What’s your unpopular Hermes opinion?
- Thread starter wowzers1941
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This!
My unpopular opinion du jour, and this one is sure to be super unpopular 🦆 🦆 🦆 ... is that people create their own anxieties about Hermès shopping. No one needs an Hermès bag. It's also not going to change your life or make you happier in the long term (yes, the pretty thing in your closet may make you smile every day, and that's AWESOME, but it better not be the only thing that makes you smile).
If you want the bag just for status or to keep up with the neighbors (not judging) - Birkins and Kellys aren't the only, or even necessarily the best, way to show off status - plenty of easy-to-buy items for those who wish to flex. So why be literally desperate? Why be in tears, or constantly thinking about your SA's last text or lack thereof?
Throwing my chips in with @QuelleFromage on this one. Admittedly, I’m not prone to waterworks but you can be sure that ‘handbag’ and ‘cry’ don’t go together in my worldview.
Not in English but surely google translate etc can help
The colour description tho
Pusat Pemulihan Aset (PPA) Kejaksaan Agung Lelang Tas Mewah
PT Pegadaian yang akan membantu dalam pengecekan kondisi fisik barang koleksi Hermes dan Birkin melalui lelang yang diselenggarakan oleh Pusat Pemulihan Aset Kejaksaan Agung Republik Indonesia dan Kantor Pelayanan Kekayaan Negara dan Lelang (KPKNL) Jakarta IV
nasional.tempo.co
This is surely going to be unpopular but I was reading a few posts about SAs not responding to texts or emails checking in or requesting they source certain items and it sparked some thoughts.
First, if you want someone to chit chat with you over text - get a friend. That's not what an SA is paid to do. And while some luxury SAs will spend the time cultivating those relationships because it helps them sell stuff, Hermes SAs don't really need to do that to sell stuff because demand for Hermes stuff is so high right now. So it's hard to really blame them - I mean, would you in their place?
Second, if you want someone to spend time hunting for a hard to find item for you, pay a personal shopper. I know there are some longtime H clients on here who have SAs who will do this for them, but if you just walked into an H boutique as a new client recently and immediately expect the SA you met to start texting you every time the Twilly or shoes you are on the hunt for come in, do you think that's a realistic expectation given the demands on the SAs' time? Again, they don't have to work to find clients - most of them have more clients than they can handle. It may not seem fair to you that some clients get different treatment than others, but in the words of my grandmother - life ain't fair. And it certainly ain't fair in luxury retail. I say this as someone who eschews the boutique entirely and buys all my H stuff either from their website, secondhand, or sourced via personal shoppers precisely because I want what I want when I want it and spending my time popping into the boutique hoping it has what I want right then is not luxury to me.
First, if you want someone to chit chat with you over text - get a friend. That's not what an SA is paid to do. And while some luxury SAs will spend the time cultivating those relationships because it helps them sell stuff, Hermes SAs don't really need to do that to sell stuff because demand for Hermes stuff is so high right now. So it's hard to really blame them - I mean, would you in their place?
Second, if you want someone to spend time hunting for a hard to find item for you, pay a personal shopper. I know there are some longtime H clients on here who have SAs who will do this for them, but if you just walked into an H boutique as a new client recently and immediately expect the SA you met to start texting you every time the Twilly or shoes you are on the hunt for come in, do you think that's a realistic expectation given the demands on the SAs' time? Again, they don't have to work to find clients - most of them have more clients than they can handle. It may not seem fair to you that some clients get different treatment than others, but in the words of my grandmother - life ain't fair. And it certainly ain't fair in luxury retail. I say this as someone who eschews the boutique entirely and buys all my H stuff either from their website, secondhand, or sourced via personal shoppers precisely because I want what I want when I want it and spending my time popping into the boutique hoping it has what I want right then is not luxury to me.
My unpopular opinion is that a request for an item should take a trivial amount of time in this age of computerized inventory. If they are already taking time to talk to and show items to me, the lowly specimen of the great unwashed, they should be able to say, "We don't have the shoe* in this size here, but <click click> we do at store X. Would you like to pay now and pick them up in a week?" Then they never have to talk to me again - I can pick it up at the front counter!
*Not that I'm bitter about that size 41 silver Pegase loafer from 2017, nope...
Good points but on
1. Younger SAs seem to prefer and cultivate the WhatsApp chit chat method. If that's H's new MO for certain SA/clients, that's OK for me. The issue can be that quick-fire written messages can be misinterpreted very quickly, especially if one/both parties are under pressure/not feeling great.
