When it comes to buying H, how much risk do you take?

fashion16

fashion16

O.G.
Apr 15, 2007
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#1
I am a risk averse person but lately, I am on a hunt for a B30 in a very specific color and HW combo and within my budget.

There are 2 sources who have the bag. One is Rebag (which I have read awful things about) and the other is a seller on eBay with good ratings but descriptions aren’t the best (I found that she listed the bag as a 2014 when it was a 2015), after I pointed it out, she fixed the listing title but not the description, and I have reached out several times with other questions and she isn’t responsive.

Part of me says with eBay authentication and using PayPal, what’s the worst that can happen…but I also suspect that is the desperation talking because I have been looking for this specific bag for over a year.

How much or a risk taker are you if you find the “perfect bag” under less perfect circumstances?
 
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#2
You could get it independently authenticated before purchase if seller can provide photographs of sufficient quality.

I've let bags go at least twice where I wasn't happy with some aspect of the circumstances. Both were bags I'd been searching a long time for. I take the view that it's just a bag, but if the colour (or some other feature) is rare it can be very hard to do. Good luck with the decision! :smile:
 
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#3
i am very risk averse.. i feel like everyone is out to scam me of my money, or provide a super fake... for that reason i just started playing the H game to get bags from the boutique instead of going the reseller route. did you check some of the H b/s/t fb groups? some of the resellers on there seem legit with a good reputation to the point where even i think i could trust them. perhaps some of them can help you source the particular bag you are looking for?
 
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#4
You should always follow your gut instincts and believe that if you let something go, another will come along however rare.

Pre-purchase authentication is the best way to buying with confidence.

With eBay I always ask questions about anything that might not be right, never take anything for granted, confirm the obvious.
Any respectable eBay seller will be mindful that there are sharks in the water and want to reassure you.
Try and see your enquiries from the seller's point of view.
You might have got off to a bad start pointing out the date error and the seller's gut instinct about you might be negative.
 
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#5
spidermann said:
i am very risk averse.. i feel like everyone is out to scam me of my money, or provide a super fake... for that reason i just started playing the H game to get bags from the boutique instead of going the reseller route. did you check some of the H b/s/t fb groups? some of the resellers on there seem legit with a good reputation to the point where even i think i could trust them. perhaps some of them can help you source the particular bag you are looking for?
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Thanks. I have checked but I like a good deal and I am not willing to pay 60%+ over retail so most sourcers are out of the question.
 
#9
fashion16 said:
Part of me says with eBay authentication and using PayPal, what’s the worst that can happen…
Click to expand...
1. Their authentication is not gold standard for Hermes unless they use Bababebi. Do they? Can they reveal who they use? If it's a software situation like Entrupy, that's as good as wishing. Therefore, their authentication is a whole lot of risk.

2. Ebay seller goes poof with your money; you've been conned. Ideally you've paid in a way to guarantee effective recovery, but the process for this could be tedious and lengthy, and of course you also wind up without the bag.

IMO there's no need for high risk with such a high-dollar purchase. Either get your bag from Hermes or work with a known and reputable reseller with a lot, lot, lot of verifiable feedback in the brand.
 
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#13
All fair points.

A few thoughts:
The bag is from 2015. The seller has posted close up pics of the blind stamps. Obviously this can be faked but this isn’t a brand new bag

The bag is $11k. Not a “steal” where it seems off…but also not insanely priced.

It isn’t an exotic.

It isn’t a super desirable color (at least to most) but it is a color I’ve wanted for a while in GHW. majority of bags I see for sale in this color have PHW.

Seller has 99.8% positive feedback on eBay, been on eBay since 2009.

Downsides : tons of H inventory on her Instagram page which seems odd

Spotty communication

I asked for more photos to verify the color (it’s a color that changes a lot based on the light) and she responded back with “I told you, the color is _____”.

I will pass on this one. Too many concerns out there but I don’t have a local H boutique near me so relying on resellers is my option for now. Even the “best” are flawed.

Case in point, Anns Fabulous Finds has what I thought was the bag I wanted. When I did research, I realized that color I wanted wasn’t made in the year the bag was produced so it couldn’t have been the color it was advertised as. I inquired about that and although AFF was very kind about my inquiry, they responded with “the consignor told us the color is —— so we are taking their word for it…although we are not sure if she was the original owner” leaving the impression they blindly trust. Why not verify?

It just feels like if you don’t get it from a boutique, you have no way of knowing what you are getting, even from the most reputable of places …
 
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#15
fashion16 said:
All fair points.

A few thoughts:
The bag is from 2015. The seller has posted close up pics of the blind stamps. Obviously this can be faked but this isn’t a brand new bag

The bag is $11k. Not a “steal” where it seems off…but also not insanely priced.

It isn’t an exotic.

It isn’t a super desirable color (at least to most) but it is a color I’ve wanted for a while in GHW. majority of bags I see for sale in this color have PHW.

Seller has 99.8% positive feedback on eBay, been on eBay since 2009.

Downsides : tons of H inventory on her Instagram page which seems odd

Spotty communication

I asked for more photos to verify the color (it’s a color that changes a lot based on the light) and she responded back with “I told you, the color is _____”.

I will pass on this one. Too many concerns out there but I don’t have a local H boutique near me so relying on resellers is my option for now. Even the “best” are flawed.

Case in point, Anns Fabulous Finds has what I thought was the bag I wanted. When I did research, I realized that color I wanted wasn’t made in the year the bag was produced so it couldn’t have been the color it was advertised as. I inquired about that and although AFF was very kind about my inquiry, they responded with “the consignor told us the color is —— so we are taking their word for it…although we are not sure if she was the original owner” leaving the impression they blindly trust. Why not verify?

It just feels like if you don’t get it from a boutique, you have no way of knowing what you are getting, even from the most reputable of places …
Click to expand...
Now I’m so curious what color this is, but I could understand if you don’t want to post it haha. In any case good luck, and u probably made the right choice not to purchase from the eBay seller
 
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