Spend threshold for B/K/C

[Beachbunny_chanel]

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!

I was told by my (German) SA that the whole display rotates after a few weeks (3-4) and that all the bags inside the display are already allocated to clients (also the evelynes etc)
But i guess that there are always a few exceptions made. I saw the manager once telling a few russian people (means No local people) that they can take a few bags out of the display when they inform the boutique 2 days in advance that they're visiting the boutique...

 

[rolandogm]

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?

Right. Please keep in mind that inventory varies depending on the shipment of handbags the boutique receives in a given week or even month. As you can image, some handbags take longer to finish than others. I hope that makes sense!

 

[periogirl28]

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!

Thank you for confirming a lot of what has been discussed in one summary post, it's really helpful to have the key points most of us have shared, all in one place. Most of it is applicable worldwide except FSH which seems to have its own rules. Really interesting. Please do thank your friend for us.

 

[Bag peace]

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

Take the time to wear & enjoy your purchases..

This is such wonderful advice! It's so important to live with the bags for a while and enjoy them.

You're only a year into your journey @KellyConstanceTogo and you're rushing through that wish list (congratulations, by the way! It's great that you're getting what you want). However, as @Love Of My Life has said, you may want to take time to enjoy what you've just bought and see how you feel after you've really used those bags.
With H, especially, there are sizes, leathers, combinations...options galore. It can be fun to decide on a bunch of QBs that you think would be ideal, but until you live with the ones you have, you really won't know for sure.
Sometimes a style proves to be cumbersome to use, a certain leather wears badly over time, a particular size can feel too heavy with regular carry... this is stuff you don't figure until you carry the bags regularly enough to discover what works and what doesn't. It takes time.

I would advise you not to rush through the rest of your list, just yet. Learn what works and what doesn't from the ones you have now and then refine your wish list accordingly. In the meantime, do explore the other brands that you're interested in, since that will also teach you about what's ideal in the land of QBs. Best of luck!

Edit to add: I myself am not an H customer, so perhaps take my advice with a grain of salt.
My advice above comes from my own bag journey, where I thought I knew 'on paper' what would be perfect, only to find that my opinions changed when actually carrying the bags regularly. To give a specific H example, my friend is now consigning her B35 because she finds it too heavy, and while she's owned it for years, she only realized the weight was a serious issue when she started carrying it regularly.

 

[fluffypuffy2023]

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!

Thanks for sharing - super helpful! Did he share if pre-spend is re-set with each QB in the US? I know in an ideal world we buy / spend what we want when we want it but with a finite budget, I wasn't sure if I need to pace my spend between each QB or it's all looked at on a cumulative / annual basis.

 

[luxuryspy]

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.

Thank you for this in-depth explanation ❤️

 

[rolandogm]

Thanks for sharing - super helpful! Did he share if pre-spend is re-set with each QB in the US? I know in an ideal world we buy / spend what we want when we want it but with a finite budget, I wasn't sure if I need to pace my spend between each QB or it's all looked at on a cumulative / annual basis.

After his explanation, I was more than convinced spending drives offers. He did imply that pre-spending does reset after each handbag is obtained. Please keep in mind that every Sales Specialist is different. However, they’re running a business so pouring (spending) into Hermès is important. He mentioned it didn’t really make a difference if a client spent little by little or a large amount of money. I didn’t ask if there was a spending ratio. Personally, I would responsibly put money aside each month to purchase the items I love hoping to get an offer someday. I hope that helps!

 

[addiCCted]

My friend is assigned 3 to 4 handbags each month. Roughly one per week.

3-4 QB or also including non-qb?

Thank you for your insights. Its very consistent with what my SA told me as well.

 

[frenchiemama]

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!

This is great to have everything we “suspect” summed up in one post. Thank you (and your friend) for sharing

Did he happen to provide any insight into situations where clients have to switch SAs within the same boutique (for example, mine left and I was assigned to another one)? I already spent a healthy amount with my old SA, and I was told pre-spend doesn’t completely reset with the new SA as long as you continue shopping within the same boutique. Thanks again!!

 

[addiCCted]

This is great to have everything we “suspect” summed up in one post. Thank you (and your friend) for sharing

Did he happen to provide any insight into situations where clients have to switch SAs within the same boutique (for example, mine left and I was assigned to another one)? I already spent a healthy amount with my old SA, and I was told pre-spend doesn’t completely reset with the new SA as long as you continue shopping within the same boutique. Thanks again!!

I asked my SA about that too and she mentioned its not super straight forward but you can talk to the manager bc they allocate only a certain amount of bags to each SA so the new SA wouldn't want to give up a bag to give to you (with no prespend under the new SA) and short change their own client. But sometimes you can speak with the manager and see if they're willing to allocate an extra one to your new SA.

 

[frenchiemama]

I asked my SA about that too and she mentioned its not super straight forward but you can talk to the manager bc they allocate only a certain amount of bags to each SA so the new SA wouldn't want to give up a bag to give to you (with no prespend under the new SA) and short change their own client. But sometimes you can speak with the manager and see if they're willing to allocate an extra one to your new SA.

Ugh what a bummer my new SA is pretty new though so maybe she doesn’t have have many clients?

I wonder what happened to the QB allocations from my old SA who left? Ideally the SM took that allocation and gave it to my new SA? A girl can dream lol

 

[rolandogm]

3-4 QB or also including non-qb?

Thank you for your insights. It’s very consistent with what my SA told me as well.

Yes. Please remember performance and inventory fluctuates the amount of QB handbags assigned to each Sales Specialist.

 

[rolandogm]

This is great to have everything we “suspect” summed up in one post. Thank you (and your friend) for sharing

Did he happen to provide any insight into situations where clients have to switch SAs within the same boutique (for example, mine left and I was assigned to another one)? I already spent a healthy amount with my old SA, and I was told pre-spend doesn’t completely reset with the new SA as long as you continue shopping within the same boutique. Thanks again!!

In this case, you would have to start a new relationship with your new Sales Specialist. Your total spending balance would still be reflected under your client profile. It wouldn’t affect you as long as you continue spending at the boutique with the new Sales Specialist.

 

[addiCCted]

my new SA is pretty new though so maybe she doesn’t have have many clients?

Thats actually a really good thing.

 

[frenchiemama]

In this case, you would have to start a new relationship with your new Sales Specialist. Your total spending balance would still be reflected under your client profile. It wouldn’t affect you as long as you’re continue spending at the boutique with the new Sales Specialist.

Thank you! That’s what the store told me too. But I just wonder if from my new SA’s perspective, does my previous spending count in her mind when she’s thinking about who to offer a QB to. Sorry if I’m going off topic!