From Secondhand to Invisible Hand: Methods of Manipulating Object Biographies on The Realreal Online Marketplace

Abstract

This article analyzes the methods employed to ensure the conservation of the value of goods sold on The RealReal online marketplace, a new-generation secondhand fashion reseller associated with the “circular economy.” First, we map challenges that The RealReal needs to overcome in order to enable fashion objects to come back onto the market. Next, based on a mixed methodology research, we detail the methods being used by the reseller to address these issues and analyze their effect. We argue that these methods interfere with the cultural biography of the objects being sold and present The RealReal as an authority in certifying the authenticity of a fashion object, although it has no official or practical ability to do so. By achieving this position, The RealReal forms a connection between the original brand and The RealReal’s own end customer. This connection is used to highlight the branded value of the objects, and at the same time to obscure the traces of previous ownership, to deflect attention from the fact that the inventory is mostly secondhand. We conclude that by doing so, the reseller has come up with a formula that enables fashion objects to take part in the circular economy.