"Sale Scarf"

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louch

louch

O.G.
Jan 15, 2009
1,980
2
#1
Can someone please explain what a "sale scarf" is? I gather it means it's bought at the sales (Paris?) but why is that an issue when bidding for a scarf? I've seen a few comments in the ebay/web finds thread where people have mentioned asking to find out if it's a sale scarf before bidding. Does this mean it should be a lower price? Will sellers admit it?
Thanks!! I'm still new to all of this :p
 
#2
Hi Louch:
A sale scarf was purchased at one of the sales (in addition to Paris, there are several). Oftentimes, these scarves are stamped with an "s", either on the caretag or on the fabric behind it, but that's not always the case. Sometimes, sale scarves can have small imperfections, and if they're stamped, they can be worth less at resale. While sellers should admit that a scarf was purchased at a sale, whether they do or not probably depends - I'm afraid that some resellers won't.

Hope this helps.
 
#3
An S stamp may make a big difference to a buyer. Some sellers come right out and reveal it, others show the S in photos. Others just conceal it. Gives you some idea of the honesty of the seller IMO. If it's a grail scarf, it will command a big price no matter what.
 
#4
Thanks heaps Ladies! That makes a lot of sense (imperfections etc) and since I am currently looking to buy my first H scarf on ebay, I just wanted to understand what it meant.

Have a great day!
 
#5
Hi louch, and welcome to the joys of H scarves!!
About the "sale scarf" : I went to my first ever H sale a couple of years ago and asked one of the Hermes salespeople there if there was anything wrong with any of the merchandise and if that was the reason it was on sale. She looked surprised and said "Certainly not! " and I found that to be true.
From what I saw -- and bought! -- there was absolutely nothing wrong ( no imperfections) with the merchandise itself. Perhaps by the end of the sale some of the scarves looked a bit worse for wear, but they were not "seconds" with flaws to start with. So to my mind, "sale scarf " merely means the item was bought at a reduced price at a sale, and nothing more.
Personally, I don't care how cheap the seller bought the scarf originally
as long as it's in good shape, and the scarf I want!! Enjoy ALL your H- buys, they'll be many!!:D
 
#6
As others have explained, the "S" stamped scarves are those purchased at one of the Hermes sales. There are a few venues that have scarves at the sales, including Paris, NYC, Beverly Hills and sometimes Toronto. I am fortunate to have several scarves from various sales - yeah, they are 40% off. Sometimes they are marked with the "S", sometimes not. Cashmere GMs purchased from sales frequently do not have the "S" stamp on them.

To me it is extremely important to know if a scarf was purchased at a sale or not because in fact, many of them have imperfections. It is unfortunately not true that they are all in pristine condition at the start of the sale. The worst I have ever seen is when the scarf somehow slipped during the silkscreening process and the images were doubles as if viewed with one's eyes crossed. Most often they are small runs or something like that. The "S" themselves can be a problem, many are ever so lightly stamped on, some are smashed onto the fabric of the scarf and show through to the "right" side.

I don't care if a scarf is purchased at a sale or not. If it was, I would like the price to reflect that, but if I really, really want the scarf, I don't even care about that. I do, however, want to be sure that a sale scarf was purchased by someone who is aware that they can be damaged and who will therefore have (hopefully) looked to be sure that any flaws are minor. There are some buyers who don't want to have a sale scarf under any circumstances, so the fact of the "S" stamp can affect the re-sale value, as others have noted.

I also agree that it reflects on the credibility of the seller. I once purchased a scarf from a fellow collector who deliberately did not include the information in the auction - I will never buy from her again. She often goes to sales and never mentions that the goods she sells on eBay were purchased at a sale. Some will say the item is new and unworn, thereby attempting to obscure the fact that it was purchased at a sale. I prefer to deal with people who are honest!
 
#7
I agree. I also bought a shawl on 'bay that wasn't disclosed as a sale shawl. While there was no "S" stamp on the shawl itself, when I inspected the tag more closely, I noticed that someone had written "$580" on it, which clearly, is a fraction of the usual going price of $980 per shawl. If I really want something, it doesn't matter to me if it was bought on sale (assuming it's still in good shape). Sometimes it does irk me though when a shawl was clearly from a sale, the price substantially reduced, and the seller asks like $1,599 for it. Oh well, a shawl at that price must mean a lot to somebody otherwise it wouldn't sell, right?
 
