Handbag Reseller Marque Luxury Nets $20M

The pre-owned luxury goods provider Marque Luxury has landed $20 million in funding provided by Provident Capital Partners.

According to a press release on Monday (Nov. 22), the funding will allow the Irvine, California-based company to expand its operations, primarily in North America, and to generate business around the world, both in the B2B and B2C sectors.

Led by President and Co-Founder Quentin Caruana, Marque Luxury sells B2B authenticated pre-owned luxury goods, including handbags, small leather goods, accessories, watches and jewelry. In addition to Irvine, the company has re-commerce hubs in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Miami, Las Vegas, Dallas and Charlotte, as well as global hubs in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

Read more: Why Designer Handbag Reseller Marque Luxury Is Opening Brick-and-Mortar Showrooms

In an interview with PYMNTS in January, Caruana said the company was eschewing the trend of moving away from brick-and-mortar sites by adding showrooms in New York and other major cities around the U.S.

“This is a unique product type, [and] the biggest variable is condition. Having the ability to touch and feel the product is so important that it becomes difficult for customers to buy online,” said Caruana, whose company buys and sells used designer goods made by brands like Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Gucci.

The Manhattan showroom was Marque’s fifth physical site added between 2019 and 2021, and was followed by a store in Dallas. The company was due to open four additional U.S. showrooms and two fulfillment centers this year.

Marque’s expansion has coincided in a boom for both the luxury good and secondhand item markets, with sales of luxury items growing as consumers who couldn’t travel or dine out spent those dollars elsewhere.

A study by the online consignment platform thredUP and GlobalData Retail projected the market for secondhand apparel will more than double, to hit $64 billion, by 2024.

Marque says it meets both markets by selling high-end fashion accessories to both retail and wholesale customers.

According to Caruana, the company finds, grades and buys high-end used handbags and other accessories around the world, ferreting out counterfeits using visual inspection and software that compares microscopic photos of used products to authenticated versions.