Hermes - the brand you cant buy from - Luxury shopping

For a long time now I have been fascinated in luxury fashion. I spend a lot of my time watching YouTube videos and reading blogs, of influencers and just normal ( but wealthy) people who’s hobbies are to collect these items. Unintentionally I have acquired a lot of knowledge on all things luxury fashion for a student defiantly not in the position to be purchasing any of them.

I think that what I find most interesting is simply the brands, and how they manage to stay high end and sell products for such ridiculous prices. I know that whatever they are doing is working because even though I see how frivolous is can be, I find myself justifying why people buy bags for thousands of pounds, and even have my own secret ambition to own a few high end designer pieces. Although many highest of the high end brands are successfully maintaining and increasing their status, there is one brand that really stands out, and that I find the most interesting.   

Hermes goods, but mainly handbags are the most sort after luxury bag out there and are at the top of the top in terms of luxury fashion. They are a favourite for celebrities, and at the top of the wish list for thousands of women. However, it is in simply the wish list that the bags stay for many, as the bags are near impossible to get a hold of. This lack of access to the bags isn’t because people are not willing to pay the astronomical prices, or that there are not enough of them to go around, no, the lack of bags is all part of the brands marketing tactics, and completely intentional.

The brand goes for the tactic of, the more people cant get something the more they want it. Restricting the bag to selective customers not only means people are willing to pay more and more, but also increases the brands notability and prestige, unattainable luxury image. The brand wants to stand out as the highest in high end luxury, and with these tactics are successfully doing so.

What I find so interesting was the extent that people are willing to go to get hold of something that seems unattainable. It is almost as if the brand is playing a game with potential customers and their instinct to want what they can’t have. The extent that people are willing to go, and the sheer desperation they are gradually forced to feel, is very clear in the backwards in-store experience.

An ordinary person can usually expect to walk into a store with such high price tags as a potential buyer, and be treated with extra high levels of respect and attention, this is not the case for Hermes. They have managed to create this image of ‘you need us, we don’t need you’, and so it is suddenly the customers job to prove they are worthy to purchase from the brand.

If a customer is looking to purchase one of the most sort after items e.g.; the Berkin or the Kelly, the task of proving yourself is even higher. A customer right for the get go will need to impress the seller, from the way they dress in the store, to the way they handle themselves. After this, if you are lucky, a sales assistant will consider you. Forming a bond with one specific sales assistant is absolutely key due to commission. To even be considered for a sort after bag such as the Kelly, you would need to make small purchases with the brand before, so yes you have to buy from Hermes before you are allowed to buy with Hermes. If you buy with someone else, they are likely to either drop you all together, or continue to say they have none of the products you are requesting.

 If you are buying from Hermes, particularly if you are buying a highly sort after product, you are expected to be willing to pay pretty much anything. The exact prices of the bags are also something that are kept under wraps, another strange part of the experience, and the prices go up very often. It is silently agreed that if you are considered worthy of a bag and taken off of a waiting list, that you are willing to pay pretty much any price, or accept any colour you are offered, In fear of being shunned by the brand.

Although I understand why the brand operates in this way, and can clearly see that it is successful, I’m not completely sure I am comfortable with it. There are many other high-end luxury brands that manage to succeed without such extreme techniques, Although they may not  considered top of the top, for the financial and even emotional price people pay with Hermes, I’m not sure it is worth it.

There are countless ‘horror’ stories form the way that people have been treated in the stores, and the way that they have felt manipulated by the brand. I’m not sure if the status of a brand is ever worth degrading people and frankly using them as much as they seem to do.