How to Shop The RealReal Like a Pro

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Sometime during 2020, spending time on the internet lost its shine. Scrolling became doom-scrolling. The occasional family Skype became a mosaic of endless WFH Zooms. In response, more and more people seem to be reducing their screentime and embracing analog. A cottage industry has sprouted up around products that promise to help reduce screentime (along with a symbiotic subgenre of thinkpieces has emerged to analyze the trend). 

Now, some people have devoted all this newfound, screenless free time to learning a new language or rediscovering other angelic analog hobbies. Not me. Amid my general divestment from virtual life, I’ve retreated to the only online sanctuary that remains: The RealReal. I tend to my TRR account daily, like a runner training for a marathon or a gardener caring for a new crop. Mornings once devoted to doomscrolling social media are now spent blissfully scrolling my Saved Searches. Afternoon work breaks once lost to TikTok are happily filled by perusing Editor’s Picks. It is the one website that brings me a sense of peace and ambient productivity, with the added promise of a Prada cardigan at the end. 

Never one to gatekeep, I’ve translated my 10,000 hours in The RealReal trenches into 5 essential tips for shopping The RealReal like a pro. My expertise shopping secondhand online has become so well-honed that my friends routinely ask me to solve their ultra-specific shopping needs: Looking for a size 7 pair of ankle-height cowboy boots? I know the exact keywords to find the perfect pair. Need a dupe for a sold-out Miu Miu cardigan? I’ve got 10 options from Marni saved in my Obsessions page at half the price. 

And I’ve found a bona fide The RealReal insider to give us the scoop on how to find the best deals on the site: TRR’s own VP of Sales, Erin Antesberger. I consulted Erin to fact-check my findings and get some insider-approved tips and tricks for maximizing your time on The RealReal. 

Without further ado, here are the top 5 expert tips for mastering The RealReal:

#1: Use Obsessions Like A Personal Sample Sale

Sourced on The RealReal: Prada cardigan, Agnes B. heels, Agnes B. collared shirt

My fantastic The RealReal consignment concierge Sasha advised me to make returning to the Obsessions page an anchor of my The RealReal routine. Now I  use my Obsessions page like a super-sale tab, curated by me, for me. That baby blue Prada cardigan that was $50 out of my price range when it was first listed? Two weeks and a couple rounds of markdowns later, and it suddenly fit well within my budget. If I hadn’t checked back in on my Obsessions page, I would’ve missed the markdown altogether. While newly listed items are fun to discover, regularly returning to the Obsessions I’ve already saved has gotten me the best deals on items I’ve already vetted. That cardigan became a cornerstone of my shoulder season uniform, and I’m pretty sure it’s the sole reason the post above went viral (I’ve never gotten so many DMs about a fit pic in my life – which I’m happy to say was almost entirely sourced on TRR). Erin Antesberger, TRR’s VP of Sales, agrees, and added an extra insider tip: “You can also save SOLD items to your wishlist and get notified if they come back in stock—I’ve scored some of my most coveted pieces this way.”

#2: Build Your Uniform

This brings me to my second biggest tip to make your time on the site ultra-efficient: Build Your Uniform. Think of this like you’re building a custom capsule wardrobe, tailored to your personal taste. First, spend a little time analyzing your closet IRL. Make a list of the top 5 brands you already wear and love, and take note of the categories your favorite pieces fall under. Be ruthless: not the clothes you wish you wore, but the high-quality workhorses that you always reach for. Then note your sizing and whether you tend to stick to certain brands in certain categories: Do you own 3 Dries Van Noten button ups that fit perfectly? Or are both of your best date night dresses Diane Von Furstenberg? Congratulations: you have the makings of a perfect personal uniform, and some key data to streamline your TRR searches. 

Next, create a Saved Search for your size in each of your top 5 brands (bonus points for getting specific about categories and colors). Then, make your My Saved Searches page your first stop when visiting The RealReal. This way, even if you only have 5 minutes to check in, you’re efficiently scrolling items with a much higher chance of fitting both your body and your existing wardrobe. I can’t tell you how much this has helped me feel organized and focused while navigating TRR’s endless options. Erin agrees: “I always recommend using saved searches—they’re one of the most powerful tools on TRR. You can get incredibly specific, which makes finding exactly what you want much easier. For example, I recently set up a search for a brown dress in a particular price range and a size medium for my sister’s wedding. Instead of scrolling through thousands of listings, I was able to quickly narrow in on the right options—and found the perfect dress. I also use saved searches to follow smaller and emerging designers I love. By setting them in my size, I’ve essentially created a personalized, curated shopping experience within TRR.”

#3. Timing Matters

The RealReal updates their selections daily at 10am and 7pm ET. Knowing this comes especially in handy when shopping for more popular brands (Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc) that have a high volume of shoppers snapping up the best pieces. Sometimes I’ve observed a third drop in the afternoon, but it seems like the bulk of listings go live during the two big daily drops. Check the site right after the daily update to browse fresh listings and get a head start on the rest of the crowd.

#4. Shop Off Season

A little planning goes a long way. People generally shop seasonally, and prices reflect that fluctuation in demand. An example: if it’s November and winter is on the horizon, there will be way more demand for winter coats, so those items will move faster and have fewer juicy markdowns. But if you’re able to think ahead to warmer times and shop for summer skirts instead, you’ll be shopping in less popular corners of the site. This will drastically increase your chances to find the best deals. (The inverse applies to how you time consigning items you want to sell on The RealReal – I save my outerwear to consign in fall/winter, my sundresses to consign in spring/summer, etc. That way I’m selling my items when their demand is highest.)

#5: For Rare Finds, Try First Look 

There are some items so hot they seem like they’re impossible to snap up before someone else has it held in their cart: think Miu Miu micro miniskirts, Tom Ford era Gucci, etc. If you’re looking for one of these specific, high-demand pieces, joining First Look may be your best shot at beating other shoppers to your holy grail item. Erin confirmed my hunch: “For shoppers searching for specific pieces, First Look Membership gives you an early edge. Members get access to new arrivals 24 hours before the public—significantly increasing your chances of securing that hard-to-find item. Pro tip: consignors who reach VIP Rewards status receive a complimentary First Look Membership.” For $12 a month, you get 24 hr advance access before pieces go live for everyone else. They also have perks like members-only sales and extended deadlines on the site’s Shop More Earn More feature. There’s also a “Platinum First Look” subscription, which gives you the First Look perks plus unlimited upgrades to 2 day shipping, but I don’t think that’s necessary for most shoppers.

‍Have a burning secondhand shopping question? Yearning for more advanced secondhand shopping tips on The RealReal and elsewhere? Feel free to email hannah@thequalityedit.com and I’ll put together an advice hotline for all your emergency shopping needs.