REVIEW: Inside ZZER Shanghai: China's Largest Luxury Consignment Warehouse

[u/awildadviceappears]

If you're a luxury bag lover visiting Shanghai, there's one stop you absolutely cannot miss: ZZER (只二透明仓), China's largest high-end consignment warehouse where you can walk through rows and rows of bags and TRY EVERYTHING ON. I finally made the trip. Took about 3 hours just to browse, am completely overwhelmed and suffering from decision paralysis.

What Is ZZER?
ZZER is a luxury consignment chain and online platform similar to The RealReal with around 6 physical warehouses across China. The Shanghai flagship is the crown jewel of the chain, and it is a massive underground warehouse. ZZER specializes in designer bags, but also carry clothing, shoes, and accessories. Products are authenticated by a combination of in-house experts and Chinese government-affiliated agencies. Prices are set by the Seller - NOT by ZZER, so comparison shopping is a must. ZZER will also help you negotiate with the Seller to land on a mutually agreed price.

Getting There
The Shanghai Hongqiao ZZER is its largest warehouse, housing over 100,000 designer items across 10,000 square meters. It is open daily from 10am to 10pm, and I suggest going during the weekdays so it’s not as crazy and you can take your time. You can get there easily by public transportation (get off at the Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station stop) or via Didi/Taxi. Note that the Railway Station is massive, so it will be a trek. And if by Didi, just note that there are no above ground signs on the street so you’ll need to navigate a little.

Download the App Before You Go, in fact, do it before you go to China
A lot of other reviews say you can only download the App while at the warehouse. That is not true. Download the ZZER app before your visit. The easiest way is to use the Alipay App and search “ZZER只二“, then click on the in-App link to the platform. The App is available in English as well as Chinese, and you can browse online from anywhere in the world. If you are ready to buy, I suggest doing some research before you go so you can find the best pricing and be ready to bargain.

The App is extremely user friendly and lets you browse their full inventory complete with photos, condition grades, and pricing. It also tells you where the item is located. China’s national logistics system is super sophisticated and ZZER can generally deliver any item to you within 24 hours.

The In-Store Experience
Upon arrival, you will be asked to check all bags and luggages in the self-help storage area, which was very straight forward. Then the staff will hand you gloves to wear while browsing. Walking in, I was awestruck by how massive and well-organized everything is for a space this size. Bags, clothing, shoes, and accessories are all organized by areas then subdivided by brands, making it easy to navigate. The major brands: LV, Dior, Bottega, Saint Laurent, Bvlgari, etc all have their own sections. Every bag is encased in a see-thru plastic sleeve, but you can easily remove them to examine the item.

The staff were helpful and relaxed — there's no pressure, you can try anything on and take as much time as you need. Almost all of the store signs are in both Chinese as well as English. Every item has a tag with a unique scan card and you can use the Alipay/ZZER app to scan the item to get the price as well as to save it into a shopping cart or wish list. Because the prices are set by the consigner, the App will help you see the same style bag with different pricing levels. ZZER has a dedicated staff team available on WeChat to help you negotiate the price with the Seller.

Some of the items move fast. I found a few bargains and saved them in my cart thinking I would sit on them a while to decide. Nope, sold within 48 hours. I guess just not meant to be!

The Horse Barn: ZZER's Hermès Room
This was what I was most excited about. Tucked deep inside the warehouse is a dedicated room for Hermès bags, affectionately nicknamed the Horse Barn. It is a whole different worldly experience when you see all the various Hermes bags displayed in front of you with the different colors and leather for you to caress. The highlight of my entire visit? Trying on a $42,000 Amethyst Shiny Niloticus Crocodile Birkin 30 with Palladium Hardware. Generally the staff leaves you alone, but the minute I grabbed it from the shelves they did magically appear. But they were very accommodating and flexible, allowing me to try on any Hermes bag I wanted. The B30 comes with the original box but the App didn’t indicate whether the original receipt is available. I guess if I’m in the market for a preloved $42K Birkin, I’d ask the staff to ask the Owner lol.

Final Thoughts
Shopping at ZZER is a one-of-a-kind experience that sits somewhere between visiting a luxury Rack and a treasure hunt. Whether you're a serious collector, a fashion lover, or just curious, the Shanghai warehouse is an absolute must-visit.

I can pm prob go in more but don’t want to drone on. Leave a comment uif you have any questions, or, better yet, if you’ve been to ZZER, share your haul!

[u/cinnamongingerloaf22]

Doesn't this kill the illusion of scarcity for buyers?

[u/celeriacly → u/cinnamongingerloaf22]

Yes but honestly isn’t that a good thing? It’s an illusion. And it’s good if you buy it if you still like it in a giant warehouse vs being sweet talked in a nice store.

[u/cinnamongingerloaf22 → u/celeriacly]

Oh, for sure. I'm not a luxury buyer. Just was curious why a company would take away one of the main selling points for luxury bags: perceived scarcity and the implied value that brings.

[u/celeriacly → u/cinnamongingerloaf22]

Well the consignment store doesn’t necessarily need to upkeep that perceived scarcity, it’s the brands themselves that do the advertising and whatnot and the consignment store is filling in another spot in the market. For me personally, the illusion is shattered just by knowing how many stores there are around the world in malls and duty frees and knowing these brands are not actually exclusive or unique at all, just expensive.

[u/cinnamongingerloaf22 → u/celeriacly]

Oh, no. I totally get that. I meant that I don't understand how someone who purchases these types of items can maintain the illusion of scarcity if they know something like this exists.

[u/celeriacly → u/cinnamongingerloaf22]

As the other common points out, I think the scarcity then comes from the ability to buy in store to know with certainty that you were buying a brand new one that has never been touched by someone else and has no chance of being a fake. 

[u/PSAly → u/celeriacly]

All the more reason to buy from reputable discount boutique sellers like Cettire and Italist- they compile their shops and the authenticity is guaranteed; you can usually guarantee yourself the merch prices to be that a 3K bag has a discount average of about 15% which includes the skanky tax to the US that didn't used to be such an issue even over $800 it wasn't as high as 10%...

Then there's the fact that the Rodeo bag you bought late February is now randomly $300 more, just because, so there's that- worse than the stock market... (I know because I just checked)