Maintaining an H relationship

[papertiger]

Please focus on the title of this thread rather than each other, TY

If you find it very hard to ignore certain people, please feel free in adding them to your 'Ignore' list.

For advice on how to obtain a B/K/C please go to the reading room in the Reading Room The Newbie's HOW DO I GET A BIRKIN (or other bag) Reading Room

For advice on how to shop at your local store please do a search in Hermes Shopping sub-forum and look for your store/region/country.

 

[rumes]

I don’t think I’m an introvert, but I feel awkward asking about the bags straightforwardly. If I want to bring it up, I pause in front of the purse display and comment on something I DONT want. I think they’re used to everybody demanding a bag off that shelf so I do the opposite. For example, our store has a K25 on display in green color I would never ever buy. Last time I was at the store I said “interesting, this bag is a dream for someone and I would never want one like that. My dream bag is xxx”. And we just kept walking. I have convinced myself that I’ve dropped a seed in my SAs head. Not sure if she sees it the same way.😂

Currently, there is no Hermes store in the country where I am living as an expat. Therefore, whenever we go to Paris, my husband's hometown, or during our European vacations, it's only then that I have the chance to look at or buy something. I guess truly establishing communication is a skill, but as a tourist, it seems impossible for me to build that relationship in a language I don't know.

I have built a very good relationship with the staff at the airport store in my own country, but I did this purely on a human level, leveraging the advantage of language rather than with any expectation. If that lady were in a store in the city, I wouldn't have been able to create such a relationship.

 

[storytotell]

As a fellow Canada shopper, my advice is bring it up when you make your next larger purchase. The spend to bag ratio in Canada is pretty high 2:1+ so you may to wait a bit longer/spend more. There are undoubtedly some people that get them faster.

Another way to bring it up is to ask to clarify what you have on your wish list first. Afterwards you could say something like, do you still think it will take a while for a bag with those specs to come in?

Thanks for the advice. What would you consider a large purchase? The last time I asked about a QB was when I bought a blanket, not sure if it is considered a large purchase I literally have 1 item on the wishlist

 

[Megalace]

Thanks for the advice. What would you consider a large purchase? The last time I asked about a QB was when I bought a blanket, not sure if it is considered a large purchase I literally have 1 item on the wishlist

I would consider something in FJ a large purchase in Canada. To be clear, I do not think you should buy anything you don’t want to get a bag, but it is likely you need to buy more for the QB discussion to be easier here. Happy to DM you my experience.

 

[storytotell]

I don’t think I’m an introvert, but I feel awkward asking about the bags straightforwardly. If I want to bring it up, I pause in front of the purse display and comment on something I DONT want. I think they’re used to everybody demanding a bag off that shelf so I do the opposite. For example, our store has a K25 on display in green color I would never ever buy. Last time I was at the store I said “interesting, this bag is a dream for someone and I would never want one like that. My dream bag is xxx”. And we just kept walking. I have convinced myself that I’ve dropped a seed in my SAs head. Not sure if she sees it the same way.😂

That's an interesting strategy. Hope your SA got the message

 

[storytotell]

I would consider something in FJ a large purchase in Canada. To be clear, I do not think you should buy anything you don’t want to get a bag, but it is likely you need to buy more for the QB discussion to be easier here. Happy to DM you my experience.

Sure, would be happy to learn more about your experience, pls DM me once you have a chance.

 

[drvogue]

This may be a stupid question but why is "spreading your purchases" better? So you are constantly on SA's mind? Because commission-wise for them, it doesn't make a difference, does it? If I like a few things with limited availability w.r.t. size (shoes, RTW etc), I am tempted to buy everything I like within my budget on the same shopping trip, because it might be sold out the next time I pay a visit... Am I overthinking this?

 

[acrowcounted]

This may be a stupid question but why is "spreading your purchases" better? So you are constantly on SA's mind? Because commission-wise for them, it doesn't make a difference, does it? If I like a few things with limited availability w.r.t. size (shoes, RTW etc), I am tempted to buy everything I like within my budget on the same shopping trip, because it might be sold out the next time I pay a visit... Am I overthinking this?

Yes, you are overthinking it. I think you should buy what you want when its available. Buying in bulk and spreading purchases out both have different pros and cons to where it doesn't make sense to try to game the system. Just shop and enjoy yourself.

 

[WhiteBus]

Yes, you are overthinking it. I think you should buy what you want when its available. Buying in bulk and spreading purchases out both have different pros and cons to where it doesn't make sense to try to game the system. Just shop and enjoy yourself.

