Spend threshold for B/K/C

Great to hear about everyone's experience. Glad to share my experience for London.

My journey started in August 2020, right after the national lockdown ended. Saw a bag online and decided to head into the boutique to see it. I was a total newbie and had no idea about these concepts of spend ratios. I've also only really seen birkins on mags. So went into the store the first time. Got introduced to a lovely SA and my partner and I got distracted by some t-shirts. Then we proceeded to have a look at the bags. He brought out the Herbag Cabine (naive of me to think back then that I'll be able to use the bag for travel in a pandemic). Was lovely and I decided to get it. But cheekily asked if there are any HACs available. He brought out the limited edition one from 2019 SS runway. Irresponsibly bought it as well. At this point, no prior purchases, and walked out with probably the biggest splurge in my life. He also asked if I would be keen to get a birkin - I of course said yes. As I was such a noob to Hermes, I said that I'll trust his good taste to find me the bag that suits me.

A month later - got a call for a gold birkin. So again, at this point, besides t shirts as non leather spend, all my purchases were purely bags.

Post that - I got obsessed with Hermes and my partner and I have bought items across the all categories (except furniture and jewellery). We continued to be offered quota bags but never reached the 1:1 ratio at any point. In fact, way way way less. I didnt find out about these spend ratios until I joined this forum during the second national lockdown.

My SA hasnt mentioned anything to me before about spend ratios, nor has he asked me to buy anything to bolster my profile. In fact, he's told me NOT to get certain stuff before because he didnt think its worth it or suits my wardrobe. In fact, I've bought something a Birkin with another SA (not knowing these rules about sticking to one SA, even when he was having his 2.5 week hols in Mykonos), and was a regret purchase. So theres some trust built there, despite the short period of time. I would have ended the relationship if I, felt in anyway, that anything is being pushed on me. I feel it is a question of respect.

Sorry for the rant - but I think its about mindset. If you go in thinking with all these preconceived notions about quota spends etc, this may affect the vibe you give off, or drive unhealthy purchasing decisions!

Just dont be a d!ck to the SA, nor should you tolerate any SAs that coax you into doing anything that you dont feel comfortable buying or even considering. Rant OVER.
Thanks for sharing your story! :flowers: Which boutique was this and did you submit a wish for the B in Aug 2020 (seems to be the new policy in London)?
 
I thought this would be an informative thread from our seasoned H shoppers and I see this question time and time again.

How much did you continue spending (ie monthly) in between your offers that you may have declined while waiting for your coveted wishlist bag?

For instance, if your desired bag was a k/b 25 (which seems to be a size many want) how long after your first offer did it take for you to receive an offer for a k/b25?
 
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I thought this would be an informative thread from our seasoned H shoppers and I see this question time and time again.

How much did you continue spending (ie monthly) in between your offers that you may have declined while waiting for your coveted wishlist bag?

For instance, if your desired bag was a k/b 25 (which seems to be a size many want) how long after your first offer did it take for you to receive an offer for a k/b25?

IMO, I don't think it matters how much you 'spend' monthly in-between offers, but more about how direct and succinct your wishlist is. There are always times where something may come in the store that is a certain color you want, but maybe size and/or hardware is not quite right and it may be natural for your SA to offer it up in a good faith perspective, thinking you might would actually like it. I think it's up to you to make sure your SA understands your priorities and also your "I would never touch XYZ spec with a 10 foot pole." For example, my SA knows to never show me anything with GHW or pink. Definitely not popular here, but it's not anything I would ever consider, despite how coveted either spec may be. It's not my style.

There are always going to be debates on if your "spend" and/or "relationship" will be enough for certain bags to appear, but part of your journey with H is that if you are putting such items on your wishlist, your SA should be working with you to understand what is a realistic offer and help to encourage you to build your wishlist around that. In summary, your SA should be helping you to craft a realistic wishlist, it's part of having a mutually beneficial business relationship. Your SA is, just as the acronym says - sales associate. I don't believe their intent is to withhold offers that match bags they can get approved for you, if you are a consistent shopper in multiple categories that loves the brand and someone that is proven to be loyal and shop with them into the long-term. Getting offers approved for you will only help their sales goals if your profile matches the fit the SM is looking for, and will just encourage you to continue to shop through them exclusively.

