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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 f
by michael_vo 2y ago
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.
- GaryNumanVevo 2y agoComparing 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!
- GaryNumanVevo 2y agoFirst appointment they have a limit, IIRC it's like 2 bags, but subsequent appointments you can buy a lot more
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- 1oooqooq 2y agoso you're their sales rep?
- GaryNumanVevo 2y agoNo? It's a fun luxury item to flip, that can make some decent money. Rolex's used to be good to flip if you had a good rep with an AD, but now the resale market is down.
- handfuloflight 2y ago[dead]
- morsch 2y agoHumans of late capitalism
- oblio 2y agoAgreed, this all seems so bizarre and frankly... decadent.
- kylehotchkiss 2y agoHow much value do these bags lose if you so little as touch them with an ungloved hand?
- gen220 2y agoDo 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.
- michael_vo 2y agoHermes monitors the resale websites. If they can find out the identifier then you will be banned.
- GaryNumanVevo 2y agoPersonally, I haven't heard of it happening. Most of the market is off resale websites anyways. Now if you started a boutique trying to resell Hermes bags, then you might have an issue.
- fbdab103 2y agoThat seems like an idle threat. Hermes needs a "black market" to keep the brand in circulation. Making the item feel risky acquire can add to the thrill of the chase. Maybe if you try to buy a truckload at once, they would step in, but I doubt any consumer-level flipping is hitting their radar.
- 1-more 2y agoYou'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?
- nine_k 2y agoWith 20% ROI collected in a few months, after all duties, it's a good deal, even if you pay with a credit card. (You can certainly get a cheaper loan if you're the kind of person to be invited to a bag-dispensing event.)
- GaryNumanVevo 2y ago1) My wife loves Paris 2) Credit card points + Travel miles
- pbj1968 2y ago[flagged]
- GaryNumanVevo 2y agopbj is also appropriate because this comment reeks of sour grapes
- hammyhavoc 2y agoAre you actually Gary Numan?
- xhkkffbf 2y agoLoan? I certainly hope no one is taking out a loan to do this. Well, I guess if the resell is pretty certain, then a loan is a smart business move. But really no one should be going into debt for an item like this.
- dboreham 2y agoNot as bad as buying a Ferrari: where you have to already own a Ferrari to be allowed to buy one.
- moomin 2y agoA 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.
- kurthr 2y agoYes, but maintenance costs are very high. You can expect >$5k and typically another few $k for tires. That is true even if nothing breaks and milage is low (eg <5k mi/yr). Costs quickly go up once cars are past 20 years old due to the lack of parts. You definitely need $10-15k in an emergency fund if anything significant goes wrong (or you got sold a lemon). So that $40-50k car price is about half of 5 years of ownership.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- elorant 2y agoOne reason they hold their value well is because they have low mileage. They’re not practical cars to use on a daily basis, not to mention maintenance costs which are quite high if you use the car often.
- jazzyjackson 2y agomeanwhile a '93 Honda NSX recently sold for 60k showing 234,300 miles on the odo https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3OnRAn0v/1993-acura-nsx https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3OnRAn0v/1993-acura-nsx
- michael_vo 2y agoActually the whole sneaker market is like this too now. They have weekly drops where inventory is restricted to create hype.
- wlesieutre 2y agoNot 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).
- silverpepsi 2y agoNot the whole market at the high end either, I have very little trouble getting any pair of Balmain, Versace, and Rick Owens sneaker I want - I have several dozen pairs of all three brands Strategy at the high end is to price correctly but astronomically so almost no one can afford them, then offer seasonal sales to sell the less popular colorways or styles off to the aspirational upper poor. Nike/Adidas is like the polar opposite, intentionally underprice so demand is frantic and there is a lot of action for middle men, then over the years try to steal back as much of the middle men profit as possible All very interesting imo
- michael_vo 2y agoThere's a whole ecosystem for used nike shoes. https://www.youtube.com/@Ramitheicon https://www.youtube.com/@Ramitheicon gets over 500k each video and he's got a physical storefront where he trades cash to kids for their used nike shoes. There's so much hype for these shoes from NBA players, tik tok, instagram, and youtube.
- oblio 2y ago> I have several dozen pairs of all three brands I guess different colors? I've always wondered, what do people with 50+ pairs of shoes do? Surely most of them just gather dust. > price correctly but astronomically Based on materials or cost of labor, I doubt it's correct pricing. It's all artificial scarcity due to branding, I'm fairly sure.
- oblio 2y agoI'd argue it's the opposite. This is a long running model copied for NFT.
- tempsy 2y agoUh 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 2y agoSounds a lot like getting a mechanic in the USSR.
- oblio 2y ago7 years from now. But will the mechanic come in the morning or in the afternoon?
- zeroonetwothree 2y agoHopefully the afternoon since the plumber is coming that morning
- taude 2y agoi heard this is how it's working for a Rolex now, too, unless you go to secondary market and pay a big premium.
- Raidion 2y agoThis is always how Rolex has worked. Supply is limited, and prices are fixed, so they have to pick and choose who gets the rarer and more desirable watches, and who better to offer them to than the people who are your best customers (or have enough clout to be free advertising?). Ferrari works the same way.
- blantonl 2y agoDefinitely not always how Rolex worked. Just 10-15 years ago you could walk in and purchase a stainless steel sport Rolex watch for a good discount brand new at authorized distributors.