Question About Podium Order

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#31
When you say 3 alternatives, that means they will order all three of them? Can they really do that, I mean if they have to submit 3 for each PO, that would be a lot of Birkins and if I understand correctly, they have limits in the number of Birkins they can order.
 
#32
djmm said:
When you say 3 alternatives, that means they will order all three of them? Can they really do that, I mean if they have to submit 3 for each PO, that would be a lot of Birkins and if I understand correctly, they have limits in the number of Birkins they can order.
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No, she only submits one order. As my boutique is privately owned, it may be slightly different (or not), but I know the SM/Owner really wants to fill the orders on her list. When I go to sit with her and place an order, she writes the leathers and colors in my order or preference, to account for colors that may be rested, color & leather combination availability, or other leather issues (I waited 3 years for ebene vache liegee because VL became hard to come by after I ordered it). Only one order goes through - if my top choice of color & leather are accepted and available (for example, last time I wanted etoupe togo), great. If etoupe was not being offered in Togo, she would then submit one of my second choices for color or leather - etoupe in chevre or Gris T in togo, etc. This way, I know I'm going to get something ordered and she has options in case a color/leather is not being offered. Does that make sense?
 
#33
Christ, 3 years? You must be very happy when you finally got it. I won't even bother pondering about VL, and I think it's now discontinued already?
Sounds like you have a very good boutique there. I guess when it is privately owned, the owner of the shop will be more careful in making sure they provide good customer service.
 
#34
Hi Pinky_Loca, no I am not from France. I live in Asia. And I don't have an SA in France either. It is by luck if the SA you talk to allows you to place an order and that is true. As a foreigner you are welcome to place a PO or SO as long as the SA you happen to talk to let you do so. It is totally about whom you talk to. Some are nice, some aren't that nice. It is like a trial and error process when you are a walk-in customer in FSH. When you manage to place an order then you will wait for 3-6 months for PO or 8 to 12 mths for SO (of course some may take longer), and when your order is ready, you will get the letter or email from Paris informing you that your order is ready. Then you arrange payment and they will ship the order to your country.

This process applies when you are ordering directly from Paris in person and not through your local Hermes store's SM or SA. The process in Paris is more direct as you are dealing with the mothership. The process that was listed by sayuri_hermes is also true when you are ordering from your local Hermes store, not FSH.

HTH!

sayuri_hermes, thanks so much for your thorough explanation of the PO process in your local country. Very clear and detailed indeed. Should be posted as sticky. :D

Pinky_Loca said:
So i am assuming ur not from france right? do you live close to france or have a SA in france? because i just thought if you go down to france you just have to test ur luck to see if you can get a bag? but as a foreigner how do u place a PO or SO? How will you get the bag???
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#35
djmm said:
Christ, 3 years? You must be very happy when you finally got it. I won't even bother pondering about VL, and I think it's now discontinued already?
Sounds like you have a very good boutique there. I guess when it is privately owned, the owner of the shop will be more careful in making sure they provide good customer service.
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Shocked was more like it. I had actually given up! But it doesn't usually take that long; a common color/leather combination takes about 6 months. I am considering an SO next (with encouragement from the SM), a regular color & leather with a different color lining, and am interested in finding out how long that will take.
 
#36
I'm confused. Please tell me if I'm getting the run-around. I've walked into my Hermes store (NJ) a few times, and expressed my interest in the gold 30 cm birkin and etoupe 30 cm birkin. The SA wrote my wishlist on the top corner of a correspondence card and told me it's not very likely that these bags will become available. She didn't formally input me into any system. Is this a podium order? I never got any letters in the mail. I've done business with this SA before (purchased a few belt combos), so I would hope she would try her best for me.

ANY HELP IN OBTAINING MY DREAM BAG WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!
 
#37
Thank u!!!!!!

Next time I go down I will try and see...:)...

This is great information...;)


miacillan said:
Hi Pinky_Loca, no I am not from France. I live in Asia. And I don't have an SA in France either. It is by luck if the SA you talk to allows you to place an order and that is true. As a foreigner you are welcome to place a PO or SO as long as the SA you happen to talk to let you do so. It is totally about whom you talk to. Some are nice, some aren't that nice. It is like a trial and error process when you are a walk-in customer in FSH. When you manage to place an order then you will wait for 3-6 months for PO or 8 to 12 mths for SO (of course some may take longer), and when your order is ready, you will get the letter or email from Paris informing you that your order is ready. Then you arrange payment and they will ship the order to your country.

