RC Academy
Playbooks for merchants who run the numbers
Written from what we analyse every day — the luxury market end to end: marketplace pricing, the biggest brands, and the AI wave reshaping retail. Real value in the open; the full depth lands on WhatsApp.
Flagship report · 2026The State of Luxury Retail AutomationThe operator's index: where the trade runs, where the margin leaks, and what the AI buyer changes. →Agentic commerce · 12 minThe AI-Buyer Readiness PlaybookAI agents are starting to decide where luxury clients buy. They cannot be charmed, they cannot browse your Instagram — they read s…Read the open half →Sales · 10 minWhatsApp Deal Flow: From Group Chaos to PipelineThe deals are already in your phone — buried in trade groups that scroll faster than you can read. This is the operator’s method f…Read the open half →Payments · 8 minThe True Cost of Taking Cards in LuxuryOn a £30,000 watch, the difference between 2.5% card fees and 0.4% payment rails is £630 — per deal, every deal. This guide walks …Read the open half →Accounting · 9 minMargin-Scheme VAT Without the Lost WeekendSecond-hand dealers live on the VAT margin scheme — and most reconstruct it in a panic at quarter-end. This guide covers estimatin…Read the open half →Inventory · 8 minStale Stock: The Capital Sitting in Your SafeA listing untouched for 90 days is capital doing nothing — never repriced, never reshot, quietly eating margin. This guide covers …Read the open half →Operations · 9 minMulti-Channel Without Double-SellingSold on WhatsApp, still live on Chrono24, eBay and your site — every dealer has felt that stomach drop. This guide covers running …Read the open half →Trust · 9 minEarning a Five-Figure Buyer’s Trust in 30 SecondsA collector about to wire £30,000 to a name they found online makes the trust decision in seconds — from your rating, your reviews…Read the open half →Pricing · 8 minPrice It or Perish: Why POA Is Killing Your Reach“Price on application” feels like control. To an AI buyer it means invisible — they filter and rank on price, and a listing withou…Read the open half →Sales · 7 minThe 90-Second Rule: Speed as a Luxury SignalAt five figures, the first dealer to answer well usually wins. Not the cheapest, not the biggest — the fastest to a real, human, o…Read the open half →