Podium Master Thread

TPF may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others

This thread is the Podium Master Thread for you to discuss intel on product offerings at the Podium event.

For reference, here's a brief primer on Podium Order (PO) vs Special Order (SO):

Podium Order

i thought pos aren't really an "order" yet, until it is approved by paris, hence they can only "cancel" it after the order has been placed by the sm (not the client).

According to my sas, whom have explained the whole podium process with me quite clearly. (things can differ a little from country to country, but i think the general picture is the same)

1) regular clients submit/express their "wishlist" to the sms before they go off to paris at each podium. But you don't have to do it in jan/jun, you can tell them i really want x anytime, say in march (just after the feb podium), and the sm will just have to note it down, and then order it at the next podium (july), so the wait to see whether this order has been approved is, of course, a lot longer than say, if you have told the sm in jan. At this point, this is still a "wishlist", not an "order". I know people like to say that "i am going to order this and that", but bare in mind, nothing is an "order" until paris has approved it, before then, it is still your "wishlist".

2)the sms take this wishlist to the podium with them, and see what's availabld to order, then match this with the wishlist and submit their orders for the next season. (feb for aw, july for ss)

3) once these orders have been approved by paris, they will become an "ordered book/list", which are all the items that the store will/should receive for the entire coming season. Hence, everything on this list is "approved", so if your item appears on this list, then it is now an order. So your sm will be able to tell you whether the item you have asked for has been approved or not at this stage.

4)as you can see, this order list is for next season, so there is at least a 6month wait for whatever you've ordered. Some people said they've only waited a month after they have submitted their "order", but to my understanding, it is not the item that the sm has ordered for this client at this particular podium, it is merely an item from the current or past season, which hasn't been spoken for, and has just arrived and happened to match the client's "wishlist", hence, was offered to this client, so she didn't have to wait for the one which the sm has ordered for next season to arrive.

5)sometimes, things that the sms have ordered just never arrive at the store for no reason, some are actively canceled by paris, some are delayed for more than 2 seasons.(aka pending orders from previous seasons) so i guess, you can call all these scenarios as an order being canceled by paris.

6) clients are generally told that pos take 6months ~2 years to arrive, because the order can be delayed for many seasons, but most of the stock should arrive within the next season

7) special order is a totaly different route, and hence whatever i have written does not apply to sos.

8) every country has a different policy for their "waitinglist" or "list" (however you want to call it)

a) some store let a very small amount of client to choose from their ordered stock list for the coming season, (but you can only choose from certain colours/leather/size/hw) so the chance of getting what you have chosen is very high.

B)some stores from time to time ask their clients what they want, and keeps a list of client name with their "wishes", and may use this as their guide at each podium, but you can submit your wishlist in ss11, but sm might not have ordered it till ss12, so you dont' know how long you'll wait for this item. Not everyone can go on this list.

C)some stores (like taiwan) let everyone put their wishlist down, you don't have to be a regular client to submit your wishlist. It is a merely a record of clients who wants b/ks. They don't use it to make orders at the podium, it is not an order list, not a waitinglist, it does not mean you will get this item for sure, it is just a client list, just in case one day a vip turns down a bag that the sm has ordered for her, the sas will then go to this list, and call those who also wanted the same bag.

9) can you change your order once it has been placed at the podium? I am not 100% sure about this, but my guess is no, once it is ordered by the sm and once the sm has left paris, it can't be changed. But if you are lucky, if there's something else that matches your criteria in the same poidum ordered list, and hasn't been spoken for, then the sm might offer that bag to you, or if you are a vip, they will re-order it for you at the next podium.

Ok, keep in mind, this might not apply to all stores and even whatever the sm has ordered, might be altered by paris without prior notice. (ie changing the hw, or the size or the leather etc)

Special Order


I have explianed previously how POs worked; Now I will explain how the current SO works in my country:

SMs are informed the number of b/k they are allocated for next season at each podium. Say a store has 50 b/k, it is up to the SM how many b/k she/he wants to order at the podium. For example 40 was ordered, then the store has 10 quota available for SOs. Which is why SOs are usually ordered after the SMs have returned from Paris. They are also not allowed to order anything "regular" through SOs now, ie if it was available to order at the podium, then such bag should only be ordered at the podium and not hogging up another SO quota. Appeareantly this rule is quite recent.

As we all know, since last year, Hermes introduced this SO online system, which allows SA to submit their applications online and it also tells us what can be ordered. (ie, if it was not an option on that system, then it is not available to order) This system puts a limit on many criterias, so we are not as free as we were in the past to order whatever we want. If you want to order something even more special, then it is customised order, which is so rare that each store only gets 1 quota per season or year (can't remember sorry)

Unlike in the past, you can have many options to play around with the bag in different colours. Now you only have 5 options.

1) single colour in a SO only colour/leather

2)Bi-colour:
a) Exterior in one colour, and lining/piping in another colour (if contrast piping is requested, it has to go with the lining colour. No contrast in piping is accepted)
b) Exterior in one colour, and lining, straps, handles, piping in another colour
c) Exterior in two colours (3 sides/ colour) and lining, straps, handels, piping is the same as the sides.

3)tri-colour:
Exterior in three colours, (2 sides/colour) and lining, straps, handels, piping is the same as the sides.


So, we can no longer get a tri colour in exterior in one colour, straps handles in one and lining in another.

You can still choose the hardwares and the stitching. But again they have a list of available colours for stitching should you want to choose another colour other than the default stitching.

They also removed the option of exotics from SO (as of late 2011). So we will see less and less of tri and bi colours exotics now (I am not sure how these can be ordered now, I didn't ask)

Box was also not on that list (as of late 2011), so box can only be ordered at the podium.

