The RealReal BadBad: Fashion's next big scandal? ππΏπ§
An open lawsuit alleges fraud while customer complaints flood social media
If youβre looking for Alyβs class action formβ itβs here.
Like all good gumshoeing adventures, this one started when seeing a complaint about The RealReal in a friendβs Instagram stories.
I reached out to some folks also complaining on Twitter but there wasnβt a particularly big angle. The RealReal eventually found my friendβs skirtβ 16 weeks later. Sheβs still waiting to get the jacket back.
Then earlier this week I was contacted by a woman suing The RealReal for over $5M for allegedly selling $232,000 worth of her items without permission (her full story is below). A quick new search of social media showed that there were suddenly A LOT more upset customers taking to Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with their complaints.
I connected with a breadth of consignors and buyers from The RealReal while sorting through the lawsuit documents. Through each of these conversations, it became apparent thatΒ The RealReal is definitely navigating some very strange service issues. Below are a series of customer stories detailing an extensive array of problems.
After reaching out to The RealReal via email asking to speak to someone for this story, the team replied saying, βWe're unable to offer you a comment or an interview at this time.β
This article is long but I promise it is SO, SO, SO WORTH THE READ. It has (alleged) fraud, (alleged) lying, (alleged) stealing, and more.
Without further ado, The RealReal has really done some customers dirty⦠and these are their stories *Law & Order sound*.
A Multitude of Problems
The RealReal has struggled with selling counterfeits, was sued by Chanel and settled an $11 million dollar class actionβ which had been led by one of their own investors.
More recently, the issues appear to be coming from a disgruntled userbase, massive amounts of unhappy tweets, and comments on The RealRealβs Instagram, theyβre certainly having widespread difficulties across their customer base.Β
Selling consignorsβ products for pennies on the dollarβΒ oftentimes despite requests to have them returned
While Vestiaire launched a free calculator to calculate the average resale value of designer items, The RealReal makes no guarantee about the price at which pieces will sellβ even if they sell at a 90% discount.Β
We first connected with a photographer (letβs call him Snap) based in Florida who had had a good experience selling a Gucci coat (~$4k new) through the platform in November of 2021. When dropping the coat off in the New York store he was told that heβd have the opportunity to approve the listing price before it was posted for sale. Unsurprisingly, about two months later, he got a notification that the coat had sold for $3,300.
Quickly thereafter, Snap was informed that the coat had actually been sold at a 20% discount, for a $2,600 sale. Having collected a 60% commission ($1,584) and the experience having gone relatively well, he sent a variety of clothing which included a couple pairs of Louis Vuitton sneakers, a HermΓ¨s agenda, and two Philipp Plein bomber jackets. While some items were returned, he received notification that some of his items were sold. From this new batch of consigned items-- the first two sales (both jackets) were sold at a 20% discount and the commission rate remained at 60%. The HermΓ¨s agenda was the third item to sell from the batch, but this one sold at a 50% discount and Snapβs commission was 50%. The last item to sell was the $1,700 Marc By Marc Jacobs bomber jacket which sold for $70 and Snapβs commission was 30%. Another piece, a limited edition $5,500 Plein Jacket, was sold for $260.00. He reflected, βHow do those things happen? They [The RealReal] don't send it to me for approval, they put it online for sale somewhere and it sells immediately and it's like oh, we sold it for $70. It's like, fuck you. For $70, why would I even take the trouble? I think I got $21 for that jacket.βΒ
He did, per his screenshot below:
Overall, weβve noticed a trend across all of the consignors we spoke with who were allegedly verbally told by The RealReal appraisers that theyβd have the opportunity to request their items be returned if they didnβt approve the listing prices. Unfortunately in almost all of these cases, most of the consignors were allegedly not given this opportunity.Β
In order to successfully sign up as a consignor via the website, you are required to accept their Consigner Terms which states that upon receipt of your items, once inspected, authenticated, and accepted βThe Accepted Items will then be processed and listed as available for sale on the Service and, at Our discretion, may also concurrently be displayed and available for purchase at one of Our retail store locations. Please note that all list prices are determined at Our sole discretion unless We have previously agreed otherwise with You in writing,β which renders any verbal agreements with the appraisers as mentioned above, not something theyβre required to uphold.
