The prices of second-hand luxury goods have fallen rapidly in China over recent months, as even the wealthy cut back on their discretionary spending and sell their Rolex watches and Hermès bags to raise cash.
More than a dozen popular brands of luxury watches and bags have lost between 20 per cent and 50 per cent of their value on the secondary market since Shanghai, China’s financial and commercial capital, imposed a strict lockdown in March to crush a Covid outbreak.
The restrictions in Shanghai and dozens of other regions have dealt a heavy blow to small business owners, many of whom accumulated large collections of luxury goods in better times. But the repeated lockdowns have damaged their cash flows.