Hermes Blacklist?

[lulilu]

On a separate note I do know of someone who used to buy bags but then sometimes sell her older bags to fund new purchases. She normally sold the bags on eBay. She sold bags very infrequently (maybe 3-4 bags in total over a few years) and she was 100% not a reseller and never sold the bags trying to make a profit. She didn't even purchase frequently, perhaps 2 bags each year. She received a text from her SA saying that it had come to their attention that she had been reselling bags and that they would no longer sell to her and she was essentially blacklisted. She was devastated about it and couldn't understand how they had come to that conclusion. Looking back I don't really understand how they would have found out unless they looked on eBay so perhaps these brands do have people employed to investigate eBay and other resale sites.

I 100% believe that Hermes and other brands should clamp down on people buying bags and selling them brand new straight after purchase for a profit. I don't think their should be a problem with selling used or new items a few years down the line when we have fallen out out love with them.

Can you tell us approx when this happened and in what country/city this happened? Curious if this is a new policy or the policy in a certain region.

I understand identifying people who are flipping BN bags at a high premium. But I don't understand the notion mentioned above about evaluating including commission in a resale price -- if you are selling yourself as the banned people ostensibly were, what commission are they paying? Sounds kind of rather an extensive evaluation to me.

I agree with 880 -- I think your SA generally knows whether you are buying for your own use (or family etc) as opposed to buying to flip. This whole notion of H forbidding people from selling things that no longer work for them, or some other personal circumstance sounds off to me.

Do other luxury retailers do this? Can you sell your Rolex without worrying about being blacklisted?

 

[Prise de Chanel]

Can you tell us approx when this happened and in what country/city this happened? Curious if this is a new policy or the policy in a certain region.

I understand identifying people who are flipping BN bags at a high premium. But I don't understand the notion mentioned above about evaluating including commission in a resale price -- if you are selling yourself as the banned people ostensibly were, what commission are they paying? Sounds kind of rather an extensive evaluation to me.

I agree with 880 -- I think your SA generally knows whether you are buying for your own use (or family etc) as opposed to buying to flip. This whole notion of H forbidding people from selling things that no longer work for them, or some other personal circumstance sounds off to me.

Do other luxury retailers do this? Can you sell your Rolex without worrying about being blacklisted?

From what I understand Hermès is not targeting people who once in a while let go of a piece they do no longer use or love for a reasonable price (not making any profit). If you use an online platform like ebay or VC you will have to deduct a commission or fee (for advertising your product) from the price paid by a potential buyer. I expect one would add this fee to the price in mind regarding the remaining value. This is still reasonable pricing and would result in e.g. gently used H bags (BKC) being at best slightly over the new price (instead of being sometimes doubled or worse).

However, regarding the remark about Rolex, I actually was told that Rolex forbids any kind of commercial selling of their watches without their explicit permission. Again, in the end I expect they usually will not target a private person who ocassionally sells one watch.

I think luxury brands act the same way as music artist when it comes to the black market of concert tickets. Some try to prevent it while others turn a blind eye for whatever reasons. And as becomes apparent from this discussion it is IMHO not an easy to handle issue with clear limits.

 

[880]

Do other luxury retailers do this? Can you sell your Rolex without worrying about being blacklisted?

Re luxury watches, DH just bought a Lange Zeitwork from the Boutique and is considering a few others. We were chatting about an article I read that richmont now owns watch finders, a reseller site. The Lange SM said it would definitely be an issue if a special edition high end Lange watch that was sought after and went to a good customer of the house appeared to be flipped. There are just not that many of them, in the sense that if you buy one, sometimes there is an empty space in the display case. But, I’m not sure if they care about what they consider entry level Lange. . .Re Rolex or Patek Philippe, unless it was a relatively limited production, high end piece, I’m not sure how they would know bc there are so many out there.

 

[Prise de Chanel]

re Rolex or Patek Philippe, unless it was a relatively limited production, high end piece, I’m not sure how they would know bc there are so many out there?

Good point.

Also, I think there are official resellers (with permission) that can be contacted if you want to sell your luxury watch.

