What happens when you fall out of love with the luxury items in your wardrobe? You set them free.
King William Road’s Votre Luxe gives your designer handbags and accessories a new forever home. Owner Maggie Qu realised her obsession with labels had reached a point where she could start her own online shop selling her pre-loved bags and watches to her besties.
Image credit: Wayne Pearson
“I hated seeing upset bags in my home just sitting there, not getting any love. My personal collection had over twenty items that were all in immaculate condition, so I started selling them to my friends… and then used that money to buy more.”
In a light bulb moment, Maggie realised that her little hobby could actually be a brilliant business idea for like-minded women. “People in Asia and Europe have been selling high quality pre-loved brands for years, but there was nothing in Adelaide quite like it.” Maggie decided to set up shop and now, label-loving women can buy and sell high-end, pre-loved bags.
And so, this environmentally conscious way of rehoming luxury items took off, and Maggie learned how to authenticate items. “Being able to authenticate brands is paramount in this industry, so I was expertly trained by the best of the best, a well-known authenticator in China.”
Now a gorgeous bricks-and-mortar store on King William Road in Hyde Park, Votre Luxe is a place where you can buy and sell designer handbags and accessories. Maggie offers a selection of rare vintage labels as well as the latest trends from Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Fendi, Gucci — the list goes on.
Image credit: Wayne Pearson
“We are also lucky enough to uncover some unique products like vintage, discontinued and limited edition pieces.” They even have Hermès Birkin and Kelly bags coming through, which apparently is a big deal for those in the know. “Hermès boutiques really only give their VIPs access to these exclusive brands so you may never get the chance to see or feel one in real life.”
In French, ‘votre luxe’ translates to ‘your luxury’, and that’s what the brand is all about. As you step inside the store, you’ll most likely slip into a dreamlike state, surrounded by every label of bag you’ve ever dreamed about.
And you wouldn’t even know they’d been loved before. “I’m quite picky about the product — we only accept items in great condition and our clients are the same. Anything under nine-out-of-ten is not acceptable.”
As we all know, a great bag is a big investment — it’s something you think long and hard about before purchasing. “What I love most is giving women who love labels the peace of mind that if they buy an original and fall out of love with it, they can always sell it and not lose. It’s actually become a fun game — my regulars buy an original, wear it a few times, then sell and buy another piece.”
Image credit: Wayne Pearson
How does it work?
If you have a high-end item at home that you think deserves a new home, either make an appointment with Maggie and her fabulous team or go to the Votre Luxe website and fill in the selling form. For anything that sells for under $3,000, Votre Luxe takes a very reasonable 20 percent commission on the sale; and if an item sells between $3,000 and $5,000, they only take 15 percent. “I much prefer our products to keep moving to make it exciting for our customers, so we always have new products online and in-store.”