As we learned with Aly, itβs not that they uphold the written ones either but mmkay.Β




You Get A Sale, You Get A Sale, EVERYBODY GETS A SALE!
Whether just lucky timing or a perfect indication to further prove the trend of deep, deep discounts on inventory at the time of writing this, thereβs a 48-hour warehouse sale. The sale is allegedly β75%-90% Off Everythingβ but unless they mean from retail value, our saved βto watchβ items are certainly excluded.
Below are some screenshotsβ Iβm not a high fashion person but seeing someoneβs $12,000 dress on sale for $900 makes me feel ill.Β
Losing consignorsβ productsβboth when sent in via mail AND when dropped off directly to The RealReal stores
While my friend Iβd mentioned at the top of this story eventually got her items back from The RealReal, others werenβt so lucky.
An owner of a skincare brand in California (letβs call her Lβeau) last November. She had sent The RealReal a custom-designed necklace with sapphire beads, Beryl beads, and coated in a liquid diamond finish. Immediately, her experience with The RealReal started off oddly, "the first thing that I thought was super weird was I had an appraisal scheduled with this girl and she comes on the Zoom and she has one of those Zoom backgrounds like a fake office background. There was just a lot of noise, and she's like 'Oh well, I'm sorry, I'm driving right now.' And that was so weird for me because I'm like 'how are you driving?' I just thought that was super odd.βΒ
After speaking with the appraiser, Lβeau had a feeling the appraisal was going to be a lowball, but the appraiser had assured her that sheβd have the option of getting her necklace returned if she didnβt like the quote. βSo that is where I wish I'd done my research because I put it in a mailer and thought ah whatever, if they don't want to list it for any reason or I just don't like the price, they'll send it back to me,β Lβeau said.Β
Unfortunately, after the 18-day window for the appraisal delivery came and went, Lβeau followed up to check the status of her necklace. It took a full six weeks but finally, the necklace was listed under the βMy Salesβ category simply as βNecklace Necklacesβ and the status update βNot Accepted.β
Upon reaching out to customer service, Lβeau was told that her necklace was going to be expedited back to her and that she would get it shortly. For the next ten weeks, she frequently contacted customer service via chat (the phone number simply redirects you to text a number for help) and was given two $75 in store credits and told shipping was just very backed up. Despite then using the credit to buy two items and having quickly received them, Lβeau said her necklace, βwent into a black hole there and I never saw it again.β
After telling The RealRealβs customer service that she had contacted the FBI and reported them for theft, she was told that the necklace had been lost in the return transit and the investigation team had approved she be compensated for the loss-- based on the market demand. The amount sheβs been promised is $795, only 2/3 of the lost necklaceβs initial value.
Lβeau is still waiting on the payment and was last told she could expect it to come through on February 15th. Sheβs skeptical, however, "I don't understand. This is not rocket science. You guys are a publicly traded company, right? You must have had some systems and processes to get to that point,β she told me on the phone. βIt seems like their business plan doesn't actually work. That's the only thing I can actually think of. And like it's just pure greed and they don't want to tell investors that they're actually not succeeding"Β
Before we hung up, Lβeau laughed and told me, "Iβm like, I just want my stuff back before you guys go bankrupt. They have to be going bankrupt, right? This is the most insane thing."

After having spent over $10,000 at The RealReal between 2016 and 2021, Lori Fenske of Naples, FL had decided to consign some items on the platform after doing a closet purge. One of the items Fenske sent was a never-worn $500 JBrand jacket (with tags) since it was a tiny bit too small but ultimately The RealReal told her theyβd be sending it back to herβ but it never arrived.
