“Wait, this dress was released a month ago, why is it being sold for an extra 100$?”
“This dress came out in 2012 and it’s third hand! Why is it being sold for 1000$?!”
These are some questions you might find yourself asking when you first look into the lolita fashion secondhand market. How do you know when an item is a good price? What is this "scalping" people have mentioned and how do you avoid buying them? Read on to find out!
So, what is scalping?
Scalping is a term from the business world. It’s a short-term trading method used to profit from the volume of trades. In lolita fashion, and many other hobbies, scalpers are people who are not part of the hobby and looking to profit off of the community. They buy limited edition items, and then sell them for a higher price. A brand that's in high demand, such as Angelic Pretty, can sell out of items within seconds, only for the same items to appear on various secondhand selling platforms for double, or even triple, the price. The scalpers hope that a disappointed lolita who missed out on the original sale will buy the overpriced item and they will pocket the difference.
Is everything selling for higher than the original price scalping?
No! In lolita fashion, we place a lot of emphasis on dream dresses (Which you can read about here), and many lolitas will have dream dresses that are years, or even decades, old. Since there are less of those items on the market, they will be sold for a higher price due to being so high demand and having low market availability.
Another reason for higher pricing is popularity. Well known and loved items, such as Usakumyas and Kumakumyas from Baby the Stars Shine Bright, Cats Tea Party by Angelic Pretty, or Iron Gate by Moi-même-Moitié, are iconic pieces that many lolitas wish to own. These lolitas are willing to pay a higher price to own these items and it is completely their choice to decide to pay more for the chance to own them.
What should you do if you see a scalper?
It’s simple: ignore them. “Calling out” a scalper won’t make them change their ways. If the item is scalped but no one buys it, then it will either sit on the selling platform with no buyers, or the scalper will eventually have to lower the price to get rid of it. If you see someone you know buying from a scalper, you can warn the buyer privately, but it is ultimately their choice whether they decide pay a higher price for that item.
Source: Strom Neverland https://tapas.io/episode/413822 |
So how do you know that you are paying a fair price for the item you want to buy?
That’s also simple: market research!
Lolita fashion has some amazing resources that you can use to find out how much an item was originally priced and even its going market rate. These are some steps I recommend following before buying an item:
- Search for the item on lolibrary.org
Not only will this show you the measurements of the item, but in most cases you will also find the original price. In addition, you can use it to find the Japanese name of the item, which will help in the following step. - Search for the item name
This will usually bring up previous listings of the item being sold in various second hand platforms. You can then manually browse secondhand websites for sold listings of the item to see how much it has been sold for in the past.
This post has tracked the price fluctuation and also explains why this specific dress is so expensive: https://nadinao.me/blog/cats-tea-party-price-data
I personally recommend taking special notice of secondhand sales platforms from your general area (Such as Lacemarket for the Western lolita community, and Mercari/Frill for lolitas in Asia) as some items may be more sought after in certain communities due to a difference in aesthetics.
Once you have done these two steps, you should have a general idea of how much the item you want is worth and can start considering how much you are willing to pay for it. Make sure to also include shipping, customs and taxes in your calculations!
If the pricing is just a bit over what you are willing to pay, you can also consider haggling the price a little lower. However, please be mindful and consider the following etiquette when asking for a discount:
- Be polite! A “Hello! I am interested in buying this item, would you be willing to sell it for X price?” will get a better response than “Can I have it for X price?
- Don’t accuse the seller of overpricing their items. You don’t know if they originally bought the item for a higher price or added shipping fees, customs and taxes onto the item price to avoid selling at a loss.
- Request a reasonable discount. A reasonable amount to discount will usually be between 5-10% of the item price, or if you live close to the seller you can try requesting free shipping or picking the item up from them.
- Personal anguish isn't leverage. No one owes you a discount because you've had a hard life, or have been going through a hard time. Spilling your whole life story to the seller will just burden them, instead of garnering sympathy.
- If the seller refuses- CONTINUE TO BE POLITE! It's their item, and it’s their choice to sell or not sell the item at any price. Respect that and either buy the item at full price, or wait for it to come up again at a price that suits you better.
Heading off to browse the secondhand sites now,
Milk Tea
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