Nobody is going to give me my dream job, so I better figure it out myself.”
– For this dynamic woman, growing older was all about getting wiser. Meet Julie Wainwright who proved that real success has no age limit. The 61-years old founder and CEO of The RealReal, a luxury e-commerce consignment boutique, has created an entirely new market of used, lightly worn high-end accessories and clothing. She had a vision that resale sites can coexist with luxury brands. Her brand gave the consumers a more affordable way to buy luxury goods.
No one else understands the ups and downs of business and life like her. Meet the inaugural entrepreneur who has achieved her greatest accomplishments after her 50. Clearly. Julie rejects the idea that the first half is the most dynamic part of our life.
In today’s moment, when a global pandemic has accelerated many women out of the work front and forced many to retire too early- we hope that Julie Wainwright’s journey informs, resonates, and inspires our readers. Her company RealReal has been consigning luxury goods since 2011. Back then consigning works used to take place on the obscure buildings or second floors. Nowadays, it has become a peaceful business practice of the “Circular Economy.”
The Real Story Of The RealReal, A Secondhand Luxury Marketplace Website
Name any brand, Hermès, Chanel, Christian Louboutin, and Julie’s website has all their authentic dresses, shoes, and handbags in the best condition. The RealReal associates visit people’s homes to collect the preselected designer and luxury brands. Also, the sellers can ship their items directly to the RealReal office. The consignment office has a team of more than a hundred luxury brand authenticators. After careful evaluation of every item, the items go live with new price tags for reselling. The reselling costs depend on multiple factors like the item type, design, brand, condition, age, and the current market value. Guess what is the best part? The first-hand seller gets around 60 percent of the resale value of the product.
RealReal’s Success Was Destined
The idea of a thrift store never really fails. People are always interested in making some extra cash selling off what they no more want to use. But a business idea like luxury resale is not an ordinary eCommerce. This responsible venture focuses on reducing the environmental impact and saving costs.
Julie’s vision to make a booming business out of people’s closets was a golden one. Today, the RealReal website has a million members. They ship more than 20000 luxury items each month making it one of the top websites to buy authentic luxury items.
But Work Wasn’t That Successful Earlier. How Did This Remarkable Recovery Happen?
Before the RealReal, Julie WainWright was working as the CEO of Pets.com that became a victim of the early-2000s dot-com crash. In November 2000, she decided to shut it down on the same day her husband asked for a divorce. Though Julie was not the founder of pets.com, she had been with it since the very beginning.
The media was very vocal about the massive failure of pets.com. Failing so publicly freed her from the fear of failing again. Julie realized having a dream job is only possible when you create it yourself. That is exactly what she did with the RealReal.