Customer service created and sent Fenske a shipping label but the tracking number showed there were no updates after βlabel createdβ. Fenske said that after two months, "I finally received an email from customer service that said βI wasn't able to retrieve your consignment, however, I will be moving forward with compensating you for this loss by issuing you the commission earned as if these items sold to a customer on our website.β They tell me they're giving me $8 for a $500 jacket. $8.β
Fenske followed up with customer service about the laughable cost offered for the missing jacket. βThey asked me to find a comparable jacket and brand. I found this [Alice + Olivia blazer] and they said it wasnβt comparable. It is but theyβd have to pay me 60% commission instead of $8β.Β After months of haggling, βthey gave me $75 for it, which I haven't seen yet. Which is ridiculous."
Selling counterfeits or products in bad condition and sending incorrect ordersβbut returns are difficult
A marketing manager from Brooklyn was excited to order a Celine bag for work but when it arrived, she found it too flimsy. Within the week she decided to buy a Prada bag off The RealReal and return her previous purchase.
She said, βI knew because of the Terms and Conditions I had to resend and resubmit the [Celine] bag, and potentially not get full price back for the Celine bag but you know, I understood those consequences.β Unfortunately shortly after making the return she received a message from The RealReal back saying it was a counterfeit bag and they couldnβt authenticate it.Β
She was incredibly upset and tried to argue with customer service about them having sold her the fake bag in the first place and that she wanted her money back. Customer service wanted to give her credit and she recalls, βI told them βI donβt want a credit for a fake bag.β It literally took months, honestly, it was just a terrible experience. I went to PayPal and tried to get my money back, I talked to many people in customer service. I did not get my money back. So yeah. I donβt like The RealReal.β
Also complaining about receiving an item in bad condition is Bethenny Frankel who recently posted a TikTok captioned βENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK @TheRealReal #Scam #LuxuryHandbagβ to share her experience with the platform. After showing off her bag she concludes, βWhat I maintain is that The RealReal is the wild, wild west, Moroccan bazaar. If you want to sell stuff really quickly, just get it out for pennies but you get it out of your house and theyβre gonna sell it, thatβs where you go. Which means if youβre buying, you might be able to get a deal but enter at your own risk. It is like buying a bag in a Moroccan bazaar because it might just be listed as βvery goodβ even though it looks βvery oldββ
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She concludes with βI guess what you guys were saying is true, so under no circumstances should you be purchasing a handbag on The RealReal. Share your stories pleaseβ
Whatβs Old Is New Again
Her Imperial Highness, AbΓmbα»ΜlΓ‘ Fernandez, the star of African Royale had a bad experience with The RealReal in 2017 when they dramatically underpriced 600+ couture and vintage pieces from her late motherβs collection. Note: weβll be publishing her story in the next few daysβ so remember to subscribe for that notification.
In 2018 The RealReal disappointed another large consignor. Aly Sene-Dorsi is a French woman living in New York City and sheβs accusing The RealReal of having sold ~$232k worth of clothing, handbags, accessories, and shoes without her knowledge or consent. As a result, sheβs suing The RealReal for $5M.
When Aly tweeted me asking if Iβd want to learn about her legal battle with The RealReal. Of course, I did, as the case has already cost Aly over $52,000 and counting. Her case can be found in the New York State Supreme Court E-Filing system: Index Number 100336/2020 in front of The Honorable Judge Louis N. Nock. It was filed on March 2nd, 2020.Β
Oh! Also, while Aly has been claiming for three years that The RealReal forged a consignment agreement to defend selling belongings, the Manhattan DAβs office is now open to starting an investigation; if Aly is able to provide them with a list of other affected consumers.
Buckle up. This court case is wild and there are a ton of strange things to discuss. Ultimately I tried to let the facts speak for themselves and only editorialize when sharing my own fact-based conclusions after having combed through all the lawsuit documents. Okay, thereβs also some sass and Iβd like to think I even have a Legally Blonde moment toward the end.
