I know you're trying to be good TV, but I'm pretty sure the price is negotiable based on what I know of the seller.
Birkenomics
- Thread starter taxvixen
- Start date
I know you're trying to be good TV, but I'm pretty sure the price is negotiable based on what I know of the seller.
my birkenomics is "supposely" based on this.
it comes from 2 people's mom. (mine and my friend's)
mine mom says "you don't need to get that bag..you are not at that LEVEL yet.<--refer to the status bag issue. but if you really really like it. then save your money and JUST GET ONE"
my friend's mom says
"if you have to look at the price tag, you can't afford it""<--brutal but bloody truth.
for me..I will be much happier when I have the money in the bank account to buy the bag that I obesse day and night about. I want a perfect bag with no stress no worry and happy buying experience. I want to purchase the bag and still have money in that bag!
but if I see that dream bag..I HOPE I will have that self control. (which I may NOT be sstrong enough). must...be...level..headed...must...self..control....
it comes from 2 people's mom. (mine and my friend's)
mine mom says "you don't need to get that bag..you are not at that LEVEL yet.<--refer to the status bag issue. but if you really really like it. then save your money and JUST GET ONE"
my friend's mom says
"if you have to look at the price tag, you can't afford it""<--brutal but bloody truth.
for me..I will be much happier when I have the money in the bank account to buy the bag that I obesse day and night about. I want a perfect bag with no stress no worry and happy buying experience. I want to purchase the bag and still have money in that bag!
but if I see that dream bag..I HOPE I will have that self control. (which I may NOT be sstrong enough). must...be...level..headed...must...self..control....
Ok, I'm always a bit wary about admitting to this but this is part of my "history" and as I said, it's HISTORY so it's all in the past so here goes - I just don't want anyone to made the mistake that I did ...
I used to be one of those people who put things on the credit card and worry about the bill later. This is a habit that started when I was 19 when I was still in school. Back then, university student is a huge target for credit card companies. Everyday I would see booths and tables set up everywhere on campus where students were lured with freebies as long as they fill out a form for credit cards. Like an idiot I did just that and ended up with lots of credit cards and high credit limits which exceeded my own savings.
That was when the trouble started.
My parents had always taught me to save. They are very frugal individuals and that was why they were able to pay over $40000 a year for me to go to my university. However, in spite of what they taught me, the stubborn and greedy side of me decided to do things "my way". So I charged these cards and bought whatever I wanted, which by now I couldn't even remember what they were (they weren't purses, I wasn't into them then). The thing with credit cards is that sometimes it doesn't feel like "money", so I always told myself that I would "worry" about it later.
Time and again my folks would have to bail me out, which did cause problems for us in the future (which partly explains why my Mom's the way she is toward me today). Anyways, this problem persisted and it became a vicious cycle of bad spending habit. Everytime I paid off my cards, I would get interested in something else again and do it all over. It kept happening until 2 years ago.
Two years ago was when I had gotten into purse obsessions. Buying 7 Louis Vuitton purses in one month at the time was definitely buying beyond my means. Shortly afterwards, I got addicted to Hermes, which did not help. However, buying Hermes had become a wake up call for me when I saw my credit card bill. 30K in credit card debt was NO JOKING MATTER! Yes, I was making payments every month but it had gotten to the point where the finance charges was almost as much as the payments I made to the cards. That was when I realized that this had to STOP! The high debt-to-income ratio was damaging my credit and if I want to buy a house one day, I am going to NEED good credit ... Furthermore, my SO had excellent credit and he had expressed that he did not to marry a girl with bad credit and debt issues. So finally, I got my act together.
I sold off ALL of my designer bags - LV, Dior, Fendi, Gucci, you name it. It was a long and arduous process that was full of stress. Selling on eBay was stressful because I was always wondering whether I could sell my stuff and recoup enough money. It took me close to ONE YEAR to get rid of my inventory and I took some major losses on them. I had to sell several of my Faberge eggs (those were sold at a profit) as well. However, all these efforts had paid off helped me pay off ALL my debts. For the first time in many years, I was finally debt free.