This process applies when you are ordering directly from Paris in person and not through your local Hermes store's SM or SA. The process in Paris is more direct as you are dealing with the mothership. The process that was listed by sayuri_hermes is also true when you are ordering from your local Hermes store, not FSH.

HTH!

sayuri_hermes, thanks so much for your thorough explanation of the PO process in your local country. Very clear and detailed indeed. Should be posted as sticky. :D
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#40
Hi All, I have been looking through old posts and new and can't seem to find anything about upcoming podium orders. Can anyone tell me when the next podium order is? I sent a friend in August and they said it was closed for podium orders. I have a friend going next week and was hoping to place a podium order for a Birkin

Thanks in advance!
 
#41
alextn said:
Hi All, I have been looking through old posts and new and can't seem to find anything about upcoming podium orders. Can anyone tell me when the next podium order is? I sent a friend in August and they said it was closed for podium orders. I have a friend going next week and was hoping to place a podium order for a Birkin

Thanks in advance!
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Podium orders will be placed in January but your friend can ask if they can take the order first before the list is full.
 
#42
miacillan said:
I just came back from Paris last month, and managed to place 5 podium orders of different bags and 1 special order. For the 5 podium orders, I was informed the next day that they have been all approved. For the special order, I was informed just last week that it has been approved.

For podium order, Paris now has a list which the SA checks every single day on what can be ordered. This list changes every day according to supply and demand. So, one day, you can order say a mykonos birkin, but maybe the next day, it's not offered anymore. So, podium order can be confirmed shortly now if you are placing the order personally in Paris. But I'm not sure how it is if you're ordering from another country where you have to go through your SAs or SMs.

HTH!
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Hope you dont mind helping me answer some questions:-
1. Can you ask to order PO or does the sales person have to offer it to you at FSH?
2. Can PO be done all year round or only at certain times?
3. I understand when they ship to you, the tax is taken off immediately. Who pays for the courier (how much is it?) and when the courier reach your country in Asia, do you have to pay tax to your own country (how much is it?)
 
#44
sayuri_hermes said:
HI Ladies

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) I'll stop typing for now...
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Wow! Thank you so much for taking time and energy to type this all out so clearly. May I suggest to the moderators that this explanation of order process be posted someplace easily accessible and easily readable on the Forum and not buried in the middle of a thread? This is an excellent explanation for both newbies and oldies.
Maybe could the explanation have bold face or red color fonts added to the explanation with the statement that this explanation does NOT apply to FSH in Paris, sweetly referred to as "the mothership". Paris procedures are pretty close to this but because of the number of fashion designers (eg. Diane Von Furstenberg & Tom Ford), actors (Julia Roberts), and royalty (they do get the private room if they are Real royals), and generational clients or patrimonial clients, the Paris stores, especially FSH, have their own policies. "Patrimonial" is the honour given to a special house/producer of goods that honour the French artisan/apprenticeship/crafts tradition--usually granted only to houses that have existed for more than one generation (as Hermes or Cartier have). And then there are customers such as myself who are generational or patrimonial clients----my grandmother and mother also shopped at FSH, my baby carry diaper bag was HERMES (bit over the top but that was when nappies were cotton not throw away), my mother's 5 sisters also shopped at Hermes. So then we are more likely to be able to place special orders with different leathers lining, top stitcfhing, monograms, etc. When I lived in USA such treatment was considered "good business practice"---in London my manicurist gives me a 10% discount every service because I am a loyal repeat customer for so many years.

So I hope this helps you understand Paris better and that you may feel less insulted if someone says "no" to your request--but take heart and if anyone back home asks just tell them that Princess Stephanie bought your Hermes Birkin, so you came home with a new style.

Thanks again Sayuri!

And Paris Hermes January sale dates are Wednesday 18 January through Saturday 21 January 2012 at Port Maillot. I do not yet know which dates are for VIPs but will post when my SA tells me---sorry I could not find the sale thread.

Happy holidays to all
 
#45
Hi everyone,

I'm a new tPF member. Still not sure how to go about in the forum. I am really enjoying reading the buying guide and members personal experiences here. Should have joined tPF much earlier!
 
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