Anna Cortes Henares doesn’t calm down those days until 11 a.m.Throughout the day, answer visitors’ questions, type and record parts for sale or package parts for shipment.
Facebook organization founder The Hungry Closet did not expect her shopping and promotion network to trigger the pandemic.Like most, Henares “feared” not only for the well-being of his family, but also for his livelihood at the beginning of confinement.
“For the first 3 weeks, I didn’t publish anything,” says the former Paris-trained fashion designer, “but then my volunteer moderators texted to say that members were still buying and that I’m still publishing articles.”
The Hungry Closet has nearly 44,000 members and is a pioneering platform for buying and promoting fashion stores and second-hand items on Facebook in the Philippines.Henares the band in October 2015.
Prepande, Henares, who now runs the organization full-time, said resale is going well, but that after closing it was given even better.
“The activity has doubled,” says Scarlet Foz, volunteer moderator of The Hungry Closet and a saleswoman for 15 years.”Filipinos are used to buying. Take that off and depress them.They crave emotional satisfaction.”
Foz, a preschool teacher, believes the resale economy has advanced because with public transportation limited to her 40s, other people who used to go to the mall all the time had nowhere to spend their money.
“It’s an opportunity for small retailers, because when other people are bored or tired while running from home, they browse online,” says Foz, who was a “pioneer of energy sales” on eBay Philippines before the platform replaced many of its rules.the changes he said have earned from sellers, which led them to his exodus to Facebook and Instagram.
In bands like The Hungry Closet, anyone with an FB account can ask a member to buy or sell items.No fees are paid to FB or group directors.You only pay for your purchases directly to the seller, regularly via bank move in or money on delivery for expensive items.
Groups differ in their member acceptance regulations.Some like to say that their organization is “organized.”
“If we said yes to everyone, we would now have 500,000 members,” Henares says.”But we have to be careful. We need to make sure the members we have are legitimate.Fortunately, we have won any court case of fraud.”
Bibe Roldan, co-founder of Manila Clothing at FB (13,000 members), runs a small catering business, but is also satisfied with increased pandemic resale activity.Like Henares, he only wins pieces he sells.
Roldan has worked in sales and marketing for a liquor company for 15 years, where she attended many parties, wearing new clothes only once, reselling them has become a herbal resort, so you can buy new clothes for use. Instagram, he says, many other people might not repeat the clothes they have already been seen in.
Roldan now also sells excess stock or “damaged” parts (e.g. with lipstick marks) unloaded through retailers.Many resellers like him have normal parts suppliers for sale.
“I’m a single mother and it’s a way to increase my income,” says Roldan, who is also a member of other buying and promotion groups.He also sells his belongings on Instagram.
“On a smart day, I earn more than I earned in a week at my old job,” Roldan says.”The pandemic was given even more, because now I publish almost daily.I only did it on weekends.”
“If I were at it, yes, it would be a full-time lucrative job,” Foz says.”But I only do it secondaryly. You earn as much as you invest.
Response time is fast, adds Foz.The items you publish sell in 24 hours.In a typical group, only 30% are sellers, the rest are buyers.”That’s why it’s lucrative.”
At The Hungry Closet, men now make up 6% of the members.”They send me a message and ask me for a designer shoulder to put the essentials on the occasion of a pandemic,” he says.
Items sold on those equipment range from fast second-hand fashion clothing and attractive products to handbags, shoes, clothing and accessories from high-priced designers.It is also unusual to locate new, unused or “newly installed” items.There are also equipment that only sells luxury bags or shoes.
Henares says that now it is quite difficult to publish designer logos because FB informs them. Marketers overcome the challenge by scratching the logo logos on their images or writing the logo callout in their product description.
Some, such as 20-year-old Frea Capco Gabay, founder of The Hoarder’s Closet (16,000 members at FB), have also promoted fine jewelry.
Gabay, a fine arts student at the University of the Philippines Diliman, her organization just to order her wardrobe. When he received many applications, he awakened his entrepreneurial spirit.
Of all those distributors, however, only Gabay reported a drop in sales, “maybe because no one needs to spend so much now, especially on jewelry, that I focus on,” he says.Their own old customers are ‘mainly titas with a solid income’.