I ran into a series of offers I had to reject last year. They were close but didn't match the specs on my wishlist exactly. I was casting a very broad wishlist that is often encouraged on this forum when you are starting out. My SA and I came quickly to the conclusion we were not exactly on the same page in terms of what I was looking for, so we worked to summarize my "top wishes" and I also provided very distinct feedback in terms of why I was rejecting the bag, and what I was looking for. I had to wait another 3 months, but my #1 wish then appeared. Probably some type of luck and timing associated with that, but that's almost always the case with H at least in my experience so far. I've found the longer I've shopped, the easier they are nailing exactly what I am looking for, it's part of the whole "getting to know you and your style" and why it's so important, even when you are not particularly shopping for bags, to be vocal of what you like, and don't like colors, leather, etc wise while you are shopping. Even though it pains me to have to wait longer, and I'll complain all day about it, I am okay longer-term waiting a bit longer knowing that what I absolutely will love will appear with patience.

I definitely do not think H wants to offer things into oblivion just waiting for you to accept a bag, they want to ensure that it matches very closely to what their clients are wishing for and they want to minimize your "offers" because they want to meet and/or exceed your expectations by matching your wishlist. In hindsight, some of my favorite bags/offers have honestly been things that were not 100% matches to my wishlist, but very special, curated items that my SA/SM/SD felt matched my style and just "had my name on it" when they saw it come into delivery.
 
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Great to hear about everyone's experience. Glad to share my experience for London.

My journey started in August 2020, right after the national lockdown ended. Saw a bag online and decided to head into the boutique to see it. I was a total newbie and had no idea about these concepts of spend ratios. I've also only really seen birkins on mags. So went into the store the first time. Got introduced to a lovely SA and my partner and I got distracted by some t-shirts. Then we proceeded to have a look at the bags. He brought out the Herbag Cabine (naive of me to think back then that I'll be able to use the bag for travel in a pandemic). Was lovely and I decided to get it. But cheekily asked if there are any HACs available. He brought out the limited edition one from 2019 SS runway. Irresponsibly bought it as well. At this point, no prior purchases, and walked out with probably the biggest splurge in my life. He also asked if I would be keen to get a birkin - I of course said yes. As I was such a noob to Hermes, I said that I'll trust his good taste to find me the bag that suits me.

A month later - got a call for a gold birkin. So again, at this point, besides t shirts as non leather spend, all my purchases were purely bags.

Post that - I got obsessed with Hermes and my partner and I have bought items across the all categories (except furniture and jewellery). We continued to be offered quota bags but never reached the 1:1 ratio at any point. In fact, way way way less. I didnt find out about these spend ratios until I joined this forum during the second national lockdown.

My SA hasnt mentioned anything to me before about spend ratios, nor has he asked me to buy anything to bolster my profile. In fact, he's told me NOT to get certain stuff before because he didnt think its worth it or suits my wardrobe. In fact, I've bought something a Birkin with another SA (not knowing these rules about sticking to one SA, even when he was having his 2.5 week hols in Mykonos), and was a regret purchase. So theres some trust built there, despite the short period of time. I would have ended the relationship if I, felt in anyway, that anything is being pushed on me. I feel it is a question of respect.

Sorry for the rant - but I think its about mindset. If you go in thinking with all these preconceived notions about quota spends etc, this may affect the vibe you give off, or drive unhealthy purchasing decisions!

Just dont be a d!ck to the SA, nor should you tolerate any SAs that coax you into doing anything that you dont feel comfortable buying or even considering. Rant OVER.


This is such a good post
You naively went in as an enthusiastic genuine shopper without any of the baggage about Hermes from the internet and were welcomed.

Sorry for the rant - but I think its about mindset. If you go in thinking with all these preconceived notions about quota spends etc, this may affect the vibe you give off, or drive unhealthy purchasing decisions!

That is no rant; just good straightforward common sense.
 
