The Tamesis
Ever wonder how much your wardrobe is worth if you calculated it? The RealReal wants to make this calculation easy and incorporate it into your consignment habits.
Today, The RealReal launches MyCloset, an artificial intelligence feature that not only helps users understand the value of their closet inventory, but also track changes in that value — serving as a portfolio management tool for fashion collectors. Users can upload inventory, track an item’s price and popularity, and see when an item is expected to rise or fall to inform when (or if) it will be sold, giving customers access to the same data the company has. Users can also look up items when deciding whether or when to buy. This feature will continue to roll out in 2026.
“This tool educates people on what to sell, what to upgrade, what to keep,” said CEO Rati Sahi Levesque. “It tells you what you’re going to get based on the market.”[Our users] “They want to know what has resale value and what doesn’t,” Levesque said.
We hope it keeps users in The RealReal’s resale ecosystem rather than in competitors’ ecosystems. After a rocky post-IPO period in 2019, when The RealReal’s revenue took a pandemic hit, the company has returned to growth for five consecutive quarters. To turn things around, The RealReal began investing in improving back-end operations, focusing on luxury and high-ticket items; returning to a consignment model; and adding artificial intelligence integration. The RealReal will become profitable in 2023 and continues to improve operational efficiency, growing 15% year-over-year in fiscal 2025, ending what Levesque calls a “year of transformation.”
The RealReal’s first-quarter revenue, announced today, increased 19% year over year to $190 million, reflecting this continued progress. In light of this, The RealReal is raising its full-year guidance and now expects fiscal 2026 revenue to be in the range of $769 to $783 million.
“We lost a lot of money,” Levesque said. “Fortunately, this is behind us. It was a difficult time for the company.” Levesque said that after making necessary operational changes, the company is now in a better position to grow.
MyCloset is available to all users, but is most useful for those who want to sell high-ticket items, as this is the category for which The RealReal is best suited. “If you’re selling something for under $100, can you make the most money with us? Probably not. Peer-to-peer, right? We’re not that channel,” Levesque said. “But if you have mid-range to high-end items, you’re going to make the most money with us. The reason is consumers are willing to spend $20,000 on a bag in seconds.”
