This Week's Obsession: Purple Friday and The Perfect Gift

It's that time of year where we are once again are faced with Black Friday sales.  For some it's the favourite day of the year, for others, it's cringe worthy.  We would put ourselves in the latter camp. Here's why: 

Black Friday was first popularised in the United States but is now reaching global status due to companies like Amazon. It's quite interesting that the term was first used in reference to a gold market scam in 1849. It was later a term that police officers in Philadelphia used to describe a hellish day after Thanksgiving. Large crowds of shoppers and tourists would head into the centre of the city to watch the Army v Navy American Football game. This led to big traffic jams, shoplifting, and general chaos all round. So historically, it definitely didn't start off with a positive attribution. 

The term was popularised in retail in the 1920's and has spawned other big sales days like Singles Day and Cyber Monday.  All of which now start to feel like a license to conspicuously consume.  We are a sharing platform, our ethos has always been having more of what you want through sharing, and being a more conscious consumer at the same time.  Therefore several years back we started Purple Monday and have since moved it to Purple Friday, our antidote to Black Friday  By choosing sharing or circular gifts for the holidays, we felt we and our customers could help contribute to reducing overconsumption.  

This year we are even more excited about Purple Friday, because of our collaboration with Front Row UK, the luxury fashion rental platform.  Our joint mission is to create the first fully circular platform as one means of reducing overproduction and conspicuous consumption in the luxury sector. Creating a way for people to choose how they consume based on their behaviour and use.

Purple Friday is a way to build awareness of our new ownership and access models for luxury fashion, accessories, and fine jewellery that can really contribute to reducing overconsumption but still allow people who love luxury to get their "fix."

Is the Perfect Gift a Gift Card?

If you care about the environment, if very well may be.  And if this year you're wondering what to get the designer bag or jewellery lover in your life this holiday season, might we suggest a gift card towards a share in a coveted designer bag or a share in the jewellery piece of her dreams. 

As gift ideas for women goes, gift cards may feel somewhat impersonal; however, returns is an issue not just for the receiver who has to take the time and effort to make the return, and find a suitable replacement, but for the planet. 

In 2020 10.6% of holiday gifts in the US alone (about $428 billion in value) were returned, according to McKinsey. Two of every three customers will return at least one gift in the 2022 holiday season, according to Optoro, a U.S.-based logistics company specialising in returned merchandise.

What happens to this returned merchandise? 

Many retailers trash, incinerate, or donate these returns, given the high costs of customer service, transportation, product quality assurance, storage, and restocking. Just up the road from the site that hosted the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, an undercover investigation of an Amazon UK fulfilment centre found that most returns and unsold items were destroyed. 

So online gift cards, surprisingly, can help our planet. Besides the fact they can be sent virtually, even if they are sent through the post, they are much more eco-friendly AND there are no returns, no reverse logistics, no destroyed items adding to our landfill or polluting our air. And you give the gift of choice, the receiver gets exactly want they want or in our case, always something more! 

There are many reasons why our gift cards will be the unrivalled gift of the holidays season.  Here's out top 5: 

1.  Having access to more designer bags or fine jewellery gives her the power to pick exactly what she wants.  

2. She doesn't have to choose, a particular bag or piece of jewellery.  With our model you can have shared ownership of five from the price of one!

3. She can continue to be part of circularity by trading in her item when she's interested in something new. 

4. Jewellery lovers who want access to different pieces for any event or just because, can purchase a jewellery subscription for up to 12 different pieces during the year! 

5. Being part of the new wave of conscious consumerism will make your loved one feel she's doing something positive for the environment.  

Our gift cards our specific to what you'd like to gift your loved one.  We have a designer bag lover's gift card, a jewellery lovers gift card and one for our jewellery subscriptions.  So while it's personalised to what your gift receiver covets, the good news is these are flexible and can be used for any purchase on our site.  Just in case, that your bag lover decides she rather have a jewellery subscription or vice versa. 

So this year be the gift giving genius of the season! And of course, you can always drop the hint to the "gifters" in your life, that you would love a Covett gift card of this year. 

Jewellery Lover or Bag Lover? Why Choose?

Sometimes you just can't choose and with our Circular Luxury Club, you don't have to. Have the Hermès Kelly and a pre-loved Cartier LOVE full diamond bracelet for less than a £10k investment! 

Hermès Kelly 28cm Handbag
£27,500 Retail Value
£6,050 Share 

Cartier Full LOVE Diamond Bracelet
£12,500 Retail Value
£2,500 Share

 Or you can have this season's Chanel backpack matched with a lovely Banaut diamond necklace for less than £5K.

Chanel Patent Backpack
£4,040 Retail Value
£888 Share

Baunat Nathu Diamond Design Necklace
£14,450 Retail Value
£3,180 Share 

Or to add charm to the everyday, we suggest a Bottega Veneta Chain Clutch and an Ouroboros Hero Pendant for under £2k. 

Bottega Veneta Chain Pouch
£2,840 Retail Value
£625 Share

Ouroboros Hero Pendant
£4,990 Retail Value
£998 Share