This isn’t your average loyalty scheme. Rebag has launched a membership program that may leave fans of the luxury resale platform wondering, what’s the catch?
“This is a program for customer retention, to drive members’ loyalty and reward that over time,” Charles Gorra, Rebag’s founder and CEO, told Sourcing Journal. “But it’s a lot more than a typical loyalty program; I think it’s occasionally referred to as paid loyalty.”
Founded in 2014 as a destination for buying and selling luxury handbags, the resale company’s Rebag+ was made with a “melting pot of specific construct” for its consumers.
Offering an industry-first approach to resale, Rebag+ asks members to contribute a minimum of $50 a month (or $500 a year) to their Rebag “wallet,” so to speak. Every dollar is converted to R+ credit, which can then be used to buy something on the platform. Rebag also adds an “unprecedented” 2 percent monthly bonus to member contributions, increasing their purchasing power by up to 27 percent in 12 months.
The idea, Gorra said, is that the $50 isn’t a fee but instead a contribution, considering it’s redeemable as one builds out future benefits.
“It is not a cost, it’s a contribution because it’s an advance—I am committing to that spend, I am bringing funds in ahead of time,” he continued.
The program is flexible, too. Members can skip their monthly contributions, cancel, or request a refund of their R+ credit at any moment. But they may not want to, as members enjoy more exclusive benefits: up to 10 percent lower prices on all items, up to 5 percent increased seller offers, access to weekly new arrivals and sales as well as free shipping and returns. Plus, if canceled or refunded, that extra 2 percent accrued cannot be redeemed or exported.
“Let’s assume you get on the membership for six months. That’s $300. And then, God forbid something happens and you really need that $300—you can take it back, no problem,” Gorra said. “We’ve created this with no risk; you put the dollars there, let the benefits accrue and if something changes, just take it back.”
The ideal member has a future purchase in mind—a Louis Vuitton wallet, for example (the average listing for one on Rebag is about $650). If a member contributed $50 a month, they would achieve $684 in 12 months ($600 contributed by the member and an additional $84 added by Rebag).
But, Gorra said, this is just one target demographic. Another is the heavy-use Rebagger, the customer who predictably spends a certain amount of money on the site each year. Membership “definitely makes sense” for this client as they will reap bigger rewards on the money they would have spent regardless.
“You have a budget you’re typically willing to spend with us, so you might as well get on that budget early and structure for that spend,” Gorra said. There’s also the aspirational customer: someone who’s eyeing a $3,500 Chanel flap bag and can’t afford to drop that kind of dough in one day but can contribute $100 a month for, say, 18 months and make that purchase more attainable by “pre-planning” the spend.
“That concept can translate to whatever your goal is,” Gorra continued. A different kind of customer will be dreaming of a Birkin and contribute $500 a month, for example. “Everyone has the tools to create their own journey that gets them toward the pre-planning of their goal while getting the most benefits out of it.”
This was a big lift for the company, Gorra said, as Rebag is investing heavily into its customer base with this initiative. But ultimately, Rebag+ is a retention program, he continued. Rebag wants its customer base to get more deeply involved with the company and, in turn, be rewarded for that.
“We are investing in the customer and the customers will get benefits, but we also anticipate or hope that because this is a win-win, where, eventually, the customer is going to give us a higher share of wallets in their purchases or closets,” he continued. “Essentially, we’re all going to grow together.”
It’s also appealing to new-to-Rebag shoppers, considering the opportunity to save their money in a dedicated space, get rewarded for that and be a part of the community.
“Our average purchase is $2,000; that’s a good amount of money for any type of consumer so you are in this world of luxury but there is this threshold, if you will, of accessibility,” Gorra said. “If you’ve got an anniversary or a birthday in seven months, why don’t you start saving for that now?”