I started buying from Hermes a little over a year ago, so far good experience with my current SA, nothing out of the ordinary I spend she gives me my wishlist bags and so on. I'm working on my 3rd qb and was just wondering does prepsend ever lessen? To seasoned Hermes clients, do you feel like after a number of qbs it gets easier? I'm just asking because I feel like I have a ton of stuff already and I have a few more bags on my wishlist, do I keep buying more? I'm afraid I'll be over saturated with Hermes things even if I do like all of them, how many shoes or plates does one need? Plus I want to try buying other brands. Does it get better?
Spend threshold for B/K/C
- Thread starter Bellub
- Start date
TPF may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others
Look at it from Hermes’ perspective. They have a limited number of “reward” bags to offer to clients. They need to meet sales goals for their store and themselves. What you bought last year doesn’t help them with that this year. While, yes, a long standing client with steady spending may find it easier to secure a “better” or “more rare” bag “easier”, prespend for each bag is still required to stay competitive with all the other and newer customers. So in short, no it doesn’t get better and I’d even argue that recently it’s gotten worse as H seems to have shifted focus from a corporate level to favor new clients over older clients in order to hook them into the H ecosystem as early as possible.
Yes, it is easier if you are a long-standing lifestyle member who has a solid relationship with your SA, SM, and the home boutique. I really only buy some homeware, like crystal, and RTW. I also buy Brunello, Dior, and Chanel, and my SAs know that I am pretty selective.
ETA: my SAs know that I have a sizable QB collection already, and I am willing to wait for the perfect bag to come along. I reject more Qb offers than I accept.
Last edited:
Three bags in a single year is rather good, no? How many bags (sorry I cannot bring myself to use the awful term ‘quota’ does one need? In my view Hermes tends to favour the client who likes to buy across the spectrum (but not randomly) If one wants to buy other brands and no longer enjoys Hermes - of course buy other brands. Every purchase should bring us joy.
Well, there is a self-fulfilling prophecy here. If you keep spending because you think you have to, your SA isn't going to tell you to stop.
From what I see reported here, SAs are not shy about telling clients that they need to spend. So, buy only what you like (I mean, as @ladysarah says, 3 bags in just over a year is pretty good...) and don't worry until and unless you 1) don't get the bag you want 2) are told you need to "contribute" 🤣 a bit more. It's supposed to be fun!
The more one spends are there any guarantees, NO! Pres-spend lessen or die down.. NO!
SA's not showing or calling with new items..NO!
But one should be buying in the categories that they enjoy.
Acquiring 3 QB bags sounds pretty good to me not knowing what else is on your wish list.
Take the time to wear & enjoy your purchases..
Your relationship with the SA helps as well as the SA's relationship with the SM in fulfilling your wish list,
but since you are interested in other brands, explore. Not everything we wear or have in our homes
has to be Hermes
Have fun along the way & perhaps you will look at Hermes from a different perspective with a new
set of eyes, JMO
hello!
I see a few posts where people say that it is more competitive post-Covid for bkc- I was wondering if someone can explain this?
I am not sure why Hermes demand would have increased recently versus from pre COVID to post COVID. All the news outlets note that growth for luxury goods has slowed all across board, incl Hermes, although to a lesser extent. Perhaps I am missing some other facts?
Thank you in advance!
I see a few posts where people say that it is more competitive post-Covid for bkc- I was wondering if someone can explain this?
I am not sure why Hermes demand would have increased recently versus from pre COVID to post COVID. All the news outlets note that growth for luxury goods has slowed all across board, incl Hermes, although to a lesser extent. Perhaps I am missing some other facts?
Thank you in advance!
People weren't traveling or spending money outside (dining out with friends/families, concerts, etc.), and interest rates were record low. Luxury shopping actually boomed during that time - maybe not in countries with serious lockdown (China???)
Edit: also, stocks! The market was great for a lot of SaaS companies!!!!
In my experience, I started out with scarves and became more interested in all the other stuff. The intent is that you don't just keep buying shoes and scarves, but you explore more and more deep into their other revenue generating items (i.e. homeware, fine jewelry).
Last edited:
I think this is off-topic, but, in short, no there was not a luxury drop post-Covid, there was a luxury boom during and after Covid.
Economists mainly attribute this to spending on luxuries instead of travel and going out, and then to post-Covid consumer confidence buoyed by savings (again, because people weren't spending on travel etc etc) and to a relatively healthy market.
Now we have a luxury slowdown, for sure. We also have a drop in consumer spending across the board. Things will keep softening, most likely.
To stay on topic, will we have less mania about "pre-spend"? Personally I think it depends on the market and how bad it gets. I hope so! 🤷
From what ive noticed... With the economy right now, Chanel resell price have been dropping noticeably, but Hermes not so much.
I'm sure prespend will continue to be the topic talked to death in this forum in the foreseeable future.
And to tie it back to this topic on prespend further... while I think that with the economy, even if a big population of shopper that falls out (small to mid spenders), there's just more money. And I don't mean inflation, but moreover valuations (i.e. Amazon networth didn't go from <1T to 1.5T because they made 500B in profit, but rather what the market deemed they were "worth"). I don't remember the last time our economy had this high of interest rate and inflation in the US - (not because it happened long time ago - maybe last recession? but more so because I hadn't paid attention before) but my speculation is that prespend won't be significantly impacted even in this economy though we all have our own definition of "significant".
Disclaimer: not a professional economist or in retail. Just an avid shopper who is interested in Finance and Econ.
All this. That is what my impression has been too; luxury sales actually exploded due to the pandemic and they are now slowing down after that explosion.
