Considering selling all designer bags to buy a birkin. Help me weigh the pros/cons

[indiaink]

OP, are you reading any of your thread? What do you think?

 

[tickedoffchick]

Not to hijack the thread, but that was a really interesting article. I'm very glad I read that. Thanks for posting.

Now back to the Birkin dilemma.....

I think it was another way for OP to think about the dilemma. One Birkin - the ultimate holy grail - but when she's sold all her other bags and has the UHG in her possession, will there be a letdown? Maybe. Or is it just more fun to dream about it?

I've thought about doing something similar but I am so fickle -- I fall in love with a bag and then a month later, I'm coveting something else. The Birkin is timeless, true, but not truly practical for daily use. I'd rather have a few choices.

 

[songofthesea]

Sounds like more cons than pros. You should really think twice about it. From the stories that I read here, people regret most of the time after doing that.

I also agree with this. I also disagree that you can't carry a COACH wallet with a Birkin bag. What's going to happen? The purse police will arrest you? Seriously, I carry pretty expensive bags and have had the same COACH wallet for years. It's in great shape and it's a beautiful wallet! The thought that you'd have to "upgrade" the wallet because of your bag? The other thing I do is to think what else I could do with the amount of money I would have spent on a bag. For some people, that's a deposit on a house. For others who can afford it, it's not. As for people at work, do what you do for YOUR eyes and no one else's. That being said, it does sound like your con list is longer than your pro list.

 

[fashion16]

OP, are you reading any of your thread? What do you think?

I am reading the thread and have come to the realization that the birkin is more of a conquest....a way to prove to myself that I can have it. If I was to be honest with myself, I think I would be mad at myself for buying it the moment I completed the transaction. Despite wanting one very badly, I am going to hold back. It may not be a "never" but I think it has to be a "not now"

 

[vanilla_latte]

I had a similar situation with a 3K LV bag which I wanted for months.. Saved like mad, sold whatever "extras" I could think of to sell, and bought the bag. The excitement does wear off, and I realized while I liked the bag in theory, I hardly had the lifestyle for it and it didn't go with most clothes I wore on a daily basis. I would have been better off buying a canvas bag for half the price and I wouldn't be worried about it so much. I couldn't put it down for fear of dirt/scratches, I couldn't take it to peoples houses because it might get dirty or get stolen, and a month after getting it I wanted to get a cheap bag to "just carry around" but I felt so guilty after having spent all that money on a bag that I was afraid to use. I ended up resenting that I had to adjust my life to accommodate a purse. It should be the other way around! Purses, no matter how basic or how fancy, are meant to be used. If I can't use a bag comfortably, it's money wasted for me, because it could have bought something I would use. I couldn't like that bag anymore and sold it, losing money in the process. My current HG bag is the Chanel jumbo flap and while I could technically scrape together the cash for it, I learned from the first experience and waiting to buy it until I can reasonably use it. I am not in the birkin market but from what I know about it, it's a "jewelry" type bag. Not the most practical thing. If the only bag I had was something inconvenient, it wouldn't be worth it to me. To comfortably afford a bag, I think you have to be ok with it being used and eventually getting old and replaced.

 

[catsinthebag]

I am reading the thread and have come to the realization that the birkin is more of a conquest....a way to prove to myself that I can have it. If I was to be honest with myself, I think I would be mad at myself for buying it the moment I completed the transaction. Despite wanting one very badly, I am going to hold back. It may not be a "never" but I think it has to be a "not now"

From everything you've said, I think this is a really smart decision!

Sometimes having to save up gives us time to think about how badly we want an item and how it will really fit into our lifestyle. I think that making the Birkin a "not now" will give you precious time to sort this out.

I had a similar situation with a 3K LV bag which I wanted for months.. Saved like mad, sold whatever "extras" I could think of to sell, and bought the bag. The excitement does wear off, and I realized while I liked the bag in theory, I hardly had the lifestyle for it and it didn't go with most clothes I wore on a daily basis. I would have been better off buying a canvas bag for half the price and I wouldn't be worried about it so much. I couldn't put it down for fear of dirt/scratches, I couldn't take it to peoples houses because it might get dirty or get stolen, and a month after getting it I wanted to get a cheap bag to "just carry around" but I felt so guilty after having spent all that money on a bag that I was afraid to use. I ended up resenting that I had to adjust my life to accommodate a purse. It should be the other way around! Purses, no matter how basic or how fancy, are meant to be used. If I can't use a bag comfortably, it's money wasted for me, because it could have bought something I would use. I couldn't like that bag anymore and sold it, losing money in the process. My current HG bag is the Chanel jumbo flap and while I could technically scrape together the cash for it, I learned from the first experience and waiting to buy it until I can reasonably use it. I am not in the birkin market but from what I know about it, it's a "jewelry" type bag. Not the most practical thing. If the only bag I had was something inconvenient, it wouldn't be worth it to me. To comfortably afford a bag, I think you have to be ok with it being used and eventually getting old and replaced.

This made me think of one of my favorite Karl Lagerfeld quotes:

“If you cannot afford it, just forget about it. Don’t use it as an investment piece to show people how rich you are. Use it like a cheap knitted thing. It’s like a big stone. Lucky you that you can have a big stone, but if it troubles you financially to have the stone, don’t have the stone”

Karl was talking about buying furs, but really, it can apply to anything. If you can't stand for an item to get some signs of wear from using it, then maybe you shouldn't be using it! Part of the joy of owning a beautiful bag should be being able to actually USE the bag, IMHO!