The Rise of the Hermes Resale Shops


Backtrack a few years ago in Hong Kong– there were only a handful of designer resale stores that carried Hermes birkins and kelly bags. I still clearly remember that the 2 major shops were either Milan Station (which had its IPO in the HK Stock Exchange if I’m not mistaken) or France Station, both of which were located in Causeway Bay, a few steps away from Times Square Mall. These 2 resale shops were doing brisk business. Women who had wanted Hermes birkins and kellys but had no EQ could walk into these 2 shops and just buy one or more– for a premium.

Fast forward to 2012. You walk into any Hermes boutique and they’re more than likely to tell you that they have no stock of your favorite bag.  And then again in Hong Kong, there are already at least 1 or 2 designer resale shops in nearly every known shopping block. Even Japan- based shops like Brands Off are already in Hong Kong. And all these stores carry Hermes birkins and kellys. In every color and color combination imaginable!

I have never even seen 5- toned birkins in person and on this trip, I have!

You normally would not see these combinations on the shelves at Hermes boutiques– because these bags are actually special orders by certain clients. And most of the special orders in these funky colors would come out of Japan. Mind you, the 2nd birkin with 5 colors is NOT cheap– it’s selling for a converted price of US $37,900!!!  *Wolfwhistle* Competition may be stiff in this secondary market but no one is budging when it comes to price markdowns for these premium designer bags.

I should also note that the bags from these resale stores are authentic, and these particular shops have that “No Fakes” seal which is issued by the HK Government to assure consumers that they can be confident in buying authentic merchandise. I can tell you one other thing about these resale stores though– years ago, they’d get swarmed with customers. Not so today. But for sure it’s really interesting to look at the merchandise offerings of each store. If it weren’t for them, I’d not have known that 5- color combination birkins even existed!

So tell me, how do you feel about those 5- color combination birkins? 🙂

x
TheBagHag

 

2 Comments
  1. 2 tones on a B is fine but 5 is overdoing it already. It only ruins the classic and chic appeal of the bag even if the shades were carefully chosen and coordinated. Just my opinion.

  2. 5-color combi birkins seems too much on my personal opinion. there seems to be a lot going on that look. at maximum, i would say 3-color because it also goes with styling and wearing colors. let’s say on a color-blocking aspect. that’s why on the creative side, no designer brands will create this kind of type. you can only imagine, a woman walking like a box of primary color crayons. you can also see it was tailored for that person alone and you won’t see it on the vetrine. but, this is only my opinion, there might be some motives why she chose that many colors. it might be art for her or whatever, we don’t know. but looking at the fact, that it went back at the shelf, would only mean that the 5-color combi didn’t function.

    btw, there is a SWAROVSKI BAG giveaway here:
    http://milanomode.blogspot.it/2012/11/swarovski-bag-giveaway.html

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