The RealReal sees December GMV lift 49% on pre-pandemic levels

By

Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
Jan 7, 2022

Online luxury resale platform The Real Real announced on Thursday that gross merchandise value (GMV) for December recorded a 40 percent uptick on the year prior, and a 49 percent gain on pre-pandemic December 2019.

The San Francisco-based retailer said GMV for December last year totalled $153 million, while December's average order value (AOV) was approximately $518, an increase of 10% and 4% compared to the same periods in 2020 and 2019, respectively.

By product, watches, women’s shoes and women’s apparel were the fastest growing categories in December.

In an earnings preview, the RealReal said it believed that disclosing monthly GMV and AOV "provided additional transparency regarding the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic" on its business.

Preliminarily, The RealReal said fourth-quarter GMV and AOV increased 45 percent and 13 percent, respectively, compared to the same period in 2020. Likewise, GMV and AOV were up 44 percent and 7 percent, respectively, compared to the same quarter in 2019.

Looking ahead, the company said it plans to return to a more typical quarterly and annual guidance cadence in 2022 and will no longer provide monthly business updates going forward.

Founded in 2011 by Julie Wainwright, The RealReal is one of the world's leading luxury resale platforms for authenticated goods, with over 24 million members.