Does "Obsessing" an Item Actually Predict Its Price?

On The RealReal, buyers click the heart icon to "Obsess" over an item, saving it to their watchlist. But does a high heart count mean the item is more valuable, or will sell for a higher price? Our machine learning team dug into the correlation between hearts and sold prices.

The Surprising Truth

The answer is: It depends entirely on the brand and category. Heart counts are not a universal signal of high price.

Where Hearts = Higher Prices (Positive Correlation)

• KITH Jackets: +85.7% correlation. High hype drives both hearts and clearing price.
• Cara Cara Casual: +79.3% correlation.
• Coach Crossbody Bags: +77.7% correlation.

Where Hearts = Lower Prices (Negative Correlation)

In some categories, high obsessions actually correlate with a lower clearing price. This usually happens when an item is priced too high initially—lots of people "watch" it waiting for a price drop, but no one buys until the price bottoms out.

• Jimmy Choo Platforms: -74.0% correlation.
• Mach & Mach High Heels: -73.5% correlation.
• Christian Dior Square Bags: -59.0% correlation.

Conclusion

Don't let a high heart count intimidate you into buying immediately. Often, it just means 100 other people are also waiting for the price to drop.