Save money with authentic second-hand designer brand fashions

Reporter: Andrea Guerrero
Published:

Designer at a fraction of the price.

Thrift shops can help you get luxury brands under the Christmas tree while saving you lots of money this season – we’re talking hundreds of dollars.

The items may not be brand new but they certainly look like it.

A Tory Burch bag $150 dollars, normally about $300.

We also found a Louis Vuitton purse for $700. That’s about half the retail price on the website.

Carolyn Rivera is a franchise owner of Style Encore. She said, “You can get a really nice piece, a classic piece for like a fraction of the cost. I mean, I would rather buy a nice designer shirt secondhand, than go out and purchase a brand new one that’s going to last one season.”

That’s why Rivera opened Style Encore Fort Myers two years ago, just before the pandemic.

But that didn’t slow business down.

“The pandemic gave people a really good chance to come sell things to us,” Rivera said. “I know when people were locked in their houses. They were cleaning out their closets. So we saw a lot of people coming and selling to us but then shopping at the same time”

And everything that comes in must pass the test before it goes on the rack.

“We do use the third party to authenticate,” Rivera explained. “We’re running them through a really strict process, it’s actually like microscopic imaging of these items. And a certificate is given to every customer who purchases so they have a peace of mind that what they’re purchasing is authentic.”

So when your loved one opens that gift box this Christmas, they’ll still know it’s real.

In some cases, you can find the item brand new with tags and again, much cheaper.

What hack do you have during the holiday season to save money? Email reporter Andryanna Sheppard at andryanna.sheppard@winknews.com.

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