Luxury handbags have at times been described as highly lucrative investments. In January 2024, VG went as far as calling some bags a better investment than Bitcoin, and KK has compared them to gold.
We’ve taken a closer look at the most talked-about of them all, the Hermès Birkin. The short version is that it can pay off, but only if you’re allowed to buy the bag in the first place and you take very good care of it.
According to the research firm Bernstein, Birkin and Kelly bags sold on average for 2.2 times the retail price in 2022, compared with 1.4 times last November. In other words, a bag costing NOK 100,000 could be sold for NOK 220,000 in 2022. Last autumn, you’d have got around NOK 140,000.
There are two reasons for the difference, perhaps three if you count the interest rate hikes. Hermès has naturally raised its retail price every year, and the premium is measured against the shop price. At the same time, the resale market has weakened as more Birkin bags have come into circulation.
Since the end of last year, the arrows have been pointing upwards again