And So We Begin
Alyβs story begins on September 13, 2018, when she had a Luxury Manager from The RealReal visit her home to pick up dozens of items to assess and price out for a potential consignment. Upon connecting with her assigned Luxury Manager, Aly made it very clear that she was merely seeking pricing before deciding whether or not she would consign with The RealReal.
Like with the one below, all of the screenshots are from documents from the publically available court documents through the New York State Supreme Court E-Filing system, all of which are public records. Iβve highlighted in pink, sections of the screenshots I believe are important.
Between the September 13th visit and October 15th, Aly and her Luxury Manager sporadically communicated about pricing. Upon receiving and reviewing the Luxury Manager Pricing List on October 15th, Aly decided that she would not consign with The RealReal as she felt her pieces had been undervalued.Β Β
Aly texted and emailed her Luxury Manager on October 15th saying, βI just looked at the prices. They are below what I was expecting. I have sold several items on eBay for much more money. There was definitely some time involved in dealing with the buyers but since i am not in dire need to make more [money] off the items Iβll use the services of a freelance seller to deal with them for me. I apologize for taking up some of your time.β
To which the Luxury Manager is shown to have emailed back on the same day, βNoted. Thank you for letting me knowβ and arranged for the return of Alyβs belongings.Β
Per the lawsuit documents, almost exactly a year later, in October of 2019, Aly was complimented on her coat by a woman who said she worked at The RealReal. When Aly mentioned not consigning with the platform in the past due to the low item pricing, the woman allegedly said, "Check us out again because a lot has changed / improved in the past year."
On October 9, 2019 a Senior Group Manager contacted Aly about scheduling an in-home pickup of her belongings to assess their potential resale value. On November 11, Aly responded stating she was again, merely seeking a price assessment before moving ahead with any consignment agreement. On November 15, another Luxury Manager from The RealReal met Aly and picked up 131 items. Four days later, an additional 7 items from Alyβs doorman. Aly claims to have never been presented with a Consignment Agreement from The RealReal.Β
Aly estimates that the value of the pieces picked up totaled ~$232,000. According to the lawsuit, 138 items included pieces from Bottega Venetta, HermΓ¨s, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Gucci, Fendi, ChloΓ©, Balenciaga, Alexander Wang, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, and Saint Laurent.Β
Throughout correspondence in October 2019 through January 2020, Aly repeatedly stated (via text, email, and verbally) she was simply seeking pricing again. Below are a sampling, more can be found throughout this piece and via the court exhibits in our appendix below.
Quick very, very important thing to remember: The RealRealβs Consignment/Sales Agreement Contract states that once the items are received at the warehouse and approved by the platform, they are immediately uploaded and listed for sale.Β
When reading through the email threads as a third party, it was evident that three things are true: 1) The RealReal was proceeding with what appears to be their standard practice of uploading items for sale upon receipt. 2) Aly had stated in writing that she was only looking for an initial price assessment, so her understanding is that The RealReal team is getting her those prices to review. 3) When Aly had approached The RealReal a year earlier in 2018 for a price assessment, she was indeed given a preliminary price list for her items on which she ultimately decided not to consign with The RealReal.
In understanding those three facts, suddenly the email threads can be read through both perspectives and see the two varying expectations for a final outcome. Intentional or not, The RealRealβs communication feels to me like theyβre aware of this misunderstandingβ and while reminding Aly of the pricing being uploaded to the dashboard, they *never* outright say: the pricing being live on the dashboard is a result of your items being listed for sale.Β
Letβs take a look at an example, this is an email from Alyβs Luxury Manager on December 4th:
Again, the email can be read in two, very true ways ie: βstart the consignment processβ can mean both βget you an initial price list before listingβ AND βprocess your items for sale.β Starting to see some Β π© π©s?Β Also, ββ¦ we arenβt unable to provide final pricing untilβ¦β Freudian slip? Couldnβt decide between βwe arenβtβ and βweβre unableβ? Who knows!
