Lining up for Hermes - thoughts, rants, raves

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#77
Pocketbook Pup said:
Yes when I lined up in 2014 I waited 20 minutes tops. If the line was longer than that I didn't stay to wait. From late 2014 until 2016 the line had grown from the glass case where the hostesses stood to the back steps, back again once through the leather section and then encroached in the scarf section. You couldn't even get to the case with the cashmeres. And if you needed to pay at that register it was very difficult to get to. They had to do something.

There is no way I would ever wait this long especially outside in the early morning.

I have found that February through early April or September to October are good months to go. Summer and Christmas time are busier. I have had the impression that by late November they are holding stock for regulars to buy as Christmas gifts. You have to google the French holidays each year. There are many. And google fashion week. Definitely avoid those times. The holidays aren't so bad. You just want to be aware of when the store will be closed and also that when they reopen stock will be low for a few days.

Those of us who are regulars at fsh have really tried to give genuine advice and to be helpful, so the animosity on the Paris thread is very disappointing. People want to hear what they want to hear and come off as very entitled. If that's what they are projecting at the store that's why they aren't being offered a bag. That thread used to be very fun cheering people on. Now it's everything that is ugly about buying Hermes.

The other thing is that while they always have bags they might not have what you want. I have been asking for a certain color for 3 years. They never have it while I'm there. If people want the in fashion tiny bags or very specific colors they are much less likely to have them. I don't think people want to hear that either. If you only want one bag in your lifetime and you want one color fsh is not the place to buy. If you have a small collection and are open to different options it can work out well.
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#79
Mrs.Kitts said:
The SA who look after me yesterday told me Hermes FSH is building a new system so appointment can be made online in the future. But it will take at least a year until the new system launch.
The SA kept asking me what time i started to queue and he couldn't believe when i said i started to queue from 5:20 am. He kept apologizing for this system that make people have to queue very early to get an appointment.
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Unfortunately, I believe the line sellers will find a way around it. Much like how they buy limited edition items released only online extremely quickly before the general public can get to it. As I was typing this, I thought maybe Hermes can circumvent this by asking for passport information or some sort of contact information of the appointment seeker, but then I realized the line sellers would just reach out to buyers beforehand, get their information, and then book the appointment for the customer with their information. While this might deter some spot buyers from "cutting the line" so to speak because of the possible identity theft, but it definitely won't deter all.

I'm trying to think of a way to avoid possible chaos like the current system or possible abuse of the system, but it seems hard to create a system where true fans prevail. Maybe I'm just a little less hopeful after reading all the posts on the "Paris Trip for Hermes" thread :frown:
 
#80
@ prepster Great advice! I sent an email a couple months ago. I got motivated by their website. In their site, they promote "work" with a sales person to get a Kelly or Birkin. They specified that some colors are popular and may not be in stock. Really? I described my experience with this FSH line. Not as easy either when you don't have a H store at home.
 
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#81
classybags4ever said:
Would an online system really help? The resellers would probably hijack that too. I really wish Hermes wouldn't sell to these resellers!
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It's just not that easy to "hijack" a system. Again, I think Burning Man does a very good job with their system and it is specifically geared toward existing visitors, similar to long-term H customers. I am not much of a coder but I could build a system in a weekend that assessed validity as a customer and assigned appointments - it could even be tied to home store spend, although that would be a shame as it IS nice that there's a place to "walk in" to.
Of course anything digital can be hacked but in this case it is much more likely that the line will be physically compromised. 80+ euro is a lot for a spot seller to make even for lining up from 3 am...sadly there are plenty of jobs paying under 10/hour, and plenty of people out of work.
 
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#82
QuelleFromage said:
It's just not that easy to "hijack" a system. Again, I think Burning Man does a very good job with their system and it is specifically geared toward existing visitors, similar to long-term H customers. I am not much of a coder but I could build a system in a weekend that assessed validity as a customer and assigned appointments - it could even be tied to home store spend, although that would be a shame as it IS nice that there's a place to "walk in" to.
Of course anything digital can be hacked but in this case it is much more likely that the line will be physically compromised. 80+ euro is a lot for a spot seller to make even for lining up from 3 am...sadly there are plenty of jobs paying under 10/hour, and plenty of people out of work.
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Working in technology, it's possible for mini programs to be built to do this. A curious college CS can easily do it.

I like the passport ID idea. Normal people would be too afraid of identity theft to ever give up this information just for a bag (maybe I'm wrong tho!!!). If you're a reseller, you can't keep using your passport.
 
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#88
I only saw the queue at FSH once (Sep 2016) and it was enough to turn me off then that I decided to skip FSH entirely. Though I agree it's good news that Hermes is looking into digitizing the queue process but seriously, it's not a foolproof solution, the spot sellers/resellers will find a way to beat the system eventually. They did it once, they will do it again. With that being said, I will still try my luck once the digital queue process is in place but until then, no thanks.
 
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#89
The resellers have/use multiple passports. I spoke to a reseller when I lined up and she said she has 6 passports. That is how they buy so many bags. They will without a doubt be able to outsmart an online system.
 
#90
this_is_rj said:
The resellers have/use multiple passports. I spoke to a reseller when I lined up and she said she has 6 passports. That is how they buy so many bags. They will without a doubt be able to outsmart an online system.
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If it's done like an online lottery, like what Apple does to its WWDC tickets or like what End Clothing does to its sneaker releases, cheaters will be reduced to a minimum.
 
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