behind the scenes - SA's and highly coveted / low stock handbags

tinyturtle

O.G.
Dec 5, 2010
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898
today i contacted BG for a gray boy w/ gold hardware in the old medium size and the SA i spoke to on the phone said she didn't have one available. but later, i got a referral for an SA who did have one....and it turned out she worked at BG also. i don't think the style i wanted is that popular, so i don't know if the first SA was holding out on me or simply didn't know the stock for the boutique.

but it got me wondering, what happens b/w SA's and their colleagues with pieces that are highly coveted or low stock? is it fair game and whomever sells it first gets the commission? or are the pieces split as evenly as possible so that those items "belong" to a certain SA and they can sell to whomever they choose?
 
I am not sure about BG computer system. But Saks does have a complicate system to search for item availability. They have to input the bar code of the item, then click check every Saks store one by one to see they have the item available. Think about there are more than 100 Saks over 50 states. I believe not all the SA willing to do such a long search. I was lucky one time when I was in the store patiently to wait for my SA to search for the item I ask for. She got the item shipped to me from other store. It's matter of time if the SA willing to serve you.
 
Saks plays games though when stuff is on the locator. It shows in the system but then an SA at that store will sell it to get the commission for themselves and not send the bag. I had this experience right before the increase. A find was posted here and I spoke with SA. The one at his store was sold but he found me 1 at the Beverly Hills store. They refused to do the transaction for him and send me the bag. I did wonder what would happen if I called directly, but then I said screw it.
 
This is fairly common at BG and among SAs.

When bags are on reserve with certain SAs, other SAs can't sell them.

You just have to get to the right SAs at the right time.
 
i think what happens is that an SA will have certain number of a bag reserved for them to sale... so same store but different SAs might have different stocks available to them... that's why TPF is awesome so us ladies can get more SAs contact info or use the authentic finds thread to get a bag. :smile:

it's good to build a relationship with different SAs... i try to keep in contact with SAs from all the dept stores since all the stores get different type of inventory... and in case one SA doesnt have a certain bag, another SA somewhere might have it.
 
yes, i always see the more unpopular styles being displayed. and then one time i saw them open up a closet door & it was a stash of the prettiest bags!!!

Yes!

I've actually bought probably around 15k in the last six months at Chanel. I was looking and didn't find anything particular I liked. The SA pulled open a secret compartment (not even in chanel) and showed me the hidden merchandise since I spent so much and worked with her.
 
I don't understand why the SAs at the stores you girls were at are so secretive regarding what they have. All my SAs are more than happy to sell whatever they have to me or anyone who wants to buy. A sale is a sale, why would it matter who they sell the items to?


yes, i always see the more unpopular styles being displayed. and then one time i saw them open up a closet door & it was a stash of the prettiest bags!!!


Yes!

I've actually bought probably around 15k in the last six months at Chanel. I was looking and didn't find anything particular I liked. The SA pulled open a secret compartment (not even in chanel) and showed me the hidden merchandise since I spent so much and worked with her.
 
I don't understand why the SAs at the stores you girls were at are so secretive regarding what they have. All my SAs are more than happy to sell whatever they have to me or anyone who wants to buy. A sale is a sale, why would it matter who they sell the items to?
Agreed, sale is a sale but I think SAs want to keep their regular clientele happy so that they'll come back and purchase from them again (and maybe a big ticket item).
 
All SAs at Chanel handbag floor dressed with designer shoes when I visited (I went actually a few time during the week I was in NYC).


I had a pretty woman moment at BG when I visited the store. I dressed causally as a tourist so couldn't even get an SA to show me items at first. They all look fairly distant and mean when spoke to me like I can't afford a Chanel bag.


This never happened to me when I was in Paris or London shopping but only at BG.

And I agree with you. A sale is a sale. But they were all fairly busy talking and chatting among themselves doing nothing while I visited.


Maybe they need to be retrained in California or Florida and see ppl wearing casually with flip flops carrying Chanel bags.

I don't understand why the SAs at the stores you girls were at are so secretive regarding what they have. All my SAs are more than happy to sell whatever they have to me or anyone who wants to buy. A sale is a sale, why would it matter who they sell the items to?
 
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All SAs at Chanel handbag floor dressed with designer shoes when I visited (I went actually a few time during the week I was in NYC).


I had a pretty woman moment at BG when I visited the store. I dressed causally as a tourist so couldn't even get an SA to show me items at first. They all look fairly distant and mean when spoke to me like I can't afford a Chanel bag.


This never happened to me when I was in Paris or London shopping but only at BG.

And I agree with you. A sale is a sale. But they were all fairly busy talking and chatting among themselves doing nothing while I visited.


Maybe they need to be retrained in California or Florida and see ppl wearing casually with flip flops carrying Chanel bags.

Lol. Now I think about it, all my Chanel SAs are from Florida and California!
 
BG doesn't bother me because I usually like look around a minute before I decide to ask for help or get approached anyway. But I did see the "closet" the last time I was in there. One SA was showing some man some boys & classics that were NOT on display.
 
They all do that. They have the display items, and once you show true interest and will make a purchase, then the doors open to the closet. They have trays of SLGs, in different colors!

I've seen the door open to the bigger closet/storage in the SCP bloomies, They have tons of shelving and some bags hanging out there. The rest of the ones that aren't on display, plus all the gift packaging. Lots of items hidden away.

When I got my flap at the SCP Chanel boutique, I said I wanted one in black, but I didn't like the two shown to me (scratches), my SA brought out more.

So it's really based on if they know they can make a sale. But sometimes, they'll lie to you anyway saying they don't have it because they don't want to go back there. lol