Trusted Hermes Reseller Discussion Thread
- Thread starter mistikat
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Just for info A few months back I bought a mors horsebit on Ebay from flossyfigaro for £275. She described it as goldplated, whereas the one for £115 in the Hermes shop called theirs brass effect, so I bought it. Upon enquiry flossyfigaro told me that it was OK for her to charge two and a half times what the boutique charged because some buyers found it more convenient to buy from her! Also she told me it was my own fault for not checking the price on the Hermes website first. Obviously she is right, but I feel that it is dishonest to charge such a price for an item that is freely available in every Hermes boutique. If an item is rare or no longer available in the shops, fair enough. But I was very disappointed in flossyfigaro - usually Ebay sellers are very honourable and a joy to deal with, and this is my only bad experience with an Ebay Hermes purchase. Flossyfigaro currently has a palladium horsebit for sale!
I have been buying on Ebay for six years, and I have never been charged so much more for a current item. Of course what she does is not illegal, but to me it is deeply immoral. I know it is said, Never give a sucker an even break', but I prefer to deal with people who view me as a valued customer, not a sucker. No repeat business for flossy from either me or my friends, obviously!
Ansche,
I sympathize with your sense of disappointment and understand that you regret your purchase.
You are of course entitled to your opinions or beliefs about the basic tenets of running a business.
Most people will agree however, that it is neither "dishonest" nor "deeply immoral" to buy, sell, and make a profit.
Let's move on!
I sympathize with your sense of disappointment and understand that you regret your purchase.
You are of course entitled to your opinions or beliefs about the basic tenets of running a business.
Most people will agree however, that it is neither "dishonest" nor "deeply immoral" to buy, sell, and make a profit.
Let's move on!
Though I have never purchased anything from Flossy Figaro, I have to say that there is NOTHING remotely "immoral" or "dishonest" about the pricing of her item.
As an eBay buyer, the onus is 100% on you to know what it is you're purchasing.
If someone were making these kinds of statements about me I'd be FURIOUS!
Your lack of research does not constitute "dishonesty" on the part of the eBay seller...
Ansche , you do not seem to realize that many people actually do not have access to any H store, or have access to H stores in their country where prices are much much more higher than in Europe. Flossy and other resellers mean to serve those people. Not you and me who can get anything from our local H store around the corner.
At this point it would be nice of you , and fair, if you could retrieve the words dishonest and immoral .
At this point it would be nice of you , and fair, if you could retrieve the words dishonest and immoral .
I would also add to the discussion that an over retail price for one country might actually be retail price or a bargain for someone in Asia or Australia. Whether or not that is the case here, I don't know, but it is the prerogative of the seller to charge a price that he/she thinks someone somewhere will pay. I personally would never pay a gigantic markup on something expensive, but others are perfectly willing to do so (case in point, brand new Birkins at certain resellers) in order to bypass waitlists, price increases, and lengthy searches. So I see nothing immoral about charging over retail for an item. What IS dishonest, imho, is stating an erroneously high number as the "current retail price" in one's Ebay listing to make the customer believe he/she got a good deal. While her prices are higher than I'd like, I don't believe I've seen Flossyfigaro's listings say anything misleading like that.
I from time to time saw on eBay, item such as Hermes Twilly that was around $135 on Hermes store or Hermes web site, often listed for $175, $200 or more, plus shipping. Smart potential buyer will always compare prices and check the Hermes web site for prices very easy.
As Perlelare said, not every one has access to Hermes store.
I know I will never buy a Twilly for that price, but I never thought that the sellers are dishonest or immoral.
As Perlelare said, not every one has access to Hermes store.
I know I will never buy a Twilly for that price, but I never thought that the sellers are dishonest or immoral.
Ansche, please let me respond.
Of course, human nature being what it is, we jump for joy when we get an incredible deal (witness the popularity of the reality show Extreme Couponing) and feel a little misery if we sense we spent more than needed on something. That is life.
But as an old-time eBayer, an involved member here, and a long-time H collector, I hope I have gained a little perspective on eBay pricing.
There is no such thing as a dishonest price.
Words like dishonest are pretty extreme. Yes, I apply them to eBay sellers from time to time. But only when a counterfeit item is described as legitimate, or when an item is grossly and purposefully misrepresented for the sake of profit. In these cases we are looking at fraud.
But eBay is not a boutique and there is no law that an item has to cost a certain amount across the board. Sellers are bound to describe their items fairly and clearly, but they can charge what they want. A seller can choose to let an item go for a song, or they can choose to make whatever profit they wish. The latter is not immoral and not dishonest.
Sometimes I wince and let things go for less than I hoped. Sometimes I try to hold out for a bit of a profit--especially if there was a real cost involved in acquiring the item. Remember too that sellers incur ever-rising costs from eBay and Paypal fees.
No one holds a gun to a buyer's head and forces them to pay a certain price. The marketplace will of course tend to determine what will and will not sell at certain price points...but every seller is free to put any price they wish on an item. Then the buyer is free to buy or not. You can even come here (as some have done) and make fun of an extreme price!
I could put a million dollar price tag on a birkin and it might be crazy, but it would never be dishonest unless I utterly misrepresented the item.
The eBay marketplace is complex and a good price for one person in one circumstance might not be a good price for another. And even if an item is readily available in a store, there is still not a bit of anything immoral in setting a price above that. Even way above that! It's a free marketplace.
I hope in the end that you feel the experience has taught lessons about doing research before making a decision that is right for you. But I do want to jump in and say that nothing that happened here even remotely reached any level of questionable honesty.
