– Buying a Birkin bag is so difficult that it should be illegal – Dagsavisen

Americans are fed up with the way the French luxury fashion house chooses to sell the coveted Birkin bag, which you have to be on a waiting list for a long time to purchase. The lawsuit and subsequent publicity will mean the entire luxury industry's secretive sales practices will come under greater scrutiny, fashion website Business of Fashion claims in a case reproduced by CNN.

Loved by celebrities

Like most other luxury fashion houses, Hermès sells its leather products only through its own stores where the prices of the goods are never reduced. Birkin and Kelly bags in particular – named after actresses Jane Birkin and Grace Kelly – are loved by celebrities such as Khloe Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez and Victoria Beckham. They cannot be ordered online, and are rarely displayed on store premises.

Fine control and rarity have made the Birkin one of the most sought-after products in the fashion market. There is no other brand that bags are harder to buy for, and as an investment, they are at the top of their class, precisely because demand far exceeds the supply of bags.

Wallets come in different sizes and models, and the price starts at around NOK 100,000 and can go up to a million on the flea market. This ultra-exclusive location has seen Birkin sales skyrocket, even at a time when most other luxury brands are seeing a decline in demand from post-pandemic peak levels. according to Fashion business Trading volume increased by 21 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year. But now the sales practices may have landed the brand in legal trouble.

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Who can buy?

According to those who have tried to buy a Birkin, the store experience varies from city to city, and local Hermès employees allegedly have the freedom to decide how the handbags are sold. Some bags are allocated via waiting lists, others are offered at the sender's discretion. Other products appear to be offered on a first-come, first-served basis, especially at the brand's original flagship store in Paris. Customer preferences are recorded, but when they are offered a particular Birkin model, they cannot necessarily choose the style or colour. The mysterious process has led to speculation about who will actually be allowed to buy the bag and why.

People are sharing videos and threads on social media like TikTok, YouTube, and Reddit with their experiences and how to buy a Birkin. The constant advice for those who want to buy from one of the fashion house's own stores is to build a close relationship with customers by, among other things, purchasing other selected Hermès products. This is to show that you have a relationship with the brand.

There are many tips on how much you should spend on lipsticks, blouses, sandals, beach towels, dog beds and so on – some estimates run into the tens of thousands of kroner – for Hermès to consider whether to sell you a Birkin bag. And if you're caught, they, not you, are the ones who choose which style of bag you can buy. Experienced shoppers also offer advice on when to go to the store, what to say, and how to dress to increase your chances of making a purchase.

Those who do not want to participate in the game are advised to purchase used devices. So you may have to pay double the price of a new bag, but that gives you more freedom to choose exactly the Birkin model you want.

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Reject link sales

It is currently uncertain whether the fashion house's sales practices are illegal, and much depends on prosecutors' ability to obtain good, concrete evidence. It is known that the luxury industry relies on customer loyalty, and the best customers are regularly rewarded with access to exclusive collections.

You buy luxury to be part of the club.

— Erwan Rambourg, financial analyst

-You buy the luxury to be part of the club. That's what this case is about. It defeats its purpose if the club is open to everyone, Erwan Rambourg, global head of consumer and retail analysis at financial firm HSBC, tells CNN.

Saving the best Birkin bags for discerning customers helps create ongoing excitement and mystery around the product, ensuring that waiting lists remain consistently long from year to year, making purchasing bags more attractive to collectors and investors.

Maybe illegal

On March 19, a complaint was filed against the fashion house in a district court in Northern California. It is primarily the fashion house's practice of demanding purchases of other products that is now under scrutiny by US authorities. The plaintiffs claim that the requirement to purchase other products is illegal linking and, according to France 24, a violation of US competition law.

For its part, Hermès claims to Business of Fashion that it strictly prohibits the sale of certain products as a condition of purchasing others. They claim that the scarcity of bags means that not everyone can afford them at all times.

Regardless of the outcome, the lawsuit against the fashion house is the latest in a series of complaints that have led to increased scrutiny of how brands sell, not just what they sell, and that previously secret dealings are now a public and legal subject. – Debate. So the fashion industry will be watching how the lawsuit develops anyway, and other high-end brands will be forced to consider whether their own tactics might fall in line with the legal definition of tying.

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