I wish I could tab this response as a bookmark that I could save! Thank you so much for taking the time to really explain in detail your experience. I know many of us will read it and find it so informative !
IMO, I don't think it matters how much you 'spend' monthly in-between offers, but more about how direct and succinct your wishlist is. There are always times where something may come in the store that is a certain color you want, but maybe size and/or hardware is not quite right and it may be natural for your SA to offer it up in a good faith perspective, thinking you might would actually like it. I think it's up to you to make sure your SA understands your priorities and also your "I would never touch XYZ spec with a 10 foot pole." For example, my SA knows to never show me anything with GHW or pink. Definitely not popular here, but it's not anything I would ever consider, despite how coveted either spec may be. It's not my style.

There are always going to be debates on if your "spend" and/or "relationship" will be enough for certain bags to appear, but part of your journey with H is that if you are putting such items on your wishlist, your SA should be working with you to understand what is a realistic offer and help to encourage you to build your wishlist around that. In summary, your SA should be helping you to craft a realistic wishlist, it's part of having a mutually beneficial business relationship. Your SA is, just as the acronym says - sales associate. I don't believe their intent is to withhold offers that match bags they can get approved for you, if you are a consistent shopper in multiple categories that loves the brand and someone that is proven to be loyal and shop with them into the long-term. Getting offers approved for you will only help their sales goals if your profile matches the fit the SM is looking for, and will just encourage you to continue to shop through them exclusively.

I ran into a series of offers I had to reject last year. They were close but didn't match the specs on my wishlist exactly. I was casting a very broad wishlist that is often encouraged on this forum when you are starting out. My SA and I came quickly to the conclusion we were not exactly on the same page in terms of what I was looking for, so we worked to summarize my "top wishes" and I also provided very distinct feedback in terms of why I was rejecting the bag, and what I was looking for. I had to wait another 3 months, but my #1 wish then appeared. Probably some type of luck and timing associated with that, but that's almost always the case with H at least in my experience so far. I've found the longer I've shopped, the easier they are nailing exactly what I am looking for, it's part of the whole "getting to know you and your style" and why it's so important, even when you are not particularly shopping for bags, to be vocal of what you like, and don't like colors, leather, etc wise while you are shopping. Even though it pains me to have to wait longer, and I'll complain all day about it, I am okay longer-term waiting a bit longer knowing that what I absolutely will love will appear with patience.

I definitely do not think H wants to offer things into oblivion just waiting for you to accept a bag, they want to ensure that it matches very closely to what their clients are wishing for and they want to minimize your "offers" because they want to meet and/or exceed your expectations by matching your wishlist. In hindsight, some of my favorite bags/offers have honestly been things that were not 100% matches to my wishlist, but very special, curated items that my SA/SM/SD felt matched my style and just "had my name on it" when they saw it come into delivery.
 
Is there already a thread somewhere of "cool non-leather goods that you actually want to buy AND will gain brownie points toward that quota bag you want" that I can contribute to? I swear I see like 15-20 items a week on the global websites that would definitely fit in that category! :nuts:

Although I think that is a nice idea, it would contribute to a contrived purchase profile which would ultimately feel unsatisfactory.
 
All, I'm only a month into my Hermes journey, and thought I would ask for your advice. I really am only interested in one Birkin (B30, togo noir phw), and over the past month I have spent about 11K with an excellent SA (shoes, belt, jewelry, a leather trinket tray, a watch and pico 22). These are all things I have been thinking about getting for a while and I decided to pull the trigger because I happened to have the extra funds to spend this month. My SA knows my very specific wishlist (we discussed the leather choice - epsom v. togo v. clemence as well), and we've discussed a special occasion coming up in a couple of months. I'm waiting for a ring to come in in my size. Otherwise, I have a few small ticket items that I would love to own, but am wondering if I should space out my purchases (perhaps go in once a month)? Please let me know your thoughts! I'm based in NYC if that helps at all.
I wouldn’t over think it and would buy things I want as soon as they are available in stock. Often times H items sell out and are gone for good.
 
Is there already a thread somewhere of "cool non-leather goods that you actually want to buy AND will gain brownie points toward that quota bag you want" that I can contribute to? I swear I see like 15-20 items a week on the global websites that would definitely fit in that category! :nuts:
I would love this. I don't pore over the site very often and would love more people to share their finds. I love the hermes dot com and post your web finds threads but often those are people posting coveted scores (mini lindy, evelyne, rodeos and oran nanos) not profile building stock that's generally available (and beautiful).