Dive Brief:
- Bringing its authentication efforts offline, eBay is introducing a mobile consignment concierge experience dubbed The Luxe Line, which takes the form of a bus where people can sell and shop for luxury accessories, the company announced Tuesday.
- Visitors to the bus can have luxury handbags from a selection of brands appraised, photographed and consigned by eBay’s employees. Customers can also shop a curated collection of luxury handbags from former J. Crew exec Jenna Lyons, as well as a selection of handbags, watches and jewelry from top eBay sellers Linda’s Stuff and MyGemma.
- The experience will be found in Los Angeles on Wednesday and Thursday, and in Las Vegas on Saturday. Consignment is only available for certain brands, including Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Chanel, Valentino, Versace and others, and eBay will not accept items from brands not on its list.
Dive Insight:
To promote its new consignment service, which launched with a focus on high-end handbags in September, eBay has enlisted the help of Lyons, a Real Housewives of New York cast member, founder of the fake eyelash company LoveSeen and former J. Crew creative director. Lyons is consigning several items from her closet from brands like Celine, Louis Vuitton and Miu Mui, which will be available at the physical van and online at eBay.
After over two and a half decades at J. Crew, Lyons had a one-season stint on then-HBO Max with the “Stylish with Jenna Lyons” TV show and debuted her false eyelash brand, which made it into Target stores last year.
“My closet is bursting with the collection of handbags I’ve amassed over the past 20 years, and eBay’s consignment service has made it easy to give these bags new life in someone else’s collection,” Lyons said in a statement. “EBay’s Luxe Line will feature some special finds from over the years, including a red Celine Luggage Tote.”
The introduction of The Luxe Line builds upon eBay’s previous efforts to court luxury consumers. In May, the company unveiled its Certified by Brand luxury resale program, enabling brands to authenticate used products like watches, handbags and jewelry. In another offline authentication push, eBay opened a “Canal Street Wear” pop-up shop in New York last month to promote its streetwear offerings. The retail giant featured brands such as New Balance, Louis Vuitton, Bape and Nike from top-rated eBay sellers.
“Our consignment service is designed to help to remove the typical barriers to selling pre-owned items,” Tirath Kamdar, global general manager of luxury at eBay, said in a statement. “The Luxe Line gives sellers and shoppers a way to test out our new service in real life with the same trusted experts that eBay works with for the online experience.”