This is the sensible advice for all Hermes purchases and that includes buying from Hermes.com
availability is always going to be limited and decent SAs understand

stop thinking of ingratiating yourself with an SA by engineering your purchase pattern around an SA's commission
that is so tacky and leads to exploitation and disaffection

 

[acrowcounted]

This is the sensible advice for all Hermes purchases and that includes buying from Hermes.com
availability is always going to be limited and decent SAs understand

stop thinking of ingratiating yourself with an SA by engineering your purchase pattern around an SA's commission
that is so tacky and leads to exploitation and disaffection

Disagree on this. Buying from the website can hurt your in store profile. If that is something someone cares about, then they shouldn’t do it. I know you are in the UK where the relationship allegedly doesn’t matter but this is the Maintaining a H Relationship thread. Buying a lot at once vs spreading your purchases out won’t hurt your relationship either way; shopping online though could.

 

[drvogue]

This is the sensible advice for all Hermes purchases and that includes buying from Hermes.com
availability is always going to be limited and decent SAs understand

stop thinking of ingratiating yourself with an SA by engineering your purchase pattern around an SA's commission
that is so tacky and leads to exploitation and disaffection

I asked a simple question about why the advice is usually "spread your purchases", I've read it countless times on here. I'm not sure how we got to "tacky" from there, I don't think it's an adjective any fashion lover or any person for that matter would like to be associated with.

 

[Logic]

I’m curious to the impact of buying a few things from the website because it’s available and u might not get it in store but also maintaining regular store purchases for the SA relationship?

 

[Letter]

I’m curious to the impact of buying a few things from the website because it’s available and u might not get it in store but also maintaining regular store purchases for the SA relationship?

No impact. Every reasonable SA knows that sometimes online purchases need to be made.

 

[acrowcounted]

I’m curious to the impact of buying a few things from the website because it’s available and u might not get it in store but also maintaining regular store purchases for the SA relationship?

I’ve given this example before but before my first Birkin (so a number of years ago but still relevant I think) there was a Twilly release that was crazy popular for the time. It was the brides de gala Love Twilly and it came in a special heart shaped Twilly box. I had asked my SA for them and they told me that they had so many requests that they wouldn’t be able to get them for me. I was a newish client so I understood. One day I saw them pop up online so I bought one. Fast forward a month later, I shopped in person with my SA and they heavily implied that I’d be called soon for my first Birkin offer. A few days later I get the call and go back to the store. My SA offered me the perfect color B30…and then spent five minutes telling me how hard they had to fight for me and how they should have been able to call me a couple of days sooner but the manager was really upset with both me, and my SA for allowing it, for buying the Twilly online. They said I was “this close” to losing out on the bag offer and to “please never do that again for both our sakes”. Everyone is free to shop however they want but if you really care about putting your profile in the best light for coveted item acquisition, the smart thing to do is not to risk it.

 

[drvogue]

I’ve given this example before but before my first Birkin (so a number of years ago but still relevant I think) there was a Twilly release that was crazy popular for the time. It was the brides de gala Love Twilly and it came in a special heart shaped Twilly box. I had asked my SA for them and they told me that they had so many requests that they wouldn’t be able to get them for me. I was a newish client so I understood. One day I saw them pop up online so I bought one. Fast forward a month later, I shopped in person with my SA and they heavily implied that I’d be called soon for my first Birkin offer. A few days later I get the call and go back to the store. My SA offered me the perfect color B30…and then spent five minutes telling me how hard they had to fight for me and how they should have been able to call me a couple of days sooner but the manager was really upset with both me, and my SA for allowing it, for buying the Twilly online. They said I was “this close” to losing out on the bag offer and to “please never do that again for both our sakes”. Everyone is free to shop however they want but if you really care about putting your profile in the best light for coveted item acquisition, the smart thing to do is not to risk it.

Wow! A cautionary tale, thanks for sharing. It raises an interesting point about buying a NQ bag online and potentially upsetting the SM vs requesting a NQ bag from the SA and potentially delaying your QB offer.

 

[addiCCted]

This may be a stupid question but why is "spreading your purchases" better? So you are constantly on SA's mind? Because commission-wise for them, it doesn't make a difference, does it? If I like a few things with limited availability w.r.t. size (shoes, RTW etc), I am tempted to buy everything I like within my budget on the same shopping trip, because it might be sold out the next time I pay a visit... Am I overthinking this?

You should buy what you like when its available. But lets be honest, theres always something available that you would like!

Spreading out purchases in my opinion doesn’t mean ingratiating yourself to the SA. It just allows more opportunity for your SA to get to know you. It’s more important in the beginning when you’re just starting your relationship.

Even if you drop $10-15k on your first visit, your sa will hardly remember you if you never go back in a short amount of time. Some of us on this forum have the means to drop $10-15 k every visit. If that’s you great. If not, it might be advantageous to spread it out if one has somewhat of a prespend budget. That’s all.

Once you and your sa have established a relationship. Ie she actually knows who you are amongst her sea of clients. Then go ahead. Drop the 10-15 k and not see her for a while. She’ll still remember you.