Famous for her luxury lifestyle and expert knowledge of the designer accessories market, Emily and Adam Abraaham are the co-founders of Knightsbridge and Dubai based pre-loved designer boutique Love Luxury .
A permanent resident of Dubai since 2023, Emily founded Love Luxury as a side hustle in lockdown along with her husband Adam. Its popularity grew rapidly thanks to the demand for buying and selling designer products unavailable from the retailers during Covid times. Love Luxury opened its first store in Knightsbridge in 2001 and has since grown exponentially, thanks largely to their hugely popular Tik Tok account which has allowed them to open their second Dubai store this summer.
The Rise of Pre-Loved Luxury in the UAE Love Luxury are now the global go-to for celebs and HNW’s looking to secure the most sought after designer pieces, including Cardi B, Floyd Mayweather and the Saudi Royal family,
Gaining fame for their trusted expertise in the luxury accessories market, including Hermès , Rolex, and Van Cleef Arpels, the family-run business stock the most expensive and sought after items. Recent sales include the Grand Complication Patek Philippe watch at £1.2M and the Hermès Faubourg Birkin bag at £200k
As waiting lists for high-end luxury brands can be anything from three months to more than three years and the pre-loved fashion market continuing to boom, buying and selling fashion on the secondary market is the best way to make money out of no longer used items as well as cutting wait times and saving money for those that don’t want to ‘play the game’ with the retailers.
Emily speaks with The Ethicalist to give a little insight into the world of Love Luxury and how you can make sure you know your stuff if your thinking of buying or selling designer accessories.
TE: How to make sure what you’re buying is genuine?
Emily: Counterfeit designer goods are increasingly becoming more and more sophisticated and harder to spot, so the only way to check if something is 100 per cent genuine is to take it to a trusted professional. Love Luxury’s highly skilled staff will be able to confirm if the bag is genuine, it’s not something you can learn on youtube, and when it comes to purchasing such a high value item you want to be absolutely certain that it’s the real deal.
There are however some ways in which self-assessment can be possible when it comes to telling apart a genuine piece from a counterfeit one.
Start with the seller, are they too eager to sell, is the price suspiciously low, is it from a trusted store you can visit again if you needed to? If it’s too good to be true, it probably is!
Looking at the product itself, start with the smell. There should be no odours of glue or plastic which a lot of the poorer fakes have. Look at the font, the shine of the hardware, the accuracy of the stitching the grain of leather, designer bags are made using highly skilled craftmanship, there should be no out of line stitches or anything that doesn’t look of the most high quality perfection.
Van Cleef & Arpels has seen a huge surge in popularity in recent times, if anyone is sitting on a piece of Van Cleef jewellery they don’t wear anymore now is the time to sell
Even the packaging can be a tell-tale sign that the product is fake, is the colour and font correct, does it feel high quality? There’s a huge amount that is scrutinised when authenticating a designer product, if you’re ever in doubt then either avoid or make sure you use the services of a professional, I come across so many people who have been scammed into buying expensive designer bags, there are unfortunately a lot of people making a lot of money in doing so.
TE: Which designer item is best to sell now?
Van Cleef & Arpels has seen a huge surge in popularity in recent times, if anyone is sitting on a piece of Van Cleef jewellery they don’t wear anymore now is the time to sell. The demand is huge owing to the fact it’s become quite a status symbol thanks to various celebrities and influencers but they’re not readily available to buy from the retailer, meaning people can ask for more for their pre-loved pieces
Chanel classic flaps and Hermes are always going to be a good return in investment too.
TE: When is the right time to sell?
Research into what it is you’re selling before you decide to put it on the market. If it’s jewellery have a look at the current price of gold on the stock exchange, the higher it is the more a re-sale retailer will offer you. Think about trends too. Although cheaper to produce, the smaller Hermes Kelly’s can demand much higher prices than the larger styles, simply because smaller bags are more fashionable at the moment so there’s a higher demand.
But be sure only to take your tiem to the original retailer, once a third party makes any repairs to designer goods the warranty with the brand instantly becomes invalid.
Trends can be the difference in Ð1000’s, so if what you have isn’t as popular at the moment, consider keeping hold of it until it is.
TE: How do I get the best price?
Make sure you’re item is in the best possible condition. It’s worth taking the product back to the retailer first to see if they can offer any complimentary repair services, Chanel for example will repair any stitching for free. But be sure only to take it to the original retailer, once a third party makes any repairs to designer goods the warranty with the brand instantly becomes invalid. Gather as much as you can together including box, receipt, dust bag and certificates, and make sure they’re all in the best condition possible.
TE: How much commission should I pay?
Re-sale retailers make money on the increase in price they can make on the item after paying you. Any re-seller should be honest with you on how much they expect to sell for and how much that means they can offer you. A 20-30 per cent mark-up is average, never agree to anything more than 40 per cent! You should also expect to pay an authentication fee of around Ð400, even receipts can be frauded these days so retailers need to be 100 per cent sure that your product is genuine.
TE: What does consignment mean?
If you’re not eager for an instant pay-out, retailers can often offer more by selling designer goods on a consignment basis, this means only when it does sell they will take a cut. There’s no risk to the retailer so often means they can pay more , making it a great option if you weren’t in a rush to sell.
TE: Where is best to sell to – stores, online or market places?
You can make more money selling on market places that don’t take commission but the risk of fraud is huge, fraudsters have turned their attention to the luxury goods market on second hand platforms and are very clever in how they do it. An online pre-loved site and a store like ours will often offer you around the same amount and can compete in pricing, but being able to sit and speak to an expert about your product who will inspecting it in front of you will make the entire process of selling crystal clear and ensures that any risk of fraud is eliminated.