Chevre is only available up to size 30 for Birkin.

The SAs have a list of available colours/leathers, so you can only pick from that list, anything that's not on the list can't be ordered.

You can mix and match any colour as long as they are on the list.

The system will give you an instant approval and also give you a not so accurate ETA date.

However Paris can still cancel it BUT they don't generally do so. So once you are on the sytem, you are quite safe.

What I have just typed doesn't apply to anything that was not ordered through that SO system.

(As of late 2011) The wait is also much much shorter than the past, both of my SOs which were ordered through this sytem, arrived within a year, one of them only took less than 7 months.


Here's an explanation of Podium vs Rack.
 
My podium orders have been for basic colors (etoupe, Gris T, black...) I also have a hard time committing to something I haven't seen, and I would never ask for something at podium and then not take it, so it's easier to play it safe. One option is to give your SM a short list. My current list is Ebene or Macassar k32, or Bleu Nuit k32, or Fauve Barenia K32, so a variety, but all on my long term list.
That is a good strategy. Thank you for your advise.
 
How does anyone decide what to place for podium order when there isn't a sheet of color choices for you to choose from? If you podium a color like lagoon for example, that can be a wishlist for years and years and then forgotten eventually. To avoid waiting endlessly, does one just podium a readily available color let's say like black or etouoe so the wait is not at least shorter?

Now is supposedly the podium order season. Does anyone have any insight on how to even wish/podium order for a color without knowing colors availability?

My SM only takes a list....first choice, second choice, third choice. The third choice is usually something very basic.
 
So there is a list of colors for you to pick from actually?

No. You need to know the colors.

Although for my last PO I was so frustrated, my choices were:

1. Any shade of pink
2. And shade of blue no darker than Bleu saphir
3. Any shade of green that's not olive or brown

But they know I know all of the colors and prefer jewel tones - they know my taste and the colors I buy. The time previously I had given a long list with every specific color I liked and wound up with my last choice....black.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Txoceangirl
No. You need to know the colors.

Although for my last PO I was so frustrated, my choices were:

1. Any shade of pink
2. And shade of blue no darker than Bleu saphir
3. Any shade of green that's not olive or brown

But they know I know all of the colors and prefer jewel tones - they know my taste and the colors I buy. The time previously I had given a long list with every specific color I liked and wound up with my last choice....black.
That is actually also a very good general way of putting it so chances of getting those color range is higher. Great knowledge and thank you for giving an example of how you did your podium. It is a great source of information and gives me a good idea now.
 
My Anemone dream came true! This was requested at the January Podium but my SA wasn't sure if it would be fulfilled ... I can't wipe the smile off my face [emoji1]
View attachment 3388224

OMG and it is a Ghillies :nuts::heart::love:!
Soooo beautiful and I am very happy for you (and a bit jealous but in a good way because I looooooovvvve Ghillies, but don't have one myself yet) :graucho:.
Many, many congratulations and enjoy in the best of health!
 
OMG and it is a Ghillies :nuts::heart::love:!
Soooo beautiful and I am very happy for you (and a bit jealous but in a good way because I looooooovvvve Ghillies, but don't have one myself yet) :graucho:.
Many, many congratulations and enjoy in the best of health!

Thankyou so much for your kind words **Chanel**. I'm sure a Ghillies will find its way into your lovely collection in the future [emoji171][emoji4]
 
  • Like
Reactions: **Chanel**
Curious...Can you do a PO for any style bag? Constance can be PO?
I just placed a PO for a B & asked my SA if she thought I should use this one to order a Constance instead (as I've been waiting for one for a long time & I have both B's & K's I love already) & she said don't worry it doesn't count in the limit so she's ordered me both a B & a C. I was beyond excited with this answer as I really thought it would count against the quota but apparently-at my store at least it doesn't-it's just much harder to get the C! Roll on the day these both arrive!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Possum and arlv8500
I just placed a PO for a B & asked my SA if she thought I should use this one to order a Constance instead (as I've been waiting for one for a long time & I have both B's & K's I love already) & she said don't worry it doesn't count in the limit so she's ordered me both a B & a C. I was beyond excited with this answer as I really thought it would count against the quota but apparently-at my store at least it doesn't-it's just much harder to get the C! Roll on the day these both arrive!
Hmmmm Ok, so you can PO a constance. Awesome! I think C24 counts at my store (not 18). But either way, I just want C24.

Since we know the colors available through a SO, do you just PO from those colors? For example, since I know Paon or Craie is a color being produced now but didn't SO, can I choose to try to PO this color in a Constance?
 
Last edited:
Hmmmm Ok, so you can PO a constance. Awesome! I think C24 counts at my store (not 18). But either way, I just want C24.

Since we know the colors available through a SO, do you just PO from those colors? For example, since I know Paon or Craie is a color being produced now but didn't SO, can I choose to try to PO this color in a Constance?

Yes! I believe that to be the case-we picked a couple of colors together just as described by others above in the thread and submitted my top 3 colors all of which she expects to be available (eventually!) & hence i should have a better chance of getting. You're making me wish I asked for Craie now!! (I have a baton de craie in craie coming at some point (!) which is why i didn't choose craie but that should be a good chance I think! I almost fell off my chair when she told me I could order the C!
 
Yes! I believe that to be the case-we picked a couple of colors together just as described by others above in the thread and submitted my top 3 colors all of which she expects to be available (eventually!) & hence i should have a better chance of getting. You're making me wish I asked for Craie now!! (I have a baton de craie in craie coming at some point (!) which is why i didn't choose craie but that should be a good chance I think! I almost fell off my chair when she told me I could order the C!
Yes, you got a wonderful offer!!! That's amazing! The moon and stars aligned during that conversation =)
 
Top