**Paris January 2011 SALEEE!**

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#107
xiangxiang0731 said:
Went there yesterday around 11.30am. Waited about 45mins before being let in. I have to say by that point, not much had left. No jewellery or SLG apart from 1 type of leather cuff in big sizes and some agenda covers. I grabbed second last one of blue Jean card holder. No cashmere shawl left. Even carre 90 were running very low. But I managed to get 2 lovely plissé and 140 & 90 mouseline. 2 of 70 vintage silk.

I moved quickly to FSH around mid-afternoon and scored a beautiful Birkin there. Will do a reveal when it's delivered back to London this Sat.
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Ohhh, you scored a Birkin :nuts:? Sounds like you had a great trip! Looking forward to see pics of all the goodies you got :nuts:!
 
#108
Ascella said:
Didn't see any of the things you mentioned. I got a pair of gloves, one scarf and one pointe nomade Ex-Libris.
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Sounds great! Congratulations on your new purchases :yahoo:!
Hope I can make it to the sales in summer and more important, I hope my money tree is alive and kicking around that time :graucho:.
 
#110
On Wednesday, DH and I rode our bikes for an hour to Porte Maillot only to find out that the line was 3 hours long, :faint: so we left.
I went back there today, (took me 45min as I didn't have to wait for the slow DH:D) was told that the line would be an hour long, but it really only took about 15 minutes. I came back with 4 scarves and 2 ties (only 2 scarves are for myself, ties are for the DH, 2 other scarves for gifts.) I wish they had gift boxes there, but I guess between saving >100euros and having a cute little orange box, I'd rather pocket the money. :p
 
#111
**Chanel** said:
Looking forward to hear more reports :woohoo:!

I hope that Perigord and Bienchen are having a great time :smile1:.
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Thank you Chanel, I had a great time but I did not buy a lot at the sale.

I arrived at 5:30 in the morning (having taken the night bus) and made friends with a lovely Parisian lady. There were about 40 or 50 people ahead of us. All very civilised so for. Then, just before 6am the outer doors were opened and the people at the back of the queue surged forward to get to the door before everyone else. I could not be bothered to run, just walked briskly. One man fell over turning a corner, people were just crazed.

Everyone headed for the elevator upstairs which was running. There is another door upstairs just where the elevator ends and this is where we needed to queue until about 7am but the elevator was running and all these people were coming upstairs crushing the people already on the first floor. Some people got so scared, they took the elevator to the second floor but then realised that this way they missed their place in the queue and had to get all the way back to the end.

I was at the back of the queue on the elevator and heard the screams, saw people turning round and trying to run down the escalator and joined them. I did not know the portals on the first floor were still closed, I thought there was some incident because there was genuine panic.

Finally the elevator came to a standstill and I could walk up and found myself probably back where I would have been if the people from the end of the queue had not all over taken us.

I took not much pleasure from this as the last which temporarily had been first were now last again and were cursing in foreign tongues......

Security finally appeared around 7am to let us into the second entrance, making us walk in single file, still much shoving and pushing. Queue jumping continued and one lady proudly exclaimed she had been doing the sales since the late 70's appeared all of a sudden next to me and a few minutes later she was right at the front.

When I handed my coat in, I was given ticket # 39, so I reckon I was roughly where I should have been.

At 9am we were finally let in in groups of about a 20 at a time, I went in with the second batch. The cashmeres where I was headed first had already been cleared out a fair bit. I picked one but it was not my best pick, so I went back a few times later and finally got Brazil in cream background with red and blue.

There was a good selection of 90 silks with a queueing system. I had to wait about 15 minutes and picked 3 scarves plus a 70 for a fellow TPF'er.

I went to RTW as the SA's there were not busy to try on my scarves and to get advice re colourways. I decided to keep the 140 and only the 90 Onde de Chic, perfect c/w for me.

Belts were already gone by then (10am!) and there was still a selection of SLG but I was not desparate for anything and did not face more queues.

The worst behaviour IMO was demonstrated by the resellers; not only were they pushing and shoving, they also grabbed absolutely everything in sight, ie 10 cashmeres often 3 or 4 of the same design and c/w, dozens of scarves, some of them had client wish lists that spanned six pages, closely typed!!!

Would I do it again? Possibly, but it was scary and badly organised, so I have to balance that against any possible savings.
 
#112
Bienchen said:
Thank you Chanel, I had a great time but I did not buy a lot at the sale.

I arrived at 5:30 in the morning (having taken the night bus) and made friends with a lovely Parisian lady. There were about 40 or 50 people ahead of us. All very civilised so for. Then, just before 6am the outer doors were opened and the people at the back of the queue surged forward to get to the door before everyone else. I could not be bothered to run, just walked briskly. One man fell over turning a corner, people were just crazed.

