Ebay, once exclusively the down-market preserve of Beanie Babies scalpers and baseball-card fanatics, has seen some of its most explosive growth in the luxury-goods category. The site recently listed 2,046 sales for Prada bags, and 1,744 for Marc Jacobs pieces. Stella McCartney, Chanel: You name the high-end designer, someone's auctioning the stuff.Manolo say, eBay is good for the Manolo!
EBay's Clothing, Shoes, and Accessories category brought in an estimated $1.3 billion worth of transactions for 2003. And Lily Shen, the category's senior manager, says she has witnessed a dramatic shift in the products offered on the site since 2001. Back then, vintage items were hot and new products made up only 15% of inventory. Now, new products account for 50% or more, with luxury items leading the charge.
But by all indications, elite fashionistas aren't fueling this boom. Rather, it's ladies in Peoria who suddenly want the latest Manolos, thanks to such shows as Sex and the City that have democratized the rarefied world of fashion. Which raises this question: Is eBay good or bad for retailers like Manolo Blahnik?
The more people who wear the Manolos, the more Manolo is pleased with the world. Every woman should be a super-fantastic Manolo-wearing girl. (Except Madonna. Manolo no like.)