Didn’t H give every one of its employees a bonus (4K euros?) because H did so well in 2022? That seems like a sign that they aren’t just doing well, but exceptionally well.
And of course, the H financials are all officially published; it’s easy to look at the actual numbers and data. I did a quick google just now, seems like H has been seeing crazy mid 20s % growth, only the last quarter (Q3 2023) that they slowed down…by dropping to only 16% or something instead of 25. But like, that’s 16% growth. Still higher than what they were doing pre pandemic (12% for 2019).
Do I think they will keep slowing down? I sure hope so! And seeing the latest round of yearly price increase being higher than normal makes me optimistic that will be the case. But back to pre pandemic - probably not yet at least for another while.
Hi everyone! My friend is a Sales Specialist at an Hermès boutique. He explained the whole system/process to me.
Although relationships are important, client spending plays a significant factor. And a sprinkle of luck because it’s not guaranteed you will be offered the exact specifications asked.
At the end of the day, Hermès is a business so their main goal is to make a profit by selling.
Every Store Manager flies out to Paris, France twice a year (roughly every 6 months). Depending on the boutique’s (projected) yearly profit, the Store Manager is given an allocation or budget for handbags they can order for their specific boutique. The Store Manager is the only person responsible for choosing and submitting handbag orders. The handbags start to roll out as artisans finish their creation. Trends, clients, location, season, etc. play a role in the Store Manager’s decision making. A Store Manager will not order certain specifications if they feel the handbag will be difficult to sell. Hermès does not want handbags sitting on the shelves. Once in the boutique, the Store Manager assigns handbags to each Sales Specialist. My friend is assigned 3 to 4 handbags each month. Roughly one per week. Special orders are super rare. Each Sales Specialist will be given 1 or 2 each year. High profile clients mainly receive special order opportunities. The Paris boutique is different due to its location and proximity to artisans.
The Hermès journey is without a doubt competitive, lengthy, and expensive. The more you spend in the boutique, the more handbags offered to you. Everyone is motivated by sales. Client presence in the boutique is important. Online orders do not help your Sales Specialist. Your Sales Specialist can see how much you have spent/invested in Hermès (online and boutique) on their device. In fact, Sales Specialists win prizes if they meet their goal and they have competitions among their colleagues.
Boutiques and Sales Specialist are always busy. A regular boutique can have about 15 Sales Specialists so Birkin and Kelly handbags are constantly being sold.
It can be a discouraging journey if you are not spending $50,000 each time you visit the boutique. This is why patience is so important. Definitely buy items you genuinely love and see yourself using.
Every Sales Specialist is different in their ethics/method, but most will gravitate towards high spending clients. Unfortunately, high spenders are more likely to leave an impression and be remembered. And possibly taken more seriously. I wouldn’t say one’s pre-spend lessens with time. Which is one of the reasons some people opt for the reseller and consignment store route.
As for me, I still don’t have my Birkin. I’m working towards earning one. It helps if you’re less picky about specifications. Always buy something you truly love since it’s so expensive. I hope this helps!
Although relationships are important, client spending plays a significant factor. And a sprinkle of luck because it’s not guaranteed you will be offered the exact specifications asked.
At the end of the day, Hermès is a business so their main goal is to make a profit by selling.
Every Store Manager flies out to Paris, France twice a year (roughly every 6 months). Depending on the boutique’s (projected) yearly profit, the Store Manager is given an allocation or budget for handbags they can order for their specific boutique. The Store Manager is the only person responsible for choosing and submitting handbag orders. The handbags start to roll out as artisans finish their creation. Trends, clients, location, season, etc. play a role in the Store Manager’s decision making. A Store Manager will not order certain specifications if they feel the handbag will be difficult to sell. Hermès does not want handbags sitting on the shelves. Once in the boutique, the Store Manager assigns handbags to each Sales Specialist. My friend is assigned 3 to 4 handbags each month. Roughly one per week. Special orders are super rare. Each Sales Specialist will be given 1 or 2 each year. High profile clients mainly receive special order opportunities. The Paris boutique is different due to its location and proximity to artisans.
The Hermès journey is without a doubt competitive, lengthy, and expensive. The more you spend in the boutique, the more handbags offered to you. Everyone is motivated by sales. Client presence in the boutique is important. Online orders do not help your Sales Specialist. Your Sales Specialist can see how much you have spent/invested in Hermès (online and boutique) on their device. In fact, Sales Specialists win prizes if they meet their goal and they have competitions among their colleagues.
Boutiques and Sales Specialist are always busy. A regular boutique can have about 15 Sales Specialists so Birkin and Kelly handbags are constantly being sold.
It can be a discouraging journey if you are not spending $50,000 each time you visit the boutique. This is why patience is so important. Definitely buy items you genuinely love and see yourself using.
Every Sales Specialist is different in their ethics/method, but most will gravitate towards high spending clients. Unfortunately, high spenders are more likely to leave an impression and be remembered. And possibly taken more seriously. I wouldn’t say one’s pre-spend lessens with time. Which is one of the reasons some people opt for the reseller and consignment store route.
As for me, I still don’t have my Birkin. I’m working towards earning one. It helps if you’re less picky about specifications. Always buy something you truly love since it’s so expensive. I hope this helps!
Last edited:
Friends I have a fun question given the previous informative post. What do we actually think happens to the display bags? I need to know!
Merchandise on display is “rotated” by the Store Manager and eventually sold to a client. It’s left to the Store Manager’s discretion. I hope that helps!
Thanks for sharing! Always fun to read an informative (like this one) or a unique perspective post.
I'm assuming that's just the BKs, right?