Web-based secondhand retailer Hunt Street recently celebrated its launching at The Foundry in South Jakarta. (The Peak Photo/Sylviana Hamdani)
Jakarta. For most women, the word “sale” seems to awaken something primal in us.
“A woman, no matter how elegant she is, will reveal her predator side when she sees beautiful things on sale,” Sabrina Joseph, director of marketing and public relations of the new online boutique for luxury fashion items, Hunt Street, said with a smile.
“And then, we just hunt,” she added, with a gleam in her eyes.
But like a predator, we often bite off more than what we can chew.
“My friends and I often buy so many items during sales,” said the 25-year-old. “And then, we regret it. We don’t know what to do with most of the items that we’ve already bought.”
But most of the products they fought tooth and nail for in a heated retail battle against other fervent customers often end up forgotten at the back of their closets. Although these items are rarely ever worn again, they are much too precious to be given away.
“And we don’t like to sell them to resellers, because we feel they aren’t being transparent about the whole [sales] process,” said Sabrina.
According to Sabrina, most Jakarta-based resellers of luxury fashion items would buy goods very cheap then sell them at steep prices.
The practice gave Sabrina and her friends and idea last December.
“We believe there are so many [impulse buyers] like us out there?” she said. “And we’d like to help them by [also] helping ourselves.”
Sabrina enlisted the help of her close friends, Janice Winata, Kristie Karnadi and Justine Widjojo, to set up the online boutique Hunt-street.com, where shoppers can resell their luxury fashion items ̶ including shoes, bags and accessories ̶ at discount prices.
“The item should still be in excellent condition,” Sabrina warned potential sellers. “Just take pictures of your item and then e-mail it to us.”
She also urged interested vendors to bring their items to Hunt Street headquarters in Menteng, Central Jakarta, to be properly appraised by a team of experts that will asses both its condition and authenticity.
But make sure to bring a proof of purchase as well as the original packaging and tags.
“It’s a lot of work for us,” Sabrina said. “But it’s absolutely necessary if we don’t want any fakes.”
Hunt Street guarantees the authenticity of all its products on their online store.
“[We offer] a lifetime guarantee,” Sabrina assured. “If you ever find that the goods we’ve sold you is fake, we’ll return your money in full at any time.”
The evaluation team will also appraise the saleability of the items in the current market and establish its selling price.
“Some out-of-season items can be very expensive when they’re still much in demands and no longer available at stores,” she added. “If you agree with our prices, you may leave your item with us for 90 days.”
“If they’re not sold by then, you may choose to take them back or allow us more time to try to sell them.”
Hunt Street recently celebrated its launch at the Fairgrounds in South Jakarta’s Sudirman Central Business District with a one-day pop-up store to showcase some of the most coveted items in their collection.
The web-based retailer currently has over 70 brands on offer, with “an amazing array of shoes” from top designers such as Alexander McQueen, Christian Louboutin, Kenzo, Prada, Tory Burch and Yves Saint Laurent.
“We have over 300 pairs of Louboutins,” Sabrina said, referring to the highly-coveted brand with its trademark red sole.
One striking pair that stands out from the impressive collection is the Louboutin Pigale stilettos made of black python skin, available for the low, low price of Rp 8 million ($595).
“It’s still in mint condition and on sale for a fraction of its original price of $2,000,” Sabrina explained.
The store also boasts an array of bags and clutches from Fendi, Balenciaga, Celine and Hermes “at affordable prices.”
A beige Fendi Micro Monster Baguette, reportedly in excellent condition, can be yours for Rp 18.7 million ̶ a slight discount from its original price of $1,550.
“I’m just so overwhelmed by how perfect the condition of their secondhand items are,” beauty blogger Harumi PS said at the launching event. “It shows that they were taken care of with love. Shopping [at Hunt Street] is just like shopping for a new item in a real store, but with friendlier prices.”
“I’m very happy with the store,” said Nicholas Pujiadi, businessman and client of the online boutique. “On Hunt Street, I can resell some of the items in my closet and thus free some space for new things.”
Nicholas has sold more than 100 items, including clothes, shoes and accessories, on Hunt Street since January.
“So far, I’m very satisfied with their prices,” Nicholas said, adding that he is also a customer, having bought a pair of shoes from the retailer.
“It was a pair of out-of-season LV [Louis Vuitton] shoes,” he said. “I had been looking for them in Singapore, Hong Kong and Europe, but couldn’t find them. So I was very glad when I discovered a pair on the website. And from the looks of them, they have never been worn before.”
“That’s the unique thing about Hunt Street,” said co-founder Janice. “Our customers are also our suppliers.”
For shoppers who prefer brand new luxury items, Hunt Street also offers concierge services.
“We find [items] for customers and deliver it directly to their homes,” Janice explained, adding that the service would require a 50 percent downpayment.
Hunt Street presently caters to 300 registered members, which isn’t much “but they are frequent buyer,” Sabrina said.
“Those, who have bought from us once are usually very satisfied and return to buy some more.”
In an effort to garner more attention from shoppers, the boutique plans to have pop-up stores in malls and office buildings twice a year.
“Nothing too fancy,” Sabrina said. “We just want people to shop and have a good time.”
The Peak
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