His room for manoeuvre has given this Generation Z student some monetary independence.The Gabays supported him so much that his father even lent him capital.
Quarantine gave others the chance to dig into their closets.
“What I’ve seen is that since the pandemic, other people have been getting rid of their luxury goods,” says Mary Shayne Castrillo, founder of FB Wardrobe Warehouse (6,000 members) and Sole Sanctum (5,000 members).
“They sell them cheaply, maybe because they want cash or because they don’t want those pieces right now,” Castrillo adds.”In my group, they sold their 200,000 P Hermes bag for just 50,000 P.”
Angel Go Favis Macasling, a former executive at a luxury retail company, is now also engaged in full-time resale.
“You’d be surprised who buys and sells products on Facebook,” says Macasling, who is also the moderator of The Hungry Closet.”Some are celebrities, some villages are closed. We call them “silent ladies.”Rich or not, it’s exciting to find a smart offer there.»
She adds: “We are very strict with what is sold on the site.We clean carefully. We’re detecting red flags. Nothing is beyond us.
Henares says that because she and her moderators are luxury fashion buyers, they know the brands and can detect fakes even in photos.All the articles published in them are reviewed and approved, a gigantic task for those women, who say they do.of the love of fashion.
Macasling basically sells products from his trips abroad, some used, some surplus from his purchases.”It’s a smart source of income,” he says. I inspire everyone to do it.Look in your closet.As they say, possibly pear sa garbage, ‘wag lang masyadong garbage.Make sure what you sell is decent. We do not approve publications of poor quality articles.”sidebar to know how to resell favorite products).
During the closing, Macasling also hesitated over the long term of his small business, but surprised her when buyers continued to ask, showed up to pay immediately and were even willing to wait until the lock was loosened for her to ship the items.She says other people basically buy clothes “except winter clothes because they can’t travel.”
The stories of these online stores are contrary to what is happening in shopping malls around the world, where brands and outlets have become those affected by the pandemic, the definitive outlets or about to close.
According to the recent 2020 resale report through ThredUp, the largest and second-hand store in the United States, the resale economy is about to soar further, backed by the conversion of environmental and economic values.
As the retail industry contracts, the report predicts that the resale market will grow up to five times over the next five years, valued at around $64 billion in the United States.
Closer to home, even the possibility of contracting the virus in packages did not seem to deter online shoppers.
“I bought all the UV and steam disinfectants,” Henares says.”But it’s safe to wash and disinfect everything you buy, especially now, even when you buy it new.I’m glad we never had a problem.”
When asked what he thinks of the government taking strong action against online sellers, which has sparked protests among Internet users, Foz said, “Our items are more commonly preferred, they are not even taxable.
… We are small-scale and it is very easy to scare small entrepreneurs.This is especially sad for those who depend on their low revenue from the online sales of this pandemic.”
“These are used, so we sell with losses,” says Roldán, “I hope they don’t chase us.”
Since buying and selling, Foz, a fashion-loving consumer, is now reconsidering before paying the maximum value for anything.Enjoy online hunting as much as the next buyer.
These women agree that Filipinos are aware of their logo and obviously many other people are no longer special, whether they buy something new or not.
“We’re attracted to logos, maski pangit,” Foz laughs.”And for someone who aspires to a logo but can’t value in the store, this is the most productive solution.”
But why have Filipinos become accustomed to buying groceries “in advance,” the jargon of the economy resale of used or used vehicles?
“I think it’s economics, besides grocery shopping delighting on social media, even on a virtual platform,” Says Foz.”We love the instant gratification and excitement of finding a bargain.It’s also exciting because now we can make industry at any time of the day.There is less contact with others, which helps minimize transmission of the virus.”
“Pandemic or non-pandemic, Filipinos love shopping,” Henares says.
While many of the garments sold on those platforms are fashionable, these stores rationalize that “it is environmentally friendly because instead of throwing them away, they can be reused,” Foz explains.This is no longer new to you, but it’s new to others.
“This way we’re saving the planet,” Henares says.
Current. Dynamic. Person known.