Since it’s uncommon to directly say numbers to a client in North America, is this something the SM needs to be aware of? For example, if I go in to the store on a day my SA isn’t there and see the SM, should I mention at all?
Spend threshold for B/K/C
- Thread starter Bellub
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Very good point. With my SA, I’ve purchased from across most metiers except jewelery and make up. Most of the time it’s in the silks, home wares, RTW, and some SLG. Even so, spend was mentioned. He knows I enjoy the bags but also knows that I enjoy other metiers.
Depends on your motive and desired outcome. If you are ok with working with clear numbers, I wouldn't mention it at all to the SM or anyone else. If you fulfill the numbers and the bag doesnt then appear, I wouldn't hesitate to go to the SM and ask what happened since SA said exactly $x for a Y and I've spent $x so where is my Y?
SAs just work differently. They know what you like from your purchase history.
They are not stupid, they know 99.99 percent of people that shop at Hermes want B/K.
People can still like other metiers and want bags more.
Enchantment for other metiers become secondary very quickly for most people if they are at a high prespend ($50k plus) and haven’t been offered anything.
Agree with what others are saying... ML can be really difficult in North America. I waited well over a year and my SA called me a few times when a ML would come in, but the colors were all wrong for me (pinks, pastels). She felt so badly about the ML (I didn't ask for anything but a ML the entire time), that she offered a B25 in my favorite color. During the time I was asking for a ML, my SA did offer a few Constance 18s without my even asking so I assume they might be easier to acquire than the ML.
I second all the recs to go on-line for the ML. I finally got my ML at H.com late last year in my favorite color after seeing dozens of ML in colors of no interest to me drop on the website (also recommend the bag drop notification services). If I was in your shoes, I would pursue the Constance in-store through spend and then after that, go on-line for the ML. Gotta say, I loooooove my Mini Lindy!
Side note and to stay on thread topic- was offered the B25 even with SM seeing that I have bought multiple bags on H.com. Still got the B25. I don't spend more than 10-12k in a year, so in no way a big spender.
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Thanks! Will definitely try online! I am also looking for a specific colour of ML, so may take a while. My SA also offered other pastels too, I guess they're not as popular 🤷♀️ But in Canada the inventory is so low, but competition is so high, hope my hands are fast enough at checkout.
Its completely odd for Canada but there are some SAs that march to the beat of their own drummer. No offer of bags in a year isn’t surprising if you are a new client or don’t have a major pre spend but giving a specific pre spend is unusual, though at least she’s very clear. I would ask for the Constance and get ML online or later.
So say, I spend $x and do not get my Y and I go to the SM about the situation, would my SA actually be fired for saying specific numbers like this?
It has happened before.
Chiming in my two cents. I told my SA to prioritize a ML. I said I was open to any color, any HW. It came in after a few months. I'm sure it ate up my prespend but I still got a k25 like 4-6 months after that. I don't feel like my prespend totally got eaten up.
I don’t think that is the direction you want to go in. Even if it your SA was fired it may not get you a bag and do you really want to try to get someone fired over a bag??
well no, I was just asking if it would cause her to be fired as that's not want i wanted. Please see reply below to being fired.
I'm in Asia and right from the start which was like 15 years ago, my SA would tell me how much I needed to spend. Her pre-spend amount was 5K more than her colleagues which I found out later but I remained with her because she DELIVERS. The whole process is so transparent and I only buy what I like. She is not pushy.Haha, I guess some people like to play the "game" and some people don't. Some people are type A and some are type B.
For me, I think it could be great if you had an identifiable goal to aspire to, instead of a moving target. I guess I like to think of it like I think of business, with KPIs and an ROI.
Since I know how much I need to spend, once I hit it she submits the request, and I get my bag. Cycle repeats. Both parties are happy. It works for me.
Thank you for sharing your experience. This is why I stated "YMMV" in my post because everyone has (and will have) different experiences and I respect that. (I can also find several others who repeatedly scored B25/K25s for a 1:1 ratio [or less than that].)
In my experiences, if you do your homework well, there is a way to buy a B25/K25 with lower pre-spends (i.e., 1:1 or less than that) in the US boutiques.* Of course, I can also agree that the 2.5-3:1 ratio may be the norm accepted by most people (but I don't have to accept it).
Don't get me wrong - I did terrible with my pre-spend in calendar year 2024 in the US. In 2024 alone, I only acquired 1 QB (i.e., a gold Birkin 35 phw/togo) with a ratio of 1.554:1 from my home store in the US. (My pre-spend amount was a bit more than $21K and the B35 bag itself was $13,600, all before taxes.) I even accepted this QB when it was not the specs I "really, really" wanted (even if I now like this bag). I honestly should have spent the same amount of money to get an exotic black B35 via a reseller route. (I sometimes regret this a lot.)
To me, it's like high school students (or their parents) complaining so hard about getting into Ivy League. Many applicants are actually qualified for admissions, but most of these individuals end up with no admission ticket at all. On the other hand, there are many other similar applicants who get multiple admission tickets across different Ivy League institutes and other comparable ones (e.g., MIT, Stanford, and CalTech). It is really a matter of how one understands and plays the H game (just like college admissions), and unfortunately, fairness** is not the criterion/rule/virtue in the H game.
*I personally found that the 1:1 ratio for a B25/K25 in the US is not that attractive either, because one can still get a B25/K25 in Europe (e.g., FSH) for minimal pre-spends (i.e., around 0.2-0.3:1).
**Please don't argue with me about fairness. We already know that some clients drop $20K in FSH and ended up with no QBs. Some other clients, on the other hand, spend minimally and still get the QBs easily in each visit.
This is just my perspective, and again, YMMV. I have no intent to argue with anyone. Thank you.
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