2. H SAs have time put aside as part of their job to work 'backstage' and answer emails/written messages. Just like clients have to accept that H isn't just B/K/Cs, SAs have to accept that if they sell an item, they could be asked for it, eyeshadow brush, soap, twilly included.
Unpopular opinion:
Complaining about the price increases is tacky. Whining about the prices overall is tacky.
This is separate from spending $20k+ and still not being offered a bag by your SA. I'm talking about people who think the world is ending and need to "budget" for a minor % increase.
I'm very, very new to money overall but even I understand Hermes is meant to be expensive. It is meant to appear unobtainable for most. Higher demand + newer limits to stock = higher prices. People should be happy their collection has grown in value.
By complaining about the price it makes that individual sound like they can't afford it and had no business shopping at Hermes anyway. This isn't like Chanel, where they swap the gold plating and leather for that new cheap stuff and "gold-toned" metals. Hermes sells the product, same lifetime repairs, same craftsmanship.
If the % increase will warrant a fit or make/break someone's Hermes journey... this brand isn't right for you.
Complaining about the price increases is tacky. Whining about the prices overall is tacky.
This is separate from spending $20k+ and still not being offered a bag by your SA. I'm talking about people who think the world is ending and need to "budget" for a minor % increase.
I'm very, very new to money overall but even I understand Hermes is meant to be expensive. It is meant to appear unobtainable for most. Higher demand + newer limits to stock = higher prices. People should be happy their collection has grown in value.
By complaining about the price it makes that individual sound like they can't afford it and had no business shopping at Hermes anyway. This isn't like Chanel, where they swap the gold plating and leather for that new cheap stuff and "gold-toned" metals. Hermes sells the product, same lifetime repairs, same craftsmanship.
If the % increase will warrant a fit or make/break someone's Hermes journey... this brand isn't right for you.
Hmm I don’t recall any whining but regardless I guess some of us are too poor to shop Hermes.
And last I checked those fj items are still going for half or less than half of retail on rr and fp.
My latest unpopular opinion - when supposed new money Hermes clients have no clue about the history of brand pricing and don’t understand how much the shopping experience has changed since the pandemic due to some ridiculous new clients desperately pre spending for bags thus upping overall costs for all clients across the brand.
And last I checked those fj items are still going for half or less than half of retail on rr and fp. My latest unpopular opinion - when supposed new money Hermes clients have no clue about the history of brand pricing and don’t understand how much the shopping experience has changed since the pandemic due to some ridiculous new clients desperately pre spending for bags thus upping overall costs for all clients across the brand.
I'm glad my unpopular opinion struck a nerve, enough to get a reply lol. Thank you for your insight.
I don’t think collections are growing in monetary value. Hermes in-store pricing has gone up but the resale market is apparently softening significantly, used bags are valued at less than new bags and pre spend is at high. I am not buying Hermes’ as an investment as I’d have to pre spend way more than the retail value of the bags and never wear it! If I am not wearing it, I don’t buy it.
So maybe that’s my unpopular opinion - Hermes collections aren’t really a good investment given current pricing and pre spend.
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And this is exactly why I bought a FJ item I wanted from Fashionphile instead of H; it was in like new condition, with all paperwork and packaging included, and it was half the boutique price.And last I checked those fj items are still going for half or less than half of retail on rr and fp.
To keep this on topic, an unpopular opinion I have is the SA push toward FJ for prespend. If a client is interested in the piece, fine. But dangling that out there in order to get a bag? Not fine. I think the resale market has shown there is little appetite for these pieces, as they don’t even maintain value, let alone increase in value (unlike their popular bags, which do increase in value). H FJ isn’t on par with the likes of VCA or Cartier, so I wish they would stop pretending.
And a related unpopular opinion is this notion of prespend to begin with. First it was the ubiquitous “we have a two-year waitlist”; even sitcoms made fun of that. Now there’s prespend and, since the pandemic, it seems like prespend is required for any H bag, not just the popular B/K/C. Now that clients have learned how to game the system by selling off their prespend to resellers and via other avenues, what’s next?
My unpopular opinion: H shoes are horrid. I can’t stand Orans or Chypres. I don’t understand the hype over them. They are ugly and uncomfortable. Now also seeing in a different thread complaints about the H jumping boots. How many people would still profess their “love” of H shoes or purchase them in multiples if they didn’t count towards prespend? So many other beautiful shoes out there that are not Hermes shoes. I said what I said.
The “H“ is suppose to be worn towards the body so it doesn’t show but I would say that 99% of the forum probably wears it with the H out but that is the wrong way - and I agree with you I‘m not a fan of the large logo but its a great bag and I would never were the H looking out for that reason.
I thought so too but I asked my SA and she said the H should be facing out