Let me tell you, it feels GOOD to be debt free. It feels good to know that there isn't something hanging over your head. It feels REALLY GOOD when you don't have to worry about money. The stress involved in recouping money had really traumatized me. It traumatized me enough that I balked at the idea of being in debt again ... This is precisely WHY nowadays I manage my funds before I spend. I make sure at least 80% to 90% of my income goes to saving and the other 10% or any money earned via overtime goes toward my bag funds.
Yes, I do make purchases on credit but I make sure I pay it off before the finance charge start to accumulate. If it's going to take over a month, I make sure it's done on a card that won't charge me interest. Even then, the window of time for payment is very narrow so I make sure I have enough funds and will have enough funds to pay before I actually charge my cards. And this is also WHY I am refraining from buying my beloved fuchsia ostrich Bolide and trying so hard to unload my Goyard and Hermes accessories and clothes - because I do not feel like sticking 11K on my credit card as that's an amount that will certainly take over one billing cycle to pay off ...
Credit card debt has become a global issue. Some people used to say that it's an issue with the United States. However, this is no longer true. You see, it used to be tough to get a credit card in some Asian countries. You had to make a high income before you can be qualified. In the recent years, however, such regulation has changed. Now young people with insufficient income can get credit cards from banks or dept stores. A lot of them are falling into the pitfall of overspending and putting themselves into debt. What's even worse is that many of them did not read the fine prints about finance charges and end up finding themselves in quite a rut.
In Taiwan, credit card debt had become a serious issues. Parents with insufficient income charged up their credit card to the max because of family emergencies or necessities later on found themselves at the end of the road because they were unable to pay the debt and the exorbitant interests. Young people also found themselves in the same boat. Because this was a new problem, there weren't really any debt consolidating services or regulations on debt collection set up. As a result, there were tragedies where people committed suicide because they could not deal with the collection's agencies threats and pressure.
Anyways, the point of this long response is that while I feel that it's definitely an individual's choice on how to spend one's money - whether it be cash in hand, put it on credit, or simply just take out a loan, I really feel that it's best to charge your purchase on the card only when you know you will not put yourself in a compromising financial situation later on. I hope this response didn't offend anyone ...
I used to be one of those people who put things on the credit card and worry about the bill later. This is a habit that started when I was 19 when I was still in school. Back then, university student is a huge target for credit card companies. Everyday I would see booths and tables set up everywhere on campus where students were lured with freebies as long as they fill out a form for credit cards. Like an idiot I did just that and ended up with lots of credit cards and high credit limits which exceeded my own savings.
That was when the trouble started.
My parents had always taught me to save. They are very frugal individuals and that was why they were able to pay over $40000 a year for me to go to my university. However, in spite of what they taught me, the stubborn and greedy side of me decided to do things "my way". So I charged these cards and bought whatever I wanted, which by now I couldn't even remember what they were (they weren't purses, I wasn't into them then). The thing with credit cards is that sometimes it doesn't feel like "money", so I always told myself that I would "worry" about it later.
Time and again my folks would have to bail me out, which did cause problems for us in the future (which partly explains why my Mom's the way she is toward me today). Anyways, this problem persisted and it became a vicious cycle of bad spending habit. Everytime I paid off my cards, I would get interested in something else again and do it all over. It kept happening until 2 years ago.
Two years ago was when I had gotten into purse obsessions. Buying 7 Louis Vuitton purses in one month at the time was definitely buying beyond my means. Shortly afterwards, I got addicted to Hermes, which did not help. However, buying Hermes had become a wake up call for me when I saw my credit card bill. 30K in credit card debt was NO JOKING MATTER! Yes, I was making payments every month but it had gotten to the point where the finance charges was almost as much as the payments I made to the cards. That was when I realized that this had to STOP! The high debt-to-income ratio was damaging my credit and if I want to buy a house one day, I am going to NEED good credit ... Furthermore, my SO had excellent credit and he had expressed that he did not to marry a girl with bad credit and debt issues. So finally, I got my act together.
