The RealReal hired a horologist in its second year, because someone had to tell a real Rolex from a fake. Julie Wainwright launched the company in 2011 to resell the luxury goods that sat unworn in people's closets. By March 2019 it had sold 11.4 million items. That June it went public as what it called the world's largest online marketplace for authenticated, consigned luxury goods, with the resale boom just reaching the mainstream.

The Closet as Inventory

The RealReal did not buy what it sold. Owners sent in handbags, jewelry, watches and dresses, and the company took a cut of each sale. Its staff photographed, priced and checked every item for authenticity. The mission line in the prospectus said the future of luxury was circular. Wainwright's bet was that buyers would trust a secondhand designer piece online if a company stood behind it.

Twenty Dollars and a Long Slide

The RealReal priced at $20 a share in June 2019 and listed on Nasdaq as REAL. The stock jumped on its first day. Losses and the cost of checking every item weighed on it over the next three years, and the shares fell far below the IPO price. Wainwright stepped down as CEO in June 2022. The company cut costs, closed stores and is still public on Nasdaq.

Cover: The Milliner, Félix Edouard Vallotton. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a milliner's shop (luxury fashion).