Is bag flipping a thing?
- Thread starter forever.elise
- Start date
Hey there OP! I think a lot of people have given some good insight on why people flip. It seems you have a strong perspective which is great for you but let me try again - using some already stated points and some new ones - to help you understand flipping.
I think the first thing to realize is that many of us (me included) have zero emotional attachment to their bags. They are inanimate things. When I say I "love" a bag it's really just a euphemistic way of saying it's truly beautiful to me or I like how I look when I carry it. That's it. I truly love my family, my close friends and even my silly little cat. Those are what I truly can't part with. I would hazzard a guess that many of us who wail long and loud about parting with a bag are really just enjoying the ride of engaging about purses on a purse forum. It's fun to talk about / enthuse about / dither over with like minded forum friends. But, really - it's not that deep. I think very few of us who are using funny or emotional language about getting rid of a bag really are that worried about it. In fact if you check back, many people will say they don't even think of the sold bag once it's gone and their new baby arrives. So a lot of this conversation is fun hyperbole among like minded folks because this a well enjoyed hobby.
Above you say people should give a bag a "chance" if they don't like it. I agree with you to an extent and try out my bags a couple of times before I make the final decision to punt. But, actually our opinions may not make logical sense. There may be a better bag for the person. The bag doesn't have feelings. Someone else may like the bag better. So keeping a bag past the moment you realize you don't like it can be unnecessarily limiting (and clutter producing). A bag is just a pretty sack. Why not get rid of it immediately if it doesn't spark joy?
And handbags are fashion items. Fashion. Not investments. So it's makes perfect sense to me that some very fashionable people who want to keep up with the latest fashion trends - either because it's their hobby, their career or their "thing" - will buy a bag the minute it comes out and dump it the minute it's no longer "hot". I am doing my best to buy bags I can keep forever because I just don't want the hassle of selling. But those who like to be on top of trends may need to flip to stay on the forefront of fashion. And thank god for 'em. Fashion bloggers, designers, or simply uber fashionable people in our cities and towns inspire the rest of us with the great looks they put together.
Also remember that many people on TPF aren't constrained by finances. There are very wealthy people here who can buy 20 bags a month and flip them with no impact to their financial holdings. So again, while you or Betty or Sue or I may have to consider the implications of buying a Hermes, tons of people on this forum can buy them like they are jelly beans. In that case, buying and flipping for fun is very much money "well spent". It's their hobby and they can afford it.
Others only want to spend so much on bags whether or not they can afford them. Or they have limited space in their homes. Or they simply just don't want more than x bags. In those cases it again makes perfect sense for them to think hard about their collection, get rid of bags they may love but just aren't using and sell them to fund a bag that they will love - whether or not the sold bag is a day or a decade old. And they retain their "power" to do what they want with their bags.
I'll also throw out a comment on looking askance at anyone who sells to keep up with their social circle. I'm "lucky" in that I live in the town that fashion forgot. I could wear a limited edition Hermes Berkin on my head and people wouldn't care (or know what it was other than a weird hat) So it gives me flexibility to do whatever I want. Old bag, new bag, no bag. However, everyone isn't so lucky. If you are "in" fashion you better keep up with your social circle if you want to keep your career. If you are in certain political or corporate environments (entertainment is just one) your also have to keep up with the Jones' to keep a paycheck coming. And some are simply born into certain social circles where how you look / what you carry is important for whatever reason. If they want to stay in that world, they have to conform. It's not for me to say that's silly. Why? Because all of us have some sort of currency we must pursue to "fit". In my world being well educated / smart is the currency. In Fred's, it may be the quality of his cattle. So I don't poo poo out of hand the fact that handbags could be very real part of the social currency.
So, thanks for reading my long post. I hope it helped you see that your approach of being emotionally attached to your forever bags is a very happy and rewarding place for you but not necessarily all. One of the many great things about TPF is that it's the one place that you can find many like minded people to can walk that specific journey with you. But it also has many other populations like that flip bags, horde bags, keep up with the Jones', avoid "it" bags like the plague, make profit reselling, are in debt up to their eyeballs, sell to fund, only have bags they wear to death, have huge collections they don't use, only have one bag, etc. etc. and everything in between. As I said, handbags are just pretty sacks. We'll all have very different ways of treating them.
Hope this helped you see more broadly. Enjoy your well loved bags! 😄 👍
I guess in the last breath my point was missed: why sell something you LOVE just to get something NEW.
I read everything you wrote, and I think every single person who had posted their thoughts touched on what you said already. The thread progressed in conversation, and I was bringing it back to my initial thought, that I already stated before...
It's ok...I get it now.
It was a new concept that I was realizing while reading people's conflicts over selling something they LOVE and USE just to buy a NEW RELEASE. This I didn't get...maybe I still think it's a shame people feel this pressure, but alas...ok, got it.
I read everything you wrote, and I think every single person who had posted their thoughts touched on what you said already. The thread progressed in conversation, and I was bringing it back to my initial thought, that I already stated before...
It's ok...I get it now.
It was a new concept that I was realizing while reading people's conflicts over selling something they LOVE and USE just to buy a NEW RELEASE. This I didn't get...maybe I still think it's a shame people feel this pressure, but alas...ok, got it.
I "get" what you're saying Elise and I DO agree with you that for those among us who are slaves to fashion it must be a hard road to go down.....the pressure to conform with just the right bag, just the right car, just the right school, etc.
Thankfully I don't care about those things, I just do me so if I sell a bag it's never to get the latest and greatest in fashion, it's merely because a bag has worn out it's usefulness or another prettier or more functional one has caught my eye. But not because of what's on trend in the marketplace.
Then again, we're all different and may have our reasons for constant flipping. I know someone who flips all the time because she gets bored very quickly with her bags.
