Here's my take (for what it's worth, which is exactly what I'm charging for it): Hermes is a for-profit company. The ultimate goal, always, is to sell product. To the degree that "exclusivity" contributes to the brand's desirability and therefore its bottom line, Hermes will support this image. But they also want to stay visible. And make money.
They are being selective about to whom they sell Birkins and Kellys because they have to be. The supply is not adequate to the demand right now, and if they truly sold their most desired products on a first come, first served basis, the boutiques would be nearly empty after the first half-hour. Keeping people coming in hoping to "score" (whether at random or via staggered appointment times) constitutes intermittent reinforcement, the most effective strategy to increase a behavior's occurrence (as I believe PbP pointed out some pages back). And when people flow into the store seeking a B/K, they may well walk away with other items. To the degree that resellers allow customers to bypass this process, Hermes is against them. If a prospective customer only wants a Birkin and can get that Birkin without ever setting foot in a boutique, the opportunity to upsell this customer and create a new relationship/revenue stream is lost. This is the chief, and arguably the only, objection Hermes has to resellers. The degree to which a resale market "********izes" Hermes access is of negligible concern to H management, I suspect.
As for the "spend X dollars, win a Birkin" approach, this is a crass but understandable effort to increase sales, no more and no less. In the days when these bags were less known, one could walk into a boutique and buy one off the shelf. No minimum purchase, no games, no evaluation of personal worthiness. The fact of being able to afford the bag was the sole sine qua non. If demand falls or production is significantly increased (the latter unlikely without a major change in the manufacturing processes and ethos of the company), the perceived gauntlet that one must run to purchase these bags will fall away.
I get very uncomfortable when the discussion turns toward who "should" carry Hermes, whom Hermes "wants" to carry their bags, etc. The tone then starts to move toward an us and them elitism that I dislike. (I am not responding to any specific post here: this theme has recurred with some frequency on tPF.) These are handbags. We are not allocating organ transplants here.
Well said Mindi. It does get a bit uncomfortable when we delve to far into the subject. I have to try to stay in my zen place with Hermes.
But I had heard on here that Madison was a bit cold and almost headed to the Wall Street store which has a great reputation on here.... except I'm often right by Madison so it was the more convenient location. I'm very glad I gave it a try; it's been a great "fit" for me.