So in my opinion (hi lawyers):
At best, this makes The RealReal look incompetentβ the Luxury Manager has forgetten Alyβs written request for an initial price assessment.Β
At worst, this makes The RealReal look calculating and dishonestβ ignoring Alyβs written request and proceeding with the sales process while being deliberately vague in their communications. This allows them to argue that theyβve been telling Aly theyβre going ahead with the sale the whole time.
Curious as to which one it was.Β
Anyway. Per the lawsuit, The RealReal uploaded Alyβs items to the platform in Decemberβ unsurprisingly, meaning the clothes were actively listed for sale. Because Aly understood that the itemsβ suggested prices were available on the dashboard for her to review, she replied that she was in no rush to approve the pricing until after the holiday season had passed.
Simultaneously, Aly, was unable to access the account that had been created for her because the passwords provided by The RealReal never workedβ a fact that was corroborated by the IT department during a customer service call that Aly had recorded.
Aly was finally able to access her account on January 6th by logging in through Facebook.
It was only upon gaining access to her account that Aly realized that her pieces had already been listed on the marketplace as being for sale, with a few items already having been sold at prices she felt were drastically too low. She immediately texted her Luxury Manager.
Again, looking at The RealReal Luxury Managerβs text and Alyβs replyβ itβs frustratingly evident thereβs still a huge gap between Alyβs understanding of the situation and The RealReal now having officially begun selling Alyβs items. I do wish that at this point, Aly had simply pulled the plug but instead, Aly confirmed sheβd review the pricing on the dashboard.
Unfortunately, while her text conveyed she still hadnβt comprehended that the pricing being available on the dashboard meant that her pieces were up for sale., The RealReal made no attempt to correct this misunderstanding. Something they were obligated to do? I guess not. Should have done? Absolutely.Β
Now Iβm curious about whether The RealReal Luxury Managers get a commission on the items they convince people to list.
Anyway. With the above exchange, Aly assumed that The RealReal now understood no items should be listed for sale until sheβd had the opportunity to approve the pricing. On January 10th she received an email from a new contact at The RealReal:
The verbiage of this email indicates the desire to have a conversation about what to consign now β implying that the decision is still to be made about what should be listed for sale in the future, further reassuring Aly that everything is now copasetic.
When logging back in on January 13th- again through her Facebook account- Aly realized that all her items were still listed for sale, with dozens having been sold for βnauseatingly low amounts.β
Aly then again, allegedly reached out to her Luxury Manager stressing that she hadnβt approved the itemsβ pricing, something sheβd expressed as a requirement before she agreed to potentially move forward with selling through The RealReal. Aly also explicitly told The RealReal to cease selling her items and to send them back to her immediately. The RealReal agreed to pull all unsold listed items from the marketplace and return them to Aly within 3 business days.
Between January 13th and January 24th, Aly consistently reached out to The RealReal requesting updates on her items being returnedβas they were simply listed as βupdate in progressβ on the platform. Despite her constant check-ins with customer service about packages that never arrived, Aly only received 43 items back as of February 17, 2020.Β
Now hereβs where it gets real(real) weird.
Between January 13th and January 22nd, Aly was trying to find out why her items had been sold without her consent.Β
The RealReal pointed to a Consignor Agreement that Aly signed as the reason the items were immediately uploaded for sale upon approval.
And yet. Aly claims she didnβt sign the signed contract The RealReal has in its possession.
Now, you know we love some good internet gumshoeing here at The Wreck List so there are two points of evidence to consider that Aly has flagged in her Affirmation In Opposition of The RealRealβs Motion To Dismiss:
The initials in the Docusign are not those that Aly regularly uses when signing documents. She includes multiple documents in her lawsuit materials that span several years from 2016 to 2020, all showing her initials as ASD (as opposed to AS, as on The RealReal contract).Β
The timeline relating to the signed contract in The RealRealβs possession:
On September 13th, 2018 at 4:03pm EST, The Luxury Manager emailed Aly a note saying she was running 15-20 minutes late for the appointment.