Everyone headed for the elevator upstairs which was running. There is another door upstairs just where the elevator ends and this is where we needed to queue until about 7am but the elevator was running and all these people were coming upstairs crushing the people already on the first floor. Some people got so scared, they took the elevator to the second floor but then realised that this way they missed their place in the queue and had to get all the way back to the end.

I was at the back of the queue on the elevator and heard the screams, saw people turning round and trying to run down the escalator and joined them. I did not know the portals on the first floor were still closed, I thought there was some incident because there was genuine panic.

Finally the elevator came to a standstill and I could walk up and found myself probably back where I would have been if the people from the end of the queue had not all over taken us.

I took not much pleasure from this as the last which temporarily had been first were now last again and were cursing in foreign tongues......

Security finally appeared around 7am to let us into the second entrance, making us walk in single file, still much shoving and pushing. Queue jumping continued and one lady proudly exclaimed she had been doing the sales since the late 70's appeared all of a sudden next to me and a few minutes later she was right at the front.

When I handed my coat in, I was given ticket # 39, so I reckon I was roughly where I should have been.

At 9am we were finally let in in groups of about a 20 at a time, I went in with the second batch. The cashmeres where I was headed first had already been cleared out a fair bit. I picked one but it was not my best pick, so I went back a few times later and finally got Brazil in cream background with red and blue.

There was a good selection of 90 silks with a queueing system. I had to wait about 15 minutes and picked 3 scarves plus a 70 for a fellow TPF'er.

I went to RTW as the SA's there were not busy to try on my scarves and to get advice re colourways. I decided to keep the 140 and only the 90 Onde de Chic, perfect c/w for me.

Belts were already gone by then (10am!) and there was still a selection of SLG but I was not desparate for anything and did not face more queues.

The worst behaviour IMO was demonstrated by the resellers; not only were they pushing and shoving, they also grabbed absolutely everything in sight, ie 10 cashmeres often 3 or 4 of the same design and c/w, dozens of scarves, some of them had client wish lists that spanned six pages, closely typed!!!

Would I do it again? Possibly, but it was scary and badly organised, so I have to balance that against any possible savings.
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Sadly , I have heard the same ....the resellers were horrible , rude and would have walked on you without thinking twice.

I never ever go on the first day even if all the other years people were more civilized ! I went on thursday and found a few nice things without having to fight or be afraid to be crushed by a wild mob of resellers .

Have you noticed that a CS Brazil was already on eBay ? Pathetic , they should be boycotted :graucho:

Let's hope that future sales will be the way they were..this was a bad year !
 
#113
Biechen, wow... it sounds like the sale gets crazier and crazier every year. I was in Paris last June and attended the summer sale so I have an idea what you've experienced. It would be great if Hermes had it better organized... They should also restrict the number of items which people can "grab" upon entry... For GM shawls it should be limited to 2 per person the first go around. It's not fair that a person who pushed their way to the front of the line can immediately snatch 10-15 GM shawls upon entry.

By the way, do you happen to remember how much were the shawls, 90 cm and 70 cm scarves? Thank you.
 
#117
Bienchen: Wow! I am lost for words. I am so happy that you weren't hurt and I am rethinking all future H sales. At least I won't go the first day. :p

I can't wait to see the cashmere Brazil on you. I am sure it will be a beautiful addiction you your collection. :smile1:

xiangxiang0731: YAY! :happydance:
 
#119
Bienchen-so glad you are safe and thanks for sharing your experience at the grand sale. It sounds dangerous and overwhelming. YAY- are we twins on the Brazil GM? Then it was worth it-as these are still being sold here in the US at both NM and H stores.

I thought the BH sale was very well organized, or course it is not nearly as massive. When you arrive, you must get a number from the security person, and there is no queue jumping with that. With the numbers you can guesstimate what time and how many people ahead of you there are. That way, you may leave, enjoy a little more shopping in the neighborhood or have a bite to eat and return. If you miss your number call, that is okay, you will be let in with the next group of people. I was disappointed with the sale as well and only came out with ONE scarf-and it was hardly worth the three hour wait to see all the RTW. There were few bags, no GM cashmeres as it was summer and some shoes in styles I did not care for with the exception of the Orans and I did not want orange sandals.

I always thought it would be fun to do the Paris sale, now I will think thrice if it is worth the hysteria. Look forward to seeing your photos on SOTD thread.:hugs:
 
#120
This was my 3rd and probably final Paris sale. The behavior on day 1 was beyond rude! Scarf selection was not nearly as varied as years past and on the second day they had only a handful of designs available - lots of Faubourg Express. I went straight to handbags and saw nothing there that interested me- lots of casual looking totes. Tie selection was good. Having to queue for access to the scarf counter was a pain. The only items they seemed to be restocking with any regularity was shoes. I did find some lovely items that I am pleased to own, but I think I'll stick to the NYC sale from now on.
 
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