I sold off ALL of my designer bags - LV, Dior, Fendi, Gucci, you name it. It was a long and arduous process that was full of stress. Selling on eBay was stressful because I was always wondering whether I could sell my stuff and recoup enough money. It took me close to ONE YEAR to get rid of my inventory and I took some major losses on them. I had to sell several of my Faberge eggs (those were sold at a profit) as well. However, all these efforts had paid off helped me pay off ALL my debts. For the first time in many years, I was finally debt free.
Let me tell you, it feels GOOD to be debt free. It feels good to know that there isn't something hanging over your head. It feels REALLY GOOD when you don't have to worry about money. The stress involved in recouping money had really traumatized me. It traumatized me enough that I balked at the idea of being in debt again ... This is precisely WHY nowadays I manage my funds before I spend. I make sure at least 80% to 90% of my income goes to saving and the other 10% or any money earned via overtime goes toward my bag funds.
Yes, I do make purchases on credit but I make sure I pay it off before the finance charge start to accumulate. If it's going to take over a month, I make sure it's done on a card that won't charge me interest. Even then, the window of time for payment is very narrow so I make sure I have enough funds and will have enough funds to pay before I actually charge my cards. And this is also WHY I am refraining from buying my beloved fuchsia ostrich Bolide and trying so hard to unload my Goyard and Hermes accessories and clothes - because I do not feel like sticking 11K on my credit card as that's an amount that will certainly take over one billing cycle to pay off ...
Credit card debt has become a global issue. Some people used to say that it's an issue with the United States. However, this is no longer true. You see, it used to be tough to get a credit card in some Asian countries. You had to make a high income before you can be qualified. In the recent years, however, such regulation has changed. Now young people with insufficient income can get credit cards from banks or dept stores. A lot of them are falling into the pitfall of overspending and putting themselves into debt. What's even worse is that many of them did not read the fine prints about finance charges and end up finding themselves in quite a rut.
In Taiwan, credit card debt had become a serious issues. Parents with insufficient income charged up their credit card to the max because of family emergencies or necessities later on found themselves at the end of the road because they were unable to pay the debt and the exorbitant interests. Young people also found themselves in the same boat. Because this was a new problem, there weren't really any debt consolidating services or regulations on debt collection set up. As a result, there were tragedies where people committed suicide because they could not deal with the collection's agencies threats and pressure.
Anyways, the point of this long response is that while I feel that it's definitely an individual's choice on how to spend one's money - whether it be cash in hand, put it on credit, or simply just take out a loan, I really feel that it's best to charge your purchase on the card only when you know you will not put yourself in a compromising financial situation later on. I hope this response didn't offend anyone ...
True, but then you have to take into the account of the stress involved in selling these bags. From my experience in selling on eBay, authentic Hermes bag can take a while to sell if you're not a powerseller or someone who already has an established reputation. I had to sell my brand new Kelly at a $500 loss and that was after several relisting and not including any additional fees that come with selling on eBay. The stress that came with that was quite unbearable. Then there's also the worry that one may get scammed by a buyer through chargebacks and what not.
When it comes to buying Hermes bags, it's 5K and more that I have to consider ... I don't want ot have to worry about turning over 5K worth of stuff sometime down the line due to a huge impulse buy. I've made that mistake several times with my other H bags, and the stress in unloading them and paying off the cards had certainly taught me to think twice.
Of course, then I made the mistake with Goyard but at least that one is 1/5 the price of Hermes
awww, hon, hate to break it to you.....chocolate doesn't come in chevre (specialistinparis said)......but marron fonce does!!.......not sure if that auction is correct on colour, but I asked for chocolate chevre for my SO, and was told chevre doesn't come in chocolate (same as what SP told us).......perhaps mightykismet has listed the colour incorrectly??