I wonder, whether something similar for H bags exists

 

[880]

OT, I wish there was a way that Hermes could bring back some vintage designs or materials, ie, crinoline, so those customers that want them didn’t have to depend on resellers, but I do feel that post globalization expansion, it would be a loss leader and not make financial sense. On the other hand, I do feel fantastic when I’ve searched for something from decades past and found it. . . Or taken a sad bag and gotten it refurbished, like Eliza Doolittle re the music analogy, there used to be a thrill of going into used records stores and finding a great bootleg recording. . . But, cough, I was one of those who insisted that real records sounded better than cds. . .

 

[momoc]

Do other luxury retailers do this? Can you sell your Rolex without worrying about being blacklisted?

OT now but just sharing - yes I know LV for sure investigates and blacklists resellers. And they do have a team dedicated to social media watch and it includes Facebook / YouTube / Instagram / everything. They will blacklist with an official ban letter just like Hermes. Besides investigations into things being sold, they have also added lots of limits recently (number of canvas pieces that can be purchased in a period of time; number of stores one can buy from, number of certain items you can buy per transaction...) that are efforts to combat resellers. Are they 100% correct or effective? No definitely not...but they try.

 

[lulilu]

OT now but just sharing - yes I know LV for sure investigates and blacklists resellers. And they do have a team dedicated to social media watch and it includes Facebook / YouTube / Instagram / everything. They will blacklist with an office ban letter just like Hermes. Besides investigations into things being sold, they have also added lots of limits recently (number of canvas pieces that can be purchased in a period of time; number of stores one can buy from, number of certain items you can buy per transaction...) that are efforts to combat resellers. Are they 100% correct or effective? No definitely not...but they try.

The purchase limits make total sense. The investigative team sounds fascinating.

 

[Rainbow.fish]

Can you tell us approx when this happened and in what country/city this happened? Curious if this is a new policy or the policy in a certain region.

I understand identifying people who are flipping BN bags at a high premium. But I don't understand the notion mentioned above about evaluating including commission in a resale price -- if you are selling yourself as the banned people ostensibly were, what commission are they paying? Sounds kind of rather an extensive evaluation to me.

I agree with 880 -- I think your SA generally knows whether you are buying for your own use (or family etc) as opposed to buying to flip. This whole notion of H forbidding people from selling things that no longer work for them, or some other personal circumstance sounds off to me.

Do other luxury retailers do this? Can you sell your Rolex without worrying about being blacklisted?

This was approximately a year ago and in the UK.

The conversation about watches reminds me about a conversation we recently had with a Patek dealer in the UK. He said that one of their customers bought a piece from the store and then later put it up for sale at a huge mark up a few months later. They tracked down the customer via the serial number of the watch and actually called him and asked him why he was reselling and despite him giving a story about a change in financial circumstances he was still blacklisted. They said they would prefer customers would approach them first if they did decide to sell for any reason.

I think a lot of luxury brands are trying to clamp down on this type of thing and so they should. I personally think that reselling (buying new and selling BNIB for a profit) by it continuing like this it makes it much harder for genuine customers to obtain the pieces they desire.

 

[Prise de Chanel]

I personally think that reselling (buying new and selling BNIB for a profit) by it continuing like this it makes it much harder for genuine customers to obtain the pieces they desire.

Exactly. Imagine a world where the amazing quality and designs of H bags (and other luxury products) would not enable huge profits for some... It still would be difficult to find your dream piece whatever it was, but chances would perhaps be higher for those without unlimited budget...

Anyway, it is good that luxury firms try to fight or at least limit the reseller market, even if IMHO there is no perfect solution to do so.

I actually love the thread
The OMG! They want HOW much for that bag/scarf/shawl/accessory???? Thread
At least there is an entertaining side of this situation

 

[ce_1992]

Good point.

Also, I think there are official resellers (with permission) that can be contacted if you want to sell your luxury watch.

I wonder, whether something similar for H bags exists

It would be amazing if H opened their own division that allowed people who no longer want their H bags to consign them to H, and H then either sells them or works with a set 3rd party to resell them. I get that there's liability if somehow a "superfake" got through, but I'm sure a lot of brand lovers would be absolutely willing to sell back to H. And I'd absolutely take a 10 year old bag directly from H if it met my criteria (size, leather, color, HW), as I'm sure others would!

They could even hold a special event at FSH to test out the idea...
I'm in marketing so of course now I'm brainstorming ideas for something that will never happen LOL

I mean I'm sure H must be OK with reselling to some extent, Sothebys and Christie's have multiple auctions each year featuring BKC and I've even seen Himilayas at a couple of the last auctions.

