The market for pre-owned luxury goods has grown over the past several years in China - especially in Hong Kong. Milan Station is an example: Its boutiques were first opened in Hong Kong (joined since then by Brand Off, which is Japanese) then in Mainland China (where Milan Station faced stiff competition from the Chinese Secoo, as well as a multitude of "me too" shops such as Beijing Shop (北京 店) Runwu Consigment (润 物 寄卖) Siku Consignment (寺 库 寄卖), Milan Xuan (米兰 轩), and Milan Square (米 澜 坊)).
This development – exactly as what happened in Japan a decade ago - grew on the significant price differences between Mainland China and Hong Kong and between Hong Kong and Europe.
However, there has been a fundamental change in Milan Station's business model, as the following photos taken in Hong Kong last April show.
The windows are now filled with new Hermès bags.
A quick analysis of the prices leads to an interesting initial conclusion: these bags are sold at practically the same prices as in Paris (€ 2,550 against € 2,230) - the difference of 13% is a far cry from the 30% gap one often sees.
A discussion with luxury experts based in Hong Kong leads us to another observation: Several of the products offered by Milan Station are not available in the local Hermès boutiques.
Thus Milan Station - by sourcing the parallel market - allows clients who do not wish to wait several months for a particular Hermès model, to acquire them straightaway for prices roughly 12% above those of Paris. Thus the demand for certain products of some brands that practice limited availability (Hermes, Prada) is such that the "new" offer completes the "pre-owned" one - thereby increasing the footfalls in the boutiques and visits to Milan Station's e-commerce site.
