[michael_vo]

I went to a buy.

Hermes gives you 24 hours to go into the store and buy the item. Otherwise the bag goes to the next buyer on the rolodex.

Buyers call their friends and make it into an event. They’re literally giddy and excited to go. It’s like winning the lottery.

You’re ushered into a private room with nice couches, mirrors, a phone. You choose a scarf and wrap the scarf around the strap.

Buyers text their sales rep almost daily.

In a way it’s like a drop in the NFT space.

[oblio]

I'd argue it's the opposite. This is a long running model copied for NFT.

[GaryNumanVevo]

Comparing a Hermes appointment to clicking "buy" on an NFT is hilarious. Nonetheless, I've gotten three appointments, have spent around 150k EUR on bags. So far I've made $30k after VAT and US duty. No idea why Paris original Hermes bags go for so much more in the states. If I have an appointment, I'll fly round trip to Paris, buy the bags, and hold them until I go to the states. Great experience, very high class!

[1-more]

You've spent half of your highest salary on bags? Feels like a lot but I'm just some guy. What was the biggest bag balance you've had on the books? Or are you buying and flipping at most one or two at any time? When you make these trips, do you have a US buyer lined up beforehand or do you find them once you're in the US?

[gen220]

Do you know if Hermes is OK with people purchasing with intent to immediately resell?

I think I remember reading that people have "gotten in trouble" (i.e. block-listed from future sales) for being suspected of this, but I might be confusing it with some other company.

[kylehotchkiss]

How much value do these bags lose if you so little as touch them with an ungloved hand?

[GaryNumanVevo]

First appointment they have a limit, IIRC it's like 2 bags, but subsequent appointments you can buy a lot more

[morsch]

Humans of late capitalism

[1oooqooq]

so you're their sales rep?

[dboreham]

Not as bad as buying a Ferrari: where you have to already own a Ferrari to be allowed to buy one.

[moomin]

A friend of mine is a true petrolhead. Loves cars. When he was in his early twenties he bought a second hand Ferrari. Drove it around for years. He sold it, for the exact same price he bought it, back the person who’d sold it him in the first place.

I wouldn’t call a Ferrari an investment, but if you love them they hold their value pretty well.

[brandall10]

It's interesting that Jay Leno refuses to buy a Ferrari for this fact.

[m463]

there are also severe restrictions on your ownership of the ferrari.

You are required to maintain and insure it. by ferrari.

You can't loan it out for performance testing.

You can't street race it.

You can't sully the brand.

and plenty more.

makes me wonder, do the new ones have telemetry to check this stuff?

[pie420]

it is the same model. in order to buy a birkin you need to buy tens of thousands of dollars of less desireable Hermes product.

[prova_modena]

...to get an allocation for the latest and greatest model. Pretty sure you can walk into most Ferrari dealers today and order a Roma, for example, without previous ownership history.

[michael_vo]

Actually the whole sneaker market is like this too now. They have weekly drops where inventory is restricted to create hype.

[wlesieutre]

Not the whole sneaker market, a weird premium collectable subset of the sneaker market is like this. You can buy sneakers at Costco (as long as you like the one option they stock).

[axlee]

We're far from the 2018-2021 levels of ridiculousness though, the hypebeat market has taken a big hit. Grey market watches as well.

Birkins haven't.

[tempsy]

Uh not really.

The unique part here is that in order to even have the chance to buy a bag you need to develop a relationship with a sales rep and buy a bunch of other stuff. The more other stuff you buy the higher on whatever list they'll put you and when they get a bag in stock they'll give the chance to buy to whoever they have a positive relationship with and who has spent a lot of money.

[pfannkuchen]

Sounds a lot like getting a mechanic in the USSR.

[taude]

i heard this is how it's working for a Rolex now, too, unless you go to secondary market and pay a big premium.