It's wild to me that any brand would be upset with someone selling years-old pieces. Once you buy something it's absolutely your prerogative to do what you wish with it. It's not like any company takes back items outside of return windows even if they were BNIB!

 

[Prise de Chanel]

It would be amazing if H opened their own division that allowed people who no longer want their H bags to consign them to H, and H then either sells them or works with a set 3rd party to resell them. I get that there's liability if somehow a "superfake" got through, but I'm sure a lot of brand lovers would be absolutely willing to sell back to H. And I'd absolutely take a 10 year old bag directly from H if it met my criteria (size, leather, color, HW), as I'm sure others would!

They could even hold a special event at FSH to test out the idea...
I'm in marketing so of course now I'm brainstorming ideas for something that will never happen LOL

I mean I'm sure H must be OK with reselling to some extent, Sothebys and Christie's have multiple auctions each year featuring BKC and I've even seen Himilayas at a couple of the last auctions.

It's wild to me that any brand would be upset with someone selling years-old pieces. Once you buy something it's absolutely your prerogative to do what you wish with it. It's not like any company takes back items outside of return windows even if they were BNIB!

OMG I LOVE THIS IDEA!!!

That would be more than perfect. It would give you as a consumer peace of mind and at the same time would mean a benefit for long term collectors as well as for those who love to change their bag collection every once in a while and, of course it would be great under the aspect of sustainability. Probably, this will come in the future, as sustainability is more and more relevant for nowadays consumers...

I know other fashion brands like Iris von Arnim are already collaborating with resellers (instead of reselling themselves) so the next logical step could be to take back and refurbish themselves.

You got me excited

 

[lara0112]

It would be amazing if H opened their own division that allowed people who no longer want their H bags to consign them to H, and H then either sells them or works with a set 3rd party to resell them. I get that there's liability if somehow a "superfake" got through, but I'm sure a lot of brand lovers would be absolutely willing to sell back to H. And I'd absolutely take a 10 year old bag directly from H if it met my criteria (size, leather, color, HW), as I'm sure others would!

They could even hold a special event at FSH to test out the idea...
I'm in marketing so of course now I'm brainstorming ideas for something that will never happen LOL

I mean I'm sure H must be OK with reselling to some extent, Sothebys and Christie's have multiple auctions each year featuring BKC and I've even seen Himilayas at a couple of the last auctions.

It's wild to me that any brand would be upset with someone selling years-old pieces. Once you buy something it's absolutely your prerogative to do what you wish with it. It's not like any company takes back items outside of return windows even if they were BNIB!

OMG I LOVE THIS IDEA!!!

That would be more than perfect. It would give you as a consumer peace of mind and at the same time would mean a benefit for long term collectors as well as for those who love to change their bag collection every once in a while and, of course it would be great under the aspect of sustainability. Probably, this will come in the future, as sustainability is more and more relevant for nowadays consumers...

I know other fashion brands like Iris von Arnim are already collaborating with resellers (instead of reselling themselves) so the next logical step could be to take back and refurbish themselves.

You got me excited

I attended a Vogue Business webinar where a previous luxury brand exec/advisor (name escapes me) discussed his book on the future of luxury brands and gen z - and the idea of luxury brands selling their own preloved items was definitely discussed in detail. It is on brand's radar, I suspect, and I think will eventually happen - if nothing else, to stay relevant with the new consumer groups

 

[Prise de Chanel]

I attended a Vogue Business webinar where a previous luxury brand exec/advisor (name escapes me) discussed his book on the future of luxury brands and gen z - and the idea of luxury brands selling their own preloved items was definitely discussed in detail. It is on brand's radar, I suspect, and I think will eventually happen - if nothing else, to stay relevant with the new consumer groups

 

[surfchick]

Interestingly enough I ran across this article. Not Hermes so OT but it is about resellers.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle...e-changing-partnership/ar-BB19HX8R?li=BBnbcA0

 

[Lovebargain1]

I attended a Vogue Business webinar where a previous luxury brand exec/advisor (name escapes me) discussed his book on the future of luxury brands and gen z - and the idea of luxury brands selling their own preloved items was definitely discussed in detail. It is on brand's radar, I suspect, and I think will eventually happen - if nothing else, to stay relevant with the new consumer groups

I remember reading somewhere that Norstorm already started this for their carrying designer?