites such as these.
A lot of the pieces featured here sell quickly so to keep the article up to date I’ll be on the lookout for more fantastic pieces to feature. If you would like me to feature a piece of designer jewellery that you’re selling on this page please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
