Gen Z also loves resale, driven by a desire for variety, uniqueness and the thrill of hunting for vintage treasures. Because TikTok already dominates the generation’s screen time, TikTok Shop’s foray into luxury resale arguably feels like a natural next step.
With the broader resale industry projected to reach $360 billion by 2030, per BCG, can a platform that became known for dupes carve out real credibility in an increasingly competitive luxury resale market? And how might TikTok Shop, and social commerce more generally, reshape how we buy and value luxury resale over the next five years and beyond?
Creators as credibility builders
To build trust, TikTok is tapping its most viable resource: content creators. “From a psychological standpoint, a familiar content creator may function as a trust proxy,” says Dr. Carolyn Mair, fashion business consultant and author of The Psychology of Fashion. “Consumers often develop a feeling they ‘know’ the creator and may transfer the trust they have in them to the product or platform being promoted,” she continues. “On TikTok, where informal, personable video formats create a sense of immediacy and honesty, this effect may be especially strong.”
Over the past few months, the TikTok Shop team has been reaching out to creators for luxury resale collaborations with in-app sellers. Miriam Young, a talent manager at influencer management firm Digital Brand Architects, spoke with a TikTok Shop representative who was looking for smaller, fashion-focused creators with strong conversions to host a 30-minute TikTok live recording with a secondhand luxury retailer, in which they show and discuss their favorite items from these stores and receive a commission if any of those items sell (typically between 20% and 30%).
Crossing TikTok Shop with TikTok Lives could prove to be lucrative. Melissa Bohm, a Philadelphia-based luxury reseller, who goes by Melissa Loves Bags, began live streaming on TikTok after the platform approached her in 2022. That was two years before TikTok Shop formally launched pre-loved luxury as a category in the US; a sign that this expansion has been on the company’s radar for quite some time. Since moving to TikTok Shop from Tradesy (which was acquired and quickly shut down by Vestiaire Collective in 2022), Bohm has grown her follower count from 200 to over 60,000, with many regularly engaging with her content and buying her products. She says the biggest difference between TikTok Shop and other selling platforms is its community. “It feels like you’re a group of friends hanging out and discovering designer bags together,” Bohm says.
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