Pawnshops began opening resale stores

Against the backdrop of rising prices and restrictions on imports into Russia, pawnshop networks began to develop the market for secondary sales of pawned goods to retail buyers. The first such branches under the new brand “Resale Market” have already been launched by Mosgorlombard. This year, the First Jewelry Pawnshop chain began opening stores with used equipment. The development of resale is a logical step for pawnshop chains, but they will have to resolve issues with organizing the service, experts point out.

The Mosgorlombard chain has singled out a retail format and opened the first points, designed primarily for the sale of unclaimed deposits to retail buyers – used fur, jewelry and equipment with further expansion of the assortment, the company told Kommersant. In Moscow, the first two sales points under the Retail Market brand opened in the shopping galleries of the Auchan hypermarkets in Marfino and on Proletarsky Prospekt; two more Retail Markets will open by the end of 2023 in the Mega shopping centers, also next to Auchan. , explained in Mosgorlombard. Auchan did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

“Resale Markets” will have a larger area compared to regular branches (about 30 sq. m) and will be located in shopping centers with high traffic, Mosgorlombard explained. If the pilot project is successful, Mosgorlombard will continue to develop the retail format, says MGKL CEO Alexey Lazutin.

Now there is a noticeable trend in the industry towards opening resale stores, notes Artem Evstratov, co-owner of the First Jewelry Pawnshop chain. According to him, the group this year opened its first five stores selling equipment. But, for example, the Fianit-Lombard network, as its general director Stanislav Boronin says, has enough of its own branches where unclaimed pledges are actively sold. Pawnshops sell unclaimed jewelry to recyclers, but resale is the most cost-effective way to sell them; for fur products and electronics there is practically no alternative to resale stores, Mr. Boronin believes.

According to Mosgorlombard, the resale market today is about 1 trillion rubles, and by 2027 it could grow to 3 trillion rubles. This network of pawnshops expects to take a 3-5% share of this market. The growing popularity of resale is facilitated by a reduction in imports and rising prices, says Artem Evstratov.

The development of retail is a logical step for pawnshop chains, says Infoline-Analytics CEO Mikhail Burmistrov. For example, the marginality of selling used electronics and mobile devices is higher than new ones, especially for parallel imports, he points out. But such work, as in the case of other goods, requires certain competencies, the expert emphasizes. For example, according to him, it would be advisable to combine the sale of used equipment with services for its maintenance and repair, and this will be more difficult for pawnshop networks to do than for large electronics networks that also operate in resale. The co-founder of the resale platform The Cultt, Maria Manaeva, points out that discounter networks selling such goods are a promising format against the background of the difficult economic situation in Russia.

Polina Gritsenko