(This is the first time I start a thread - so bear with me)
I have bought my luxury hand bags pre-loved for years. It makes sense for me in so many ways, and with Hermès even more as I like many vintage models not sold in the store any more. Not to mention that so few bags actually seem to be for sale at the store, anyway….
And yet, some bags cannot be found pre-loved. Or only a crazy prices (for H that is saying something) - and that is not the point of buying pre-loved, right? I am not talking about BKC, the bag I set my heart on is the Della Cavelleria bag. Excellent reviews here on TPF, good size, practical - just a really great bag, it seems.
I even got to try it on in an airport store (“oh no, it is not for sale - how would people try it on if we sold all the bags?” - yeah, puzzling, isn’t it?). But I liked it.

I started saving. After a while I also started asking in H stores in different European countries. I stayed in Brussels 3 months this spring for work (loved it), and asked many times in the store there. Always sold out.
I really wanted a bag in white or burgundy that I could wear crossbody.The Della Cavelleria would work well, and I had saved enough money to buy it. What a great thing to remember my stay in Brussels by!
I thought about going to Paris (close to Brussels compared to what I am used to in my home country), but read about the appointment system. All that and maybe not even getting the bag - plus spending time in lovely Paris fretting. No thank you.
So I gave up. Or I decided the DC could wait. If the boutiques did not want to sell me any bags, others would. This is when I bought not one, but TWO lovely bags, to be worn crossbody (once I get a strap that is, but I have a non-H strap on order)! Here they are, white and burgundy, just like I wanted:
White epsom Plume 20 and burgundy (don’t knowH color or leather) Berlingot GM
What do you think? Do you get fed up with the sparse choice in the H boutiques and run to vintage bag sellers? Do you find you get more for your money that way?