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!!!taxvixen, that birkin is absolutely %$#@!n gorgeous! Where does MK get all these birkins?! A few months ago she posted the exact same bag but with P/H, which is what i would want. I saved all the oics from that auction & one of them is my screensaver @ home (How sad am I? :shame: ).
She called that one "chocolate" too. I didn't think it was marron fonce 'cos i think fonce is a "warm" brown (goes better with gold) whereas both the ones she's called "chocolate" are very neutral & go with either h/ware. According to SP's list if it's brown chevre it must be Havane, so I guess this is what I should be wishing for!
I better start searching for other pics of Havane to confirm....More on the topic, I think the danger with credit is that I may be more likely to pay a bit more for the bag than otherwise. I know that makes no sense, but hey! That said, I think mk's prices are a bit much even though I'm yet to price a 35mm in $Aus.
I think different people have different relationships with credit cards--while they can be seductive and lead to overwhelming debt, they can also act as a bridge. I purchased my first (and only--and used) Birkin when I had about half the funds--I put it on a cc that gives me cash back (okay just 1% but still!) and then I transfered the balance to a cc that has under 3% interest--I knew I could pay it off fairly quickly if I didn't purchase bags & clothes for a while and in the end having the right bag at the right time cost me about fifty bucks more than paying in cash would have.
Kou, thank you for posting that; I'm sure no one would be the least bit offended. My best friend had $26k on credit cards a few years ago & I think she was only earning about $35k p.a. How she got the credit in the first place I'll never know(!), but you are SO right Kou. It's a dangerous trap! I'm really sorry you had to learn the hard way
but at least you only use credit now with your eyes wide open to the risks.
Going back to the OP, if you're earning 6 figures, it would not be hard to free up the liquid cash to pay for a non-exotic Birkin... I would probably put in on the card, assuming that you can pay it off the next month (because if you have to buy from a re-seller, your markup will be much more than the interest on the CC).
I agree it's a slippery slope - DH and I both make good incomes and have never carried a balance... I personally have a savings account that is used to pay for large purchases like jewelry, etc... so that we never carry a balance even when making big purchases.
I think Birkins are hard to come by, and if there is truly your dream one being offered, I'd go for it (especially since you're in the income bracket to afford one).
I agree it's a slippery slope - DH and I both make good incomes and have never carried a balance... I personally have a savings account that is used to pay for large purchases like jewelry, etc... so that we never carry a balance even when making big purchases.
I think Birkins are hard to come by, and if there is truly your dream one being offered, I'd go for it (especially since you're in the income bracket to afford one).
If you want to finance your Birkins by credit card, you need to know how to play the credit card game. If you get the 0% credit card deals, you can take advantage of them as long as you know when to stop. I took advantage of this 0% offer that I know needs to be paid back in a few months or they will start charging you mega bucks in interest. I plan to sell off some of my stocks that have done well to pay back the credit card. Also, I contribute a good 15% of my salary to my 401k and also the max to my Roth IRA, so I am saving. DH is very impressed by the amount I have in my 401k, which I have been contributing to ever since I started working. The key to using credit is knowing when to stop. I have stopped going to Hermes for now after obtaining two Birkins. I plan to get a Kelly after I pay off my debts, which I am not paying interest on since I have always managed my credit well. I don't think credit cards are evil as long as you have discipline and pay your bills on time all the time. And know when you have to stop buying!
Kou, you're awesome for being so candid in your post.Many aren't so wise or fortunate in coming to their senses and continue on that slippery slope.
I agree!
Great post!
Kou- I just got home (out to dinner with DH) and read your post. It's a gem. You wrote beautifully and thoughtfully about somthing that is difficult to discuss. You should be so proud of yourself for having gotten to a better place re: finances. I look forward to your going to LV and meeting you in person!
Kou - I also wanted to send you for your post. It took a lot for you to share that story and you did it with absolute grace.
for your post. It took a lot for you to share that story and you did it with absolute grace.