Have money to blow on a Hermes Birkin but can’t get your hands on one? Here are a few tips for Bag Snob fans.
Here are some (not all!) of the favorite bags from our vast Hermes collection. (The photos aren’t the greatest. We are slaves to fashion but obviously not to photography.)
Black Togo Birkin with Palladium Hardware
Gold with White Stitching Haut a Courrois Birkin
Blue Jean Togo Birkin with Palladium Hardware
White Ostrich Kellywith gold hardware
Rouge “H” Birkin with Ruthenium (gun metal hardware)
· Befriend one sales associate and ask to be invited to the trunk show. Buying Hermes clothes will help you on the road to the “Holy List”.
· Go in to your local Hermes boutique often and buy little trinkets, leather goods, and shoes and use the time to chitchat and get to know your sales associate.
· Don’t seem desperate or anxious and NEVER call your sales associate to ask about Birkins. You may inquire about Birkins while in the store buying other things but never call. They hate that!
· When traveling, visit other Hermes boutiques and ask if they have any Birkins or Kelly bags… it never hurts to ask in person! Again, phone calls will lead you nowhere unless you are on the list already.
· Be polite and be patient! Everyone, including movie stars and royalty (and yes, even The Bag Snob), have to wait for their Birkins so wait your turn!
· Don’t be picky. The term beggars can’t be choosers really applies here. Be willing to take any color or skin that is available and you will find yourself closer to the top of the list.
· If all else fails there is always eBay but beware of fakes!
If you are lucky enough to get to the top of list and be considered a good client like The Bag Snob, you may get an invitation to tour the private Hermes Museum in Paris. What? You didn’t know about that? Well, it is a VERY exclusive museum and getting a tour is even more difficult than obtaining a birkin! The museum houses collectibles from Hermes dating back to the very first saddle bag! At the end of the private tour, depending on your luck, the Hermes staff member may offer you the pick of their secret stash of birkins! How fabulous is that???
all your tips are so true! they especially love it if you buy ready-to-wear and diamond watches and jewelry! they will definitely call you back after purchasing those and you’re right, take whatever color they have. another tip, try dropping by the store close to the end of the month, chances are they are willing to sell to meet the month’s quota!
For the *very* anxious ones, here’s an idea: fly to Beijing, China!!! Birkins and Kellys are waiting for their owners in the Hermès boutique of the Shopping Arcade of the Penninsula Palace Hotel!!!
I’m NOT joking, I told this to the Hermès people of the boutique at the Pacific Place in Hong Kong and they stared at me with eyes wide open! And then they blabbed “oh, probably there is no high awareness in Beijing yet….” How true!
Husbands are the key. My husband frequently shops at Hermes and has a regular sales associate there. After about a year, he started asking my husband if he needed anything for his wife. I got the birkin of my choice within 4 months.
Great tips. That’s exactly what I did and got a Birkin on my second visit to the store. I go back once a month and buy something each time. It’s not hard to do since they make such great items.
I agree w/ almudena, Beijing is a fantastic place to score all sorts of goodies. I’ve gotten several items at the Hermes and Louis Vuitton stores there that were impossible to track down in the states.
If Hermes only makes a few bags a week and there is a years long waiting list, how do so many end up in Beijing and on eBay? There are more on eBay at any one time than Hermes has probably made in the history of the company.