Based on the timestamp (in PST) of the DocuSignβed contractβ all the activity below happened on September 13, 2018:
The contract was emailed at 4:27:08 pm
The contract was delivered 18 seconds later to the inbox (4:27:26 pm)
The contract was signed at 4:27:52 pmβ 26 seconds after it was delivered via email & roughly no more than 10 minutes after the Luxury Manager arrived at Alyβs apartment. Perhaps itβs standard to have a Luxury Manager immediately present the contract upon meeting a client for the first time?
In any case, a month after the meeting, the Luxury Manager emailed Aly on October 1, 2018, with βWe should have everything to you by end of day today, and once approved and the contract is signed, we can move forward with a pick up this week. Apologies for the delay.β So, the Luxury Manager either didnβt have the signed contract yet or she forgot that sheβd walked Aly through signing the contract in-person, on September 13th. No biggie, mistakes happen.
Worth noting that in June of 2021, the same Luxury Manager signed a sworn Affidavit saying, β3. I walked Ms. Sene-Dorsi through the Consignment Agreement on my iPad and directed her to initial each page of the Agreement and sign the Agreement using DocuSign, an application that allows consignors to execute agreements using electronic signatures. 4. I observed Ms. Sene-Dorsi signing the Consignment Agreement using an electronic signature on September 13, 2018.β Interesting that the same Luxury Manager indicated via the Oct 18th email that Aly had not yet signed the contract during their meeting the month before. Easy thing to forget! Just curious to see that the same Luxury Manager could now indeed recall the signing, two and a half years later.
Anyway, jumping back to January 29, 2020 β Aly is now frantically trying to recoup her items from The RealReal. She calls customer service to ask about the status of the items being shipped back and also takes the opportunity to ask about the Consignor Agreement and the agent indicates that there is not a signed contract associated with her account. Below is a transcript of the call which Aly also recorded:
Aly: βOk, let me go back. Yes, I received it yesterday at 10:01pm that is the last shipment information I received. Is there any problem Betsy?β
Betsy: βNo. No, the 27th is the correct date.β
Aly βYes. Ok. So, at this point there is nothing that can be done. Betsy, could you do me one last favor and just check in your record if there is a Consignment Agreement?β
Betsy: βLetβs see. I see on the My Sales page itself, it has β Consignment Contract PLEASE SIGN .β but I donβt know ifβ¦.β
Aly: βWhat do you mean pre-signed? Pre-signed by whom?β
Betsy: βIt is asking you to PLEASE SIGN on TRR website.β
Aly: βOh yes, itβs not signed. I never signed anything.β
Betsy: ββ¦. but itβs not signed on TRR websiteβ
Aly: βSo where do you find that? Can you please walk me through this? I am actually gonna go to the page. How can I access that, please?β
Betsy: βAre you on your My Sales page now? Where it says next to Billing Statement.β
Aly logged into her account on January 30th and noticed she was indeed being prompted to βPlease Review and Act on These Documentsβ which instructed review and sign the Consignor Agreement. Weird, considering since again, in the above 2021 Luxury Managerβs Affidavit, she had observed Aly signing the contract back in September of 2018. And yet, a signed contract clearly wasnβt on Alyβs account portal.
On February 12th Aly called The RealRealβs in-house lawyer four times. She left a voicemail asking her about the prompt to sign the contract on the portal.Β Β
When Aly logged in to the portal again on February 14th, 2020, the prompt to sign the contract had disappeared.
Ok, So Ultimately, Hereβs The Thing...
Letβs pretend for a minute that Aly for some reason inadvertently or accidentally signed the initial contract as part of the sign-up process on September 13, 2018. That contractβs Termination clause reads:βYou and The RealReal may each terminate this Agreement in writing at any time, for any reason. Termination will be effective on the date of such notice and the costs listed under βConsignment Period and Return of Propertyβ, will apply.β
As we know, Aly texted the Luxury Manager on October 15, 2018, βThe prices you are offering are too low. So I will not consign with you. Thank you for the time you allocated to me. I am sorry we cannot love [sic] forwardβ would satisfy that definition of a written termination. Thus terminating the hypothetical contract.
