Buying Hermes bags from overseas sellers?

[niwk_bag21]

Has anyone done this before?

I'm in US and have been searching for a neutral-colored mini Lindy in TC for about 6 months.
Yes, I could have buy that from hermes.com, but it's been super difficult since they canceled ApplePay for those popular styles.

There are two reseller/ second-hand websites that do offer the colors I want, still reasonable prices, and credit card payment is accepted on both sites.
I've been communicating with customer service from both sites. Now the only problem preventing me from going forward is the custom part since both are in other countries.
Both told me they don't deal with custom and I'll have to pay for that if package gets stopped and inspected. I have no idea how much that could be, and plus security of delivery could be a big issue. I was suggested to have the package shipped to my family overseas (same continent as the stores) and have them bring it over when they come visit, or I'll pick it up myself when I go visit my family. I sincerely believe it's safer either way. The only issue is it could take another 6 months to 2 years when the traveling happens.

Should I just give up on those sites and go with domestic sellers in US? With potential custom tax to pay, I guess the prices on FP are somewhat reasonable? I thought about visiting local boutique, but I've heard MLs are even harder to get than BKC nowadays...

 

[Love Of My Life]

Only suggest that you try to find your mini Lindy from a US seller for several reasons including authentication
& the opportunity to see it IRL.
Dealing with FP you have the opportunity to return the bag within a 15 day window.
There likely will be duty on the bag & what the % is not sure & since you are not sure about your travels, would not want to wait 6 months to possibly 2 years for a bag that is paid for & won't have a chance to wear/enjoy, JMO

 

[niwk_bag21]

Only suggest that you try to find your mini Lindy from a US seller for several reasons including authentication
& the opportunity to see it IRL.
Dealing with FP you have the opportunity to return the bag within a 15 day window.
There likely will be duty on the bag & what the % is not sure & since you are not sure about your travels, would not want to wait 6 months to possibly 2 years for a bag that is paid for & won't have a chance to wear/enjoy, JMO

Thanks for the advice!
FP has always been on my list but I didn’t go forward due to the price. Maybe I should really reconsider cuz I do feel much more comfortable buying from FP.

 

[880]

Thanks for the advice!
FP has always been on my list but I didn’t go forward due to the price. Maybe I should really reconsider cuz I do feel much more comfortable buying from FP.

You should buy from FP if you feel that much more comfy that way.

I’ve bought from boutique, FP, and, during Covid, and points in the past, big name Japanese resellers. For the latter, I’ve been charged anything from zero to 10% plus applicable sales tax. The resellers don’t control the latter costs, but their express shipping is reliable and they take returns. However, I only purchase when I am certain of condition and authenticity, and would not do so if I was uncomfortable in any way. Good luck deciding

 

[niwk_bag21]

You should buy from FP if you feel that much more comfy that way.

I’ve bought from boutique, FP, and, during Covid, and points in the past, big name Japanese resellers. For the latter, I’ve been charged anything from zero to 10% plus applicable sales tax. The resellers don’t control the latter costs, but their express shipping is reliable and they take returns. However, I only purchase when I am certain of condition and authenticity, and would not do so if I was uncomfortable in any way. Good luck deciding

Thanks! I will take all those into consideration for sure

 

[AbbyN]

I know someone who paid just over $1,000 in custom fees when their bag arrived from a reseller in Japan.

 

[niwk_bag21]

I know someone who paid just over $1,000 in custom fees when their bag arrived from a reseller in Japan.

Thanks for sharing! That definitely stops me from considering buying through that channel unless I’m physically there

 

[momoc]

$1k sounds about right for something like an Hermes bag. The official tariff rate for leather handbags (https://hts.usitc.gov/search?query=4202.21.9000) is 9%; there are countries however with exemptions due to trade agreements between US and those countries, the one that may be applicable here would be Singapore based on what you said so far.

Here's a good page from US customs themselves warning people of the complications from buying something online overseas which I think is worth a read if you haven't seen it: https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/internet-purchases

Select snippets copied below:

Importing Process Paying Duty: The importer is ultimately responsible for paying any duty owed on an import. Determining duty can be very complicated, and while shipping services will often give an estimate for what the duty rate on an item might be, only CBP can make a final determination about what is owed. You should not be misled into thinking your purchase price includes duty because the seller cannot say with absolute certainty what the duty will be. As a rule, a purchase price that includes shipping and handling does not include duty or any costs associated with clearing the goods through CBP. First time importers are often surprised by bills they receive for duty, U.S. Customs and Border Protection merchandise processing fee, and something referred to as "customs fees," which are actually charges for the services of the broker who cleared your goods through CBP.

How you pay duty depends on how your goods were shipped. If your goods were shipped through the International Postal Service, you will need to pay the mail carrier and/or go to your local post office to pay any duty and processing fees owed when your package arrives at that post office. If your goods were sent by a courier service, that service will either bill you for the duty they paid on your behalf or require payment on delivery.

Reminder: U.S. Customs and Border Protection holds the importer - YOU - liable for the payment of duty not the seller.​

I didn't bold that last line; it's actually part of what CBP did on their page So yes, both sellers saying "they don't deal with custom and I'll have to pay for that" are correct.

Is it possible that you end up paying less or even none at all? Yep! I've also heard of sellers who would be willing to under-report / lie about their package content. Personally I would never risk that backfiring (which happens - have seen stories I think even on this forum) & would go with a responsible seller, whose job will be to report their package content accurately and ship it off with care. I would then budget for something like 10% as your duty / fees and take that into consideration when you are comparing prices.

This is all without going into the other things that previous posters have mentioned re: conditions, authentication.

