Liisa Jokinen is the founder of Gem — an absolute must-try tool for anyone who loves discovering vintage and secondhand items. She also runs NYC Looks and Hel Looks, which spotlight street styles in New York City and Helsinki, respectively. She sits down with The Sequin Lead to share her practical resale tips, tricks, and success stories — and lets us into her life a marathon runner, vegetarian, and music lover. Want access to the full extended interview? Sign up for Club Sequin.

What is Gem?

Gem is the search engine for all online vintage and secondhand clothing and accessories. It brings all online used clothing into one search and helps people to quickly locate items they are looking for. Gem is available worldwide as a website and in App Store & Google Play.

Who is Gem for?

For anyone who wants to shop used before new! Our goal is to make shopping secondhand as convenient as shopping new. Gem is especially useful for people who don’t have time to go thrifting or who are looking for some specific used clothing items; whether it is a specific brand, decade, color, type of garment or something else!

How does someone use Gem?

It is simple! You just type in what you are looking for (for example “70s prairie dress” or “blue Levi’s 501”) and we show relevant listings from big platforms like Etsy and eBay and from hundreds of independent online stores. If you want to buy the item, you tap the previews on Gem and head to the original store to make the purchase. 

What is your favorite Gem feature users might not know about?

New item alerts! You can get email alerts for new specific listings. Getting those emails to my mailbox is such a great way to start the day. Like a mini Xmas every morning!

Do you have any standout success stories of users trying to find a particularly rare or unique item?

Vintage vendor Laura Lanz-Frolio of La Poubelle Vintage managed to find her wedding dress using Gem app. Some users have been hunting items for over a decade until they finally found the holy grail with Gem. You can see more of these stories on our Instagram Stories under Found With Gem.

What’s on your Spotify playlist right now?

I love following my friend Aleksi Pahkala’s Päivän Biisit (“the songs of the day”) list. I am not able to follow the music scene as much as when I was my in 20s so I’m thankful that someone else does curation and discoveries for me. Aleksi’s list is a fun mix of Finnish and international music, big stars and unknown names, all genres.

For readers who are just getting started shopping and selling fashion resale, what have you learned over time that you wish you knew sooner?

You don’t need to buy each and every fun piece you find. Do not hoard clothes even if they are cheap or secondhand. You can only wear so much during your lifetime. Try to buy only things that you truly love and that fit you well – forget tailoring; at least I’m too lazy to take my ill-fitting clothes to a tailor and they end up just sitting in my closet. Oftentimes I make bad purchases when someone else recommends a piece to me. After all it is only me who knows my style and in what kind of clothes I feel comfortable in.

Where can people follow Gem?

Gem website | Download on App Store · Google Play | Follow on Instagram · Facebook · Twitter

Want access to the full extended interview? Sign up for Club Sequin.