How do these Ebay sellers get so many brand new Birkins...

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C'est la vie

O.G.
Jul 12, 2007
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#1
I'm in awe at the volume of bags these sellers have. Am I the only one wondering?? Do some SAs have some 'special arrangements' with these sellers and reject 'regular folks' from buying??

BTW, I love the fact that this forum helps members with identifying fraudulent sellers. DH couldn't believe a 'Purse Forum' exists, though he frequents 'exotic car forums'....:P
 
#2
you know , i was wandering about it as well. Some time ago somebody said in one of the threads that some of the resellers even the reputable ones had top notch bags made by hand in china or somewhere in Asia and the quality was so good that even Hermes stores had hard time telling them apart. Ever sin ce that statement ( true or not , i still don't know ) i have been rather cautious of resellers.
 
#3
^^^that's really scary. my mother once bought a prada sport bag (not that it's comparable to an H bag) from NM and saw on the label that it was made in China and she freaked out. She thought it might have been fake. Can't believe the counterfeit market.
 
#4
I have observed the SA's in my local store being very wary of one chap who they suspected as being a buyer only interested in reselling on Ebay. I got the impression that if they could prove it they would not sell to him and would much rather sell to 'genuine' customers who wanted the goods and not to turn a fast profit over the internet. Because of the danger to the company's reputation through fakes on Ebay they would much rather not have to deal with that type of auction.
There are many genuine people selling on Ebay for genuine reasons but we all know about the nasties. In my view the bags sell for too high a price on Ebay to run the risk of getting a fake (unless you know the reseller) . What's wrong with going to the shops anyway?
 
#6
I understand that that is the case from many post that I have read on this forum. Personally, and this can only be a very personal matter, the fun is in the shop. Why buy a Birkin when you haven't handled one yourself and compared it with all the other gorgeous bags? I just couldn't hand over thousands of pounds for an essentially unknown item.
 
#7
MIB said:
you know , i was wandering about it as well. Some time ago somebody said in one of the threads that some of the resellers even the reputable ones had top notch bags made by hand in china or somewhere in Asia and the quality was so good that even Hermes stores had hard time telling them apart. Ever sin ce that statement ( true or not , i still don't know ) i have been rather cautious of resellers.
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I think this is certainly not true with the reputable resellers. And there is always the old myth that a counterfeit bag can fool an Hermes craftsman, which I simply believe not to be true. Yes, there ARE very good fakes but they are still fakes and if you compare them to an authentic Hermes bag you can tell the difference IMMEDIATELY.

Resellers with large quantities of bags often pay people a premium to buy for them.
 
#8
alo6 said:
^^^that's really scary. my mother once bought a prada sport bag (not that it's comparable to an H bag) from NM and saw on the label that it was made in China and she freaked out. She thought it might have been fake. Can't believe the counterfeit market.
Click to expand...
As far as I know Prada - along with several other high end brands - have some of their goods made in China.
 
#9
The whole point about resellers being able to do their business is supply and demand. The demand is so high for these bags that people are willing to pay the surcharge rather than wait. We also know that in some boutiques SAs like to play stupid games a la 'you cannot buy a Birkin unless you have plonked down xx.xxx K for RTW'. In that case paying the surcharge to the reseller is cheaper than buying lots of things you don't want.
Some people want instant gratification, others are happy to do the whole Hermes-waiting-game experience. Some are lucky and strike a Birkin almost immediately, while others have been patient forever and still dont' have a bag.
I don't have a problem with resellers at all, as long as they sell authentic - and there are certainly a number of resellers out there who have built a great reputation for doing so.
 
#10
Don't H SA get any commission for selling bags?

What comes to mind is LV - and fakes, 13 year olds are carrying them and you see (i can't even count) the LV bags that pass me by everyday. It makes it not special anymore. That's why I got turned off from LV.


Hermes is exclusive and you know what I like it that way.
 
#12
hello2703 said:
I think this is certainly not true with the reputable resellers. And there is always the old myth that a counterfeit bag can fool an Hermes craftsman, which I simply believe not to be true. Yes, there ARE very good fakes but they are still fakes and if you compare them to an authentic Hermes bag you can tell the difference IMMEDIATELY.

Resellers with large quantities of bags often pay people a premium to buy for them.
Click to expand...

I agree with hello. The difficulty sometimes in the authentication thread is that it can be tricky determining authenticity on eBay via pictures ONLY. It could also be that the pics are of an authentic bag that the seller doesn't even have.

However, if you were to put a very good fake beside an authentic H bag, I am sure the difference will be more obvious.
 
#13
I would believe that alot of them are like alot of other designer brands...Fake. Sure, there are still quite a few people who like to change out their bags from year to year, I'm also inclined to stay away from the sketchy sellers esp when you can use a reputable seller or buy from the shop. I don't know about the relationship thing myself either. I've only been in one Hermes shop several years ago and the SA's treated my husband and I like we were royalty. It was my first exposure and it left a lasting good impression on me.
 
#14
From my experience, the SAs don't turn away customers, they work on commission. However, they do treat the resellers with a VIP status because they buy more often.
Some retail stores don't care if someone is reselling the items they purchase. I've even known of managers who are aware of whats going on and they still welcome the reseller back to the store.
Saks is one store that I know for a fact doesn't allow resellers to purchase items. Resellers must walk on broken glass there or they could be banned from the store.
 
#15
Les Tambours said:
I have observed the SA's in my local store being very wary of one chap who they suspected as being a buyer only interested in reselling on Ebay. I got the impression that if they could prove it they would not sell to him and would much rather sell to 'genuine' customers who wanted the goods and not to turn a fast profit over the internet
Click to expand...

This is the case where I am, as well. I think it's because demand way exceeds supply over here, that the H stores only wish to sell to genuine customers and collectors. SAs have been known to caution customers NOT to resell their Birkins and Kellys, if they do not want a death wish to their requests.

I think the reselling of H bags is frowned upon more so with Hermes bags because it's dealing with quantums far higher than the next brand down. Mark ups of 1K is no big deal. But when it comes to bags with high value, that has mark-ups of a few thousand dollars .... this is why it raises eyebrows and disapprovals.

My store is absolutely against profiteering.

But back to the original question - SAs will mainly sell to good customers. I know of exceptions before, but only because store sales were poor, and new stock was arriving. so they sold to known resellers. Not where I am, though. Never. Over here, every Birkin gets sold.
 
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