Can you buy from an overseas seller? Absolutely. There are a couple well-established resellers (Japanese ones also happen to be what I am most familiar with just because I had lived there) that I would trust in terms of authenticity and expertise. But do some research (if you haven't yet, search your sellers' names in our reseller thread to see if any member has reported an experience buying from them and how it went), consider what your level of risk tolerance / comfort is, do all the due diligence and research you can do, and make your decision accordingly. Good luck!

P.S. you are absolutely right in that getting one from the boutique will be difficult. This is still an extremely popular bag. I am assuming you have no established profile / purchase history. Reseller would be the easier choice for you.

 

[smoothsailor]

Actually it’s really quite hard to advise on this one. Secondary market is priced so much better in Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan as compared to fp.

Of course, authenticity is always an issue on secondary market.

Is there a friend who shops Hermes locally who may have a mini lindy she is not too hot about? Maybe getting one lightly used from a trustworthy friend could be a possibility?

 

[niwk_bag21]

$1k sounds about right for something like an Hermes bag. The official tariff rate for leather handbags (https://hts.usitc.gov/search?query=4202.21.9000) is 9%; there are countries however with exemptions due to trade agreements between US and those countries, the one that may be applicable here would be Singapore based on what you said so far.

Here's a good page from US customs themselves warning people of the complications from buying something online overseas which I think is worth a read if you haven't seen it: https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/internet-purchases

Select snippets copied below:


I didn't bold that last line; it's actually part of what CBP did on their page So yes, both sellers saying "they don't deal with custom and I'll have to pay for that" are correct.

Is it possible that you end up paying less or even none at all? Yep! I've also heard of sellers who would be willing to under-report / lie about their package content. Personally I would never risk that backfiring (which happens - have seen stories I think even on this forum) & would go with a responsible seller, whose job will be to report their package content accurately and ship it off with care. I would then budget for something like 10% as your duty / fees and take that into consideration when you are comparing prices.

This is all without going into the other things that previous posters have mentioned re: conditions, authentication.

Can you buy from an overseas seller? Absolutely. There are a couple well-established resellers (Japanese ones also happen to be what I am most familiar with just because I had lived there) that I would trust in terms of authenticity and expertise. But do some research (if you haven't yet, search your sellers' names in our reseller thread to see if any member has reported an experience buying from them and how it went), consider what your level of risk tolerance / comfort is, do all the due diligence and research you can do, and make your decision accordingly. Good luck!

P.S. you are absolutely right in that getting one from the boutique will be difficult. This is still an extremely popular bag. I am assuming you have no established profile / purchase history. Reseller would be the easier choice for you.

Thank you so much for putting all these together! Very informative and I’ll definitely dig in more before buying through this route.
Having peace should be the number one rule for any kind of purchase. Doing due diligence is a good way to ensure that

 

[niwk_bag21]

Actually it’s really quite hard to advise on this one. Secondary market is priced so much better in Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan as compared to fp.

Of course, authenticity is always an issue on secondary market.

Is there a friend who shops Hermes locally who may have a mini lindy she is not too hot about? Maybe getting one lightly used from a trustworthy friend could be a possibility?

I also observed the pricing difference while researching for the bag. Maybe I'm bias, but I do feel those shown on the reseller websites based in Australia and Hong Kong look much more reasonable (they do offer to convert to USD), even though it's only "USD$800-1200" difference compared to those from FP with similar conditions. But if including potential duty, the actual difference might be around USD$500-800. And if adding the cost of mental distress due to authenticity and availability to return, the difference might be insignificant, even though we might be talking about nearly USD$1000 of additional expense... (those were the numbers around late November to pre-Christmas last year, so it may be very different now)

And yes, this is one of those situations where friends could be very helpful!

 

[smoothsailor]

I also observed the pricing difference while researching for the bag. Maybe I'm bias, but I do feel those shown on the reseller websites based in Australia and Hong Kong look much more reasonable (they do offer to convert to USD), even though it's only "USD$800-1200" difference compared to those from FP with similar conditions. But if including potential duty, the actual difference might be around USD$500-800. And if adding the cost of mental distress due to authenticity and availability to return, the difference might be insignificant, even though we might be talking about nearly USD$1000 of additional expense... (those were the numbers around late November to pre-Christmas last year, so it may be very different now)

And yes, this is one of those situations where friends could be very helpful!

Maybe it’s a matter of the exchange rates. But nonetheless, looks like you’ve got your sums worked out.

 

[mktlim]

@niwk_bag21 - not sure if I can help because I'm in Canada but I just recently purchased a preloved bag from a big reputable reseller in Japan. In this case I was fine with knowing the bag was authentic, it's an older discontinued model so I thought I'd get it anyway. I will still get it authenticated with Bababebi once she isn't too busy.

Customs was a bit of a pain - the reseller did not deal with the duties/customs (FedEx wanted paperwork or permission to be the broker who cleared customs for the bag) and I had to reach out to the reseller to request help. Luckily they dealt with issue and it was resolved but took a few days since it was over the holiday season. I did pay around 1k CAD in customs and duties once everything was sorted out.

Good luck with the mini Lindy shopping!

 

[niwk_bag21]

@niwk_bag21 - not sure if I can help because I'm in Canada but I just recently purchased a preloved bag from a big reputable reseller in Japan. In this case I was fine with knowing the bag was authentic, it's an older discontinued model so I thought I'd get it anyway. I will still get it authenticated with Bababebi once she isn't too busy.

Customs was a bit of a pain - the reseller did not deal with the duties/customs (FedEx wanted paperwork or permission to be the broker who cleared customs for the bag) and I had to reach out to the reseller to request help. Luckily they dealt with issue and it was resolved but took a few days since it was over the holiday season. I did pay around 1k CAD in customs and duties once everything was sorted out.

Good luck with the mini Lindy shopping!

Thank you so much for sharing your experience! It really helps and now I know what questions to ask the sellers before making a move