#8
Have to agree, lala28 - one of my pet peeves is when sale merchandise is marked up way over retail, in some cases doubling the price paid for it. I don't mind a seller making a profit - they went to the sale and I didn't/couldn't - but I can't bring myself to pay well over retail for something that came from the sale. (Which may only be because I've never seen something I just absolutely have to have!)
 
#9
It is amazing how sellers will not disclose this info to make a buck. That's one thing that puts me off buying on ebay but here in Australia, scarves are very expensive (along with everything else H!) and if I want to save for a bag, I'd buy scarves through other ways. It would REALLY annoy me though to get either a scarf that was on sale and is then marked up heaps OR is in imperfect condition if it was described as "new". Thanks for the information ladies - will watch out as much as I can when buying scarves.

This forum is SO HELPFUL :flowers: In some ways, it's good that H is SO expensive - gives me time to read up and not do anything too impulsively!!!
 
#10
I believe it is CRITICAL to disclose the fact that an item was on sale both in the written copy and, if the s is evident, in the images. To do any less is, IMHO, just plain wrong. Because the Paris sales have just recently ended, I can see many fresh scarves and cashmere-silk GM shawls cropping up. Some are certainly from the sales, and I think it is wrong to be any less than forthcoming.

If you are bidding on something or thinking about bidding, you have every right to ask the seller if it came from a sale. When you spot holy grail GM shawls, for example, in a post-sale period, the risk is high. I suspect there are a few undisclosed sale shawls and scarves out there right now.

I have loved some of the shawls and scarves I have found on sale. Are they worth less? If you had two identical scarves and one was marked s and one not, of course you should go for the unmarked one....just thinking about future resale. But in the end it comes down to scarcity and your desire and the quirks of the marketplace (is it a holy grail?).

The question of flaws? Many (most) of the things I have found have been absolutely pristine. Now and then I find a problem. The one time I found what I thought was a major problem with a shawl at the sale, I showed it to the staff and they tossed it into a "do not sell" bin. It is, I would say, critical to get a great description and ask questions. Sometimes a seller may need to be guided through an inspection--tell them what you are worried about. In particular, if the s has been stamped under the care tag on the silk, ask if any has bled through on the other side.

Good luck. In the end it comes down to what you want and what you can live with....
 
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#11
louch said:
Can someone please explain what a "sale scarf" is? I gather it means it's bought at the sales (Paris?) but why is that an issue when bidding for a scarf? I've seen a few comments in the ebay/web finds thread where people have mentioned asking to find out if it's a sale scarf before bidding. Does this mean it should be a lower price? Will sellers admit it?
Thanks!! I'm still new to all of this :p
Click to expand...

Another thing about scarves purchased at the H sales, not mentioned in this thread, is that they often have paper H tags attached to them. When buying scarves from somewhere other than a H boutique or sale, if you see this paper tag attached, it is an indication that this particular scarf was sold by H at one of their sales, and as a buyer, you would want to more carefully inspect it prior to making a purchase decision. While I have yet to attend a H sale like this, just seeing a paper tag attached to an H carre causes me to cringe. I worry about whether the scarf may have been damaged by the actual process of attaching(and subsequently removing) the tag itself--along with the other concerns raised elsewhere in this thread.
 
#12
stillfabulous said:
Another thing about scarves purchased at the H sales, not mentioned in this thread, is that they often have paper H tags attached to them. When buying scarves from somewhere other than a H boutique or sale, if you see this paper tag attached, it is an indication that this particular scarf was sold by H at one of their sales, and as a buyer, you would want to more carefully inspect it prior to making a purchase decision. While I have yet to attend a H sale like this, just seeing a paper tag attached to an H carre causes me to cringe. I worry about whether the scarf may have been damaged by the actual process of attaching(and subsequently removing) the tag itself--along with the other concerns raised elsewhere in this thread.
Click to expand...

Not sure what paper tag you are talking about, because all shawls and scarves have a paper tag on them in the boutique.

Items at H sales have a tag attached by a piece of plastic, like you might find on any item of clothing and such at a department store. These are the tags that have the reduced price on them.
 
#13
lulilu said:
Not sure what paper tag you are talking about, because all shawls and scarves have a paper tag on them in the boutique.

Items at H sales have a tag attached by a piece of plastic, like you might find on any item of clothing and such at a department store. These are the tags that have the reduced price on them.
Click to expand...

Yes, the paper hang tag attached with the plastic is the one I'm referring to. I'm wary of that one. The smaller paper tag on the H boutique scarves doesn't both concern me at all. Thanks for pointing out the difference.
 
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