Hallelujah, finally. Thank you.
I agree with you 100%, and I honestly started the thread merely because I started to see a lot of people commenting about feeling the NEED to sell something they love and use just to FUND a new bag, that in turn, (even if the owner really likes it and uses it) will sell anyway just to keep up with the Jone's. The topic went on a roller coaster ride, and it was really just a thought after I made an observation. I think I just wanted to know if this was normal, something a lot of people did, and lastly just felt it was a shame for anyone to feel the need to let something go, that they really didn't WANT to, just in order to pay for another bag to keep up with the next.
I'm gonna dip out of this one now...
E
Evia
This is exactly me... normally ill want a bag AT LEAST 24 months before it will become mine. That reduces quick sells... but not all, because there have definitely been times when I've patiently waited to Buy a bag and found out nearly the second I got it, that it wasn't for me.
That said if I was more impulsive with my bag purchases, I'd definitely be a re-seller/pseudo flipper.
Sent from my SM-G935T using PurseForum mobile app
I have purchased many LV Bags and loved them at first then decide I don't love them then sell them to buy another then on and on. I am such a fickle pickle! I now only have Sully MM, Trevi PM (For seriously the third or fourth time) and Delightful azur mm (should arrive in the mail today/have had that one two times). I think there is something wrong with me haha! I love it then don't then sell it and want it back a few weeks or months later then sell it again and buy it again. Sadly I have made enough money (not intending to at first) to not only fund my bags but then it turned into hobby buying and selling knowing I wouldn't likely want to keep a bag very long so why not make a little while I am being fickle. So I kept doing it. I have really slowed down but I still think there was more to it like almost a compulsion? I am not quite sure but I am atleast content with SULLY MM and have never sold and repurchased that one. Sadly I will likely end up selling trevi and delightful in a few weeks or months!! I seriously think it is some type of compulsion?? I notice when I get stressed or upset "it" happens?? Such a tough thing to admit but I am sure I can't be the only one.
I may have really strayed from the OP's original question but I do know many ladies do this for whatever the reason is
I may have really strayed from the OP's original question but I do know many ladies do this for whatever the reason is
I have purchased many LV Bags and loved them at first then decide I don't love them then sell them to buy another then on and on. I am such a fickle pickle! I now only have Sully MM, Trevi PM (For seriously the third or fourth time) and Delightful azur mm (should arrive in the mail today/have had that one two times). I think there is something wrong with me haha! I love it then don't then sell it and want it back a few weeks or months later then sell it again and buy it again. Sadly I have made enough money (not intending to at first) to not only fund my bags but then it turned into hobby buying and selling knowing I wouldn't likely want to keep a bag very long so why not make a little while I am being fickle. So I kept doing it. I have really slowed down but I still think there was more to it like almost a compulsion? I am not quite sure but I am atleast content with SULLY MM and have never sold and repurchased that one. Sadly I will likely end up selling trevi and delightful in a few weeks or months!! I seriously think it is some type of compulsion?? I notice when I get stressed or upset "it" happens?? Such a tough thing to admit but I am sure I can't be the only one.
I may have really strayed from the OP's original question but I do know many ladies do this for whatever the reason is
I can definitely relate to this. I never understand how I can LOVE something one day and a while later don't even like it! Then fall in love again! If I had the funds I can see myself buying and selling and buying and selling...
i have sold bags to a re-seller before
but grossly under-priced and often after a couple years of not using them
for me, its not serving much purpose other than holding up real estate space in my closet..
so i take the 30% of the retail price and send them off
but grossly under-priced and often after a couple years of not using them
for me, its not serving much purpose other than holding up real estate space in my closet..
so i take the 30% of the retail price and send them off
I've done this too. I believe that if I am not using something, why not liquidate it and use those funds for something else. However, I've become more of a minimalist and don't believe in storing too many objects.
When I first got into bags, more than 5 years ago, I didn't know which things I liked or didn't like and cycled through some more. Now my tastes have refined and I know what works for me, but it was a trial and error.
___________________________
This thread boggles the mind though, because who am I to judge what someone else does with their money? I have a friend who for a while switched cars a little more frequently than I did but our views on cars were different because to her, owning different cars was more of a hobby.
To each their own.
Last edited:
i suspect OP simply wasnt aware that ppl saw bags as a commodity like stocks to hold and sell in a rather short period of time - say a few months
tbh i didnt know of such practice either - i do think its very cool, something like rent the runway and it does open up a new market
as for myself i do feel foolish paying retail and selling way below the price that i paid - i do tell myself that its better to take whatever its worth and rid of it, then do have it simply sit around
I'm the same opinion.. If it doesn't work for me it will be sold and i don't loose so much as it's almost new.. I would never say i will buy a bag which willlast my entire life because my taste is changing almost yearly .. I also don't have a sentimental feeling for my bags.. I love my current ones but if i don't use them anymore i sell them and purchase another one which i like more or invest the money to somewhere else .. The same is for my phones .. I love changing phones.. I never have a phone longer than one year.. It's not always because i want to have the newest one but i get bored with the same phone or the same bag .. This is a kind of hobby from me .. I always sell everything which i don't need or use anymore or i want to have something new.. And why not? Life is too short to have the same bag and same phone for years .. My Taste is changing.. Last year i loved shoulder bags this year i like handheld bags with a shoulder/crossbody strap.. I just started with lv .. Before lv i had different bags which i sold to purchase lv and because i didn't like the style of my old ones anymore..i can't say i will never sell my lv bags as i don't know if i will still like them in a couple of years .. I don't buy the latest trend just things or bag styles which i like and if i don't like it anymore i sell it
let's see if this will also happen with lv bags..and yeah if course i have a bag addiction hahaha