PRELOVED DESIGNER WEAR – SELL IT, DON’T SWEAT IT!
Marie Kondo has brought a wave of change into our homes. She urges us to tidy up, declutter and minimalize our possessions to open up our minds and living room space! This ‘decluttering’ promises to create a zen-like calm within us and our surroundings and benefit our relationships and lifestyles! So we decided to pitch in and do our bit for you and your designer wear. Wardrobes is the place to begin (you would agree), and we met up with Maria Athar of Preloved Designers! Maria lives in Dubai and regularly flies to Pakistan and she juggles social life actively in both countries all year round.
“It was my brother in law’s wedding and I made really expensive designer clothes for several occasions. Six months later there was another wedding in our family and when I decided to repeat those clothes, everyone frowned at me for doing so and even I felt like: “maybe I should make another set of clothes?” At that instance, I remembered some years ago I had received a request for formal clothes in really good condition, ironed, dry cleaned, neatly folded and nicely packed. Now these people are well-to-do so I inquired why they needed these. Upon which I discovered that there are families which are so mediocre that their girls do not step out of the house due to lack of decent clothing to wear. Because they are not seen, no one knows about them and they are not getting any marriage proposals and they are sadly just sitting at home!”
The realization of this huge socio-economic divide! back home really shook up Maria. So in order to bridge that gap between classes and make beautiful clothing more accessible to the less privileged, she decided to create a platform where women who can only dream of buying such clothes but can never afford them at full prices, can actually buy them.
How is this platform different to other sites selling preloved products?
My method of working and the concept is very different from other Buy n’ Sell pages.
1. We actually want to help the less privileged by providing latest fashion designer and non-designer products in half the price; maintaining a strict rule of at least 50% off what the seller is advertising.
2. We take guarantee for the products, “yeh nahin kay commission mil gayi to hamara kaam khatam.” We send payment to the seller after the buyer receives the product so that the sale is tied up and there are no loose ends.
3. For designer wear, we have to make sure it’s authentic so we ask for receipts or authenticity cards otherwise we don’t post them.
4. We make sure we send the exact same product that is displayed on the site, otherwise we have a full money back guarantee policy. We are digitally driven. All transactions are carried out on our website and apps and we are continuously trying to improve ourselves.
5. Along with preloved products we also share tips and tricks and fashion advice on our website, hence giving the customer a more holistic experience.
6. I recently started blogging because people love my style so this is another value-added for our customers, who love to stay trendy and in-the-know.
7. Lastly, we are very discreet and we don’t disclose the identity of the buyer as well as the seller.
OUR SLOGAN IS: SARRNAY NA DO, BAYCH DO! And we firmly believe in it.
But with the passage of time and experience Maria learnt her clients are only those who can’t afford full-priced items but also the sellers who were happy to buy preloved clothing. It has now become an unspoken trend among people from various backgrounds. Especially those who would rather not repeat an outfit!
We all are guilty of consumerism. We make new clothes each season, each wedding ceremony, each party and rarely repeat what we have worn once, maximum twice. Our cupboards are overflowing with clothes once loved but now just taking up space and gathering dust in the wardrobe. The same is true for some of us who regularly buy branded shoes and bags. Once bored of them, we are enticed to buy the latest designs the old ones get pushed back, way behind the new stock, and this vicious cycle keeps repeating itself, over and over again.
Website: www.Preloveddesigners.Com
Facebook Group: Preloved Designers
Facebook Page: Preloved Designers
Instagram: Preloved.designers