This would then have required Aly to sign a new contract for the items picked up in November 2019β which by all records, was never done.
For some weird reason I knew that every contract contains an implied duty of good faith and fair dealingβ which means itβd be unreasonable for The RealReal to necessitate specific/legal verbiage from regular consumers without EXPLICITLY STATING necessary language be used.
So either The RealReal didnβt have a contract with Aly in 2019 OR The RealReal has stuck all of its consignors into a Hotel California situation by not explicitly stating the magic words needed to terminate their contracts.Β
Wonder which one theyβre going to admit to.
In Any Caseβ¦
After returning only 43 of the 138 items they initially picked up, The RealReal offered Aly a reimbursement of $49,977 on February 23, 2020. Aly claims that most of the returned items β had been worn, used, damaged, soiled, stained, returned with missing parts (buttons, garment bags, dust bags) or detached/missing price tags.β
In that email The RealReal stated that $17,615.50 of that total covered a confusing array of items (including some they still had in their possession but hadnβt mailed back upon her request?):
Aly decided not to take the settlement and continue with her fight.Β
Now three years into her legal battle, Aly is now also pulling together consignors who have had similar struggles.Β
Raise your hand if youβve ever been personally victimized by The RealRealβ Aly has invited folks to sign up for info on the class action suit here.
We highly encourage anyone with complaints to call the Federal Trade Commission at (877) 382-4357.
So what comes next?
In an effort to increase cash flow, The RealReal has been discussing ways to βreach profitability with lower top line growth compared to what was previously projected,β said co-interim CEO and President, Rati Levesque on The RealRealβs 2022 Q3 Earnings Conference Call.
Levesque outlined the initiatives, βFirst, overhauling our seller commission structure, which took effect on November 1; second, further optimize our pricing algorithm to get the best price for our sellers; third, take a more aggressive approach on costs; and finally, capitalizing on potential new revenue stream.βΒ
While conversations about plans towards growth revenue were optimistic, ironically, consignors arenβt seeing the signs of profitable growth. As Fenske observed, "They start discounting right away. They're doing 75% off sales, and they would have never done that before. They tell you you're going to get this amount of money but then as they discount it, and they don't even give it a chance to be sold."
And the lack of profitability might not be The RealRealβs biggest issue as consignors seem to lack trust in the platform as a whole.
Snap, the photographer profiled earlier in this piece said, "Thereβs a sense that thereβs something is going on [at The RealReal]. And somebody is basically stealing your stuff and doesn't really give a fuck.β He continued, "imagine if it was a house or a car and you have a real estate agent and you ask 'can you sell my house?' and you expect he's going to get $3M for it, and he's like 'wow, we sold it! $250,000. You just don't expect that. How is that even possible? It doesn't make sense to anybody. You go into the New York store and they have all the brands there like LV and stuff, you think they're experts on it. It's like Sotheby's, they know what they're dealing with. It's like giving them a Picasso and them selling it for $70 and being like, 'yeah, that was the price, that's what we could get for it so, be happy' but then I wouldn't have given it to you in the beginning."
So, we want to hear your stories in the comments. Or send us an email at hello@thewrecklist.com. β
Itβs worth stating again that while compiling this piece, we reached out to The RealReal via email but the team replied, βWe're unable to offer you a comment or an interview at this time.β
We will, of course, update this story with any new developments.Β
Remember: In a couple of days we are telling H.I.H. AbΓmbα»ΜlΓ‘ Fernandezβs story about The RealReal grossly underselling 600+ pieces of vintage and couture clothing from her late motherβs collection.
No name redactions for individual employees not involved in the suit?? Get ready for your own lawsuit π€£. More to comeβ¦
I purchased a NWT designer dress from them and received a worn, completely different dress. Making the return was a nightmare, they treated me like a criminal when they were essentially ripping me off. I would never use The Real Real again.