TikTok Shop expands its secondhand luxury fashion offering to the UK

TikTok Shop, a section within the TikTok platform dedicated to social commerce, is making strides in the U.K. market by introducing a new category focused on secondhand luxury items. This move brings TikTok Shop into direct competition with established players like The Real and Vestiaire Collective, signaling its intent to tap into the burgeoning market for pre-owned high-end goods.

In this new category, U.K. users can seamlessly explore and purchase a range of pre-owned luxury items, including clothing, handbags, and accessories, all without leaving the TikTok app. Initially, the platform features offerings from five U.K. brands, including Sellier, Luxe Collective, Sign of the Times, HardlyEverWornIt, and Break Archive.

Since its inception in 2022, TikTok Shop has enjoyed considerable success, facilitating the sale of over $1 billion worth of products. However, concerns have been raised regarding the authenticity and quality of items available on the platform, a common challenge in the resale market. Counterfeit goods, in particular, pose a significant risk to consumers, necessitating robust measures to address authenticity concerns.

To tackle this issue, TikTok Shop has implemented an anti-counterfeit policy and is reportedly in discussions with luxury conglomerate LVMH to further enhance its efforts. In the U.S., all secondhand brands featured on TikTok Shop are required to obtain certificates from third-party authenticators, such as Entrupy and Real Authentication, to verify the authenticity of their products.

In the U.K., the initial batch of brands featured on TikTok Shop have established their own in-house authentication processes. However, details regarding the platform’s acceptance of additional secondhand brands remain undisclosed.

The launch of the secondhand luxury category aligns with the growing trend of consumers embracing preloved fashion, presenting new opportunities for U.K. secondhand brands to expand their reach. On TikTok, the hashtag #secondhandfashion has gained significant traction, with over 144,000 posts and approximately 1.2 billion views, underscoring the platform’s appeal as a hub for fashion enthusiasts.

However, TikTok’s expansion efforts come amidst legislative challenges in the U.S., with the House of Representatives passing a bill that could potentially compel ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok or face a ban in the country. Such a ban could have far-reaching implications for American merchants who rely on TikTok as a vital sales channel, as the platform reportedly generated $14.7 billion in revenue for small- to mid-size businesses in 2023.