Hermès bag gang buys up half the supply

[WhiteBus]

I respectfully disagree. And I know this may be an unpopular opinion, please take it with a grain of salt. There are people willing to buy at such high cost from resellers is because there is a significant discrepancy between the supply and demand. The only way to curtail that would be for Hermes to produce more BKCs. If there were that many in the market, then the resellers would simply be out of business. But that's not the Hermes business model of exclusivity, which also produces more demand. It's a bit unfair imo to blame the customers who can't easily get what they want (who's to say someone deserve a BKC more than others - you can even say loyal customers deserve it more but there has to be a fairness in barrier to entry, but right now with the short supply there is a HUGE barrier to entry), and as much as I hate to say it (and note that I am not a supporter of resellers, nor have I ever purchased a handbag from a reseller) it's simply a market opportunity for resellers - and it's also slightly unfair to call them greedy as they're simply just opportunists as any other professionals that are utilizes their skills and resources to move to survive/thrive in life.

But also back to topic... it really sucks that some people are able to engage in this behavior. Even asides from legality, this does punish the real customers who might otherwise have a chance at a BKC. :/

This is well thought out reasoning of the current state of affairs and is not the disagreement that the first sentence suggests.
It is the simple (simplistic?) idea that if nobody bought from resellers they would not exist, that fixxi disagrees with - probably because the market is such that it would not happen.

I share the view that 'flipping' resellers should not be supported - whatever the justification.
Nonetheless I cannot disagree that from an entrepreneurial point of view they cannot be criticised for capitalising on a market opportunity.

 

[Jem131]

I looked on Fashionfile last night and was angered by how many bags were being sold as new at vastly inflated prices.
ditto things like the Buddy charm -over $1000...around $400 in the boutique (its around £350 from memory here in UK), Sandals, Calvi etc etc.
In fact the only 'as new' or 'giftable' items that weren't being sold at inflated prices seemed to be jewellery and watches which I would hazard a guess have been purchased for 'profile building' as opposed to flipping and profiteering.

Jewellery and accessory items tend to be more easily purchased at retail which might explain why they’re prices are less inflated.
As for the continuing saga of bags, Sotheby’s had a bag and accessories auction and I thought it interesting that many of the items came from Fashionfile with ridiculously inflated reserve prices.

 

[Building_profile]

I respectfully disagree. And I know this may be an unpopular opinion, please take it with a grain of salt. There are people willing to buy at such high cost from resellers is because there is a significant discrepancy between the supply and demand. The only way to curtail that would be for Hermes to produce more BKCs. If there were that many in the market, then the resellers would simply be out of business. But that's not the Hermes business model of exclusivity, which also produces more demand. It's a bit unfair imo to blame the customers who can't easily get what they want (who's to say someone deserve a BKC more than others - you can even say loyal customers deserve it more but there has to be a fairness in barrier to entry, but right now with the short supply there is a HUGE barrier to entry), and as much as I hate to say it (and note that I am not a supporter of resellers, nor have I ever purchased a handbag from a reseller) it's simply a market opportunity for resellers - and it's also slightly unfair to call them greedy as they're simply just opportunists as any other professionals that are utilizes their skills and resources to move to survive/thrive in life.

But also back to topic... it really sucks that some people are able to engage in this behavior. Even asides from legality, this does punish the real customers who might otherwise have a chance at a BKC. :/

I like the way Fixxi lays this out. I completely concur with Fixxi's disclaimers - H.com is so picked through, presumably by resellers, in nanoseconds that I don't even bother checking anymore - but I do begrudginly give some credit to resellers for helping keep the excitement around the brand high, pushing the price levels, and in a way, help protect our investments. If anyone can walk into H and buy a B/K, we realistically may not be fawning over them as much as we (I) do.

 

[maxroxxherhandbags]

I like the way Fixxi lays this out. I completely concur with Fixxi's disclaimers - H.com is so picked through, presumably by resellers, in nanoseconds that I don't even bother checking anymore - but I do begrudginly give some credit to resellers for helping keep the excitement around the brand high, pushing the price levels, and in a way, help protect our investments. If anyone can walk into H and buy a B/K, we realistically may not be fawning over them as much as we (I) do.

Speaking as someone who fell in love with the brand many decades ago and decided my dream was to Own a Birkin and Kelly , when all that was needed was the spare £3500 or so a Birkin then cost from the Boutique because the brand wasn't so hyped and although not plentiful the bags were much easier to get, I find the more recent obsession over the brand and its visibility on social media platforms and insane mark ups on the pre-loved platforms a bit of a turn-off.
Also I object to this concept of a bag being an 'investment'.
JMO and I know many will disagree..
I wish people would buy the bags because they like them and appreciate the quality and workmanship and not buy them just because they are high sought after, a status symbol or an 'investment'.
I guess I'm just old fashioned.

 

[GabrielleS]

Speaking as someone who fell in love with the brand many decades ago and decided my dream was to Own a Birkin and Kelly , when all that was needed was the spare £3500 or so a Birkin then cost from the Boutique because the brand wasn't so hyped and although not plentiful the bags were much easier to get, I find the more recent obsession over the brand and its visibility on social media platforms and insane mark ups on the pre-loved platforms a bit of a turn-off.
Also I object to this concept of a bag being an 'investment'.
JMO and I know many will disagree..
I wish people would buy the bags because they like them and appreciate the quality and workmanship and not buy them just because they are high sought after, a status symbol or an 'investment'.
I guess I'm just old fashioned.

Agree 100 percent. I am starting to get turned off by the hype and am not wearing some new boutique purchased bags because they are starting to feel “flashy” when I had previously considered them classic.

 

[Building_profile]

Speaking as someone who fell in love with the brand many decades ago and decided my dream was to Own a Birkin and Kelly , when all that was needed was the spare £3500 or so a Birkin then cost from the Boutique because the brand wasn't so hyped and although not plentiful the bags were much easier to get, I find the more recent obsession over the brand and its visibility on social media platforms and insane mark ups on the pre-loved platforms a bit of a turn-off.
Also I object to this concept of a bag being an 'investment'.
JMO and I know many will disagree..
I wish people would buy the bags because they like them and appreciate the quality and workmanship and not buy them just because they are high sought after, a status symbol or an 'investment'.
I guess I'm just old fashioned.

Thank you for sharing. I’m relatively new on my H journey, and it’s refreshing to set aside my sense of desperation and hear the lived experiences of people who are so tenured with them that this may feel like a different beast sometimes.

And that’s perhaps why I as a newcomer am so enamored by them - I do credit them for, despite inadvertently (or consciously) fanning the mania, being almost the best at carefully growing the brand while keeping up the product quality and mystique. I’m sure their management team is always asked - why don’t we just hire and train another 100 artisans to crank out B/Ks for more profits - a riskless corporate investment if there ever was one. Striking that balance and discipline is surely no easy task through economic upturns and downturns

 

[Jem131]

I like the way Fixxi lays this out. I completely concur with Fixxi's disclaimers - H.com is so picked through, presumably by resellers, in nanoseconds that I don't even bother checking anymore - but I do begrudginly give some credit to resellers for helping keep the excitement around the brand high, pushing the price levels, and in a way, help protect our investments. If anyone can walk into H and buy a B/K, we realistically may not be fawning over them as much as we (I) do.

The very fact that Hermes keeps inventory low is intended to increase demand, which protects your investment. Resellers and their bots or flippers picking the site clean who then ridiculously inflate prices is a turn off to the retail buyer because they have the patience to wait. They refuse to play what’s become the Hermes resellers game.

 

[WhiteBus]

It would not just be a case of increasing the workforce.
The supply of unblemished leather would also need to be increased; that would not be so easy. I believe the percentage of hides rejected for some or other imperfection is quite high.

 

[Tonimichelle]

I like the way Fixxi lays this out. I completely concur with Fixxi's disclaimers - H.com is so picked through, presumably by resellers, in nanoseconds that I don't even bother checking anymore - but I do begrudginly give some credit to resellers for helping keep the excitement around the brand high, pushing the price levels, and in a way, help protect our investments. If anyone can walk into H and buy a B/K, we realistically may not be fawning over them as much as we (I) do.

Whilst I'm sure that you may be right regarding many people, I have to say that I'm secretly horrified by the insane prices on the resale market.
I bought my Birkin for well below retail (a now 17 year old bag purchased before prices went sky high).

Sure, from a financial point of view my 'investment' is safe. However if I fawn over this bag it's due to the design / craftsmanship / practicality/ history and the fact that after 17 years she's being repaired by H currently and can continue to be for the lifespan of the bag.

I hate that the bag I purchased to use for daily life, be it grocery shopping, post office trip, day out.. just to carry stuff in a bag that I love, that can take a bit of a beating frankly without falling apart like so many other brands, is now probably worth far more than I paid for it.

I want to use and enjoy it, not worry that I may be a target for theft, that if something happened to it I can't justify / shouldn't replace it with prices so high. Ok it's insured but for the retail price, I may be able to increase this, would have to check, but my point is I really don't want to be walking around with a bag that is worth X amount on the resale market or is now recognisable by so many people. I want to be walking around with a bag that is affordable to me, that I can just use as a bag at the end of the day!

 

[Jem131]

Speaking as someone who fell in love with the brand many decades ago and decided my dream was to Own a Birkin and Kelly , when all that was needed was the spare £3500 or so a Birkin then cost from the Boutique because the brand wasn't so hyped and although not plentiful the bags were much easier to get, I find the more recent obsession over the brand and its visibility on social media platforms and insane mark ups on the pre-loved platforms a bit of a turn-off.
Also I object to this concept of a bag being an 'investment'.
JMO and I know many will disagree..
I wish people would buy the bags because they like them and appreciate the quality and workmanship and not buy them just because they are high sought after, a status symbol or an 'investment'.
I guess I'm just old fashioned.

Bravo!

 

[Jem131]

The very fact that Hermes keeps inventory low is intended to increase demand, which protects your investment. Resellers and their bots or flippers picking the site clean who then ridiculously inflate prices is a turn off to the retail buyer because they have the patience to wait. They refuse to play what’s become the resellers game.

 

[hwg]

As a community of Hermes lovers, we all should STOP buying from resellers that are selling as “new” .. at 300% more than retail price. I think it’s dishonest and I am totally fed up that bags on Hermes.com became unavailable within seconds! And nowadays, in Paris you have to make an appointment to buy a bag and according to the SA, they received about 20k appointment applications a day and they only have 100 appointments! So as long as we buy from resellers that are flipping the items over at 300% more, this is never going to be fair to honest lovers of the products that have saved the money to buy an item that we will use for a long time!

 

[Jem131]

As a community of Hermes lovers, we all should STOP buying from resellers that are selling as “new” .. at 300% more than retail price. I think it’s dishonest and I am totally fed up that bags on Hermes.com became unavailable within seconds! And nowadays, in Paris you have to make an appointment to buy a bag and according to the SA, they received about 20k appointment applications a day and they only have 100 appointments! So as long as we buy from resellers that are flipping the items over at 300% more, this is never going to be fair to honest lovers of the products that have saved the money to buy an item that we will use for a long time!

Agree 1000%. I’ve collected Hermes for years and never seen anything like what I see today. People buying in droves just to sell at an increase. It is completely completely out of control.

 

[phoenixfeather]

Yes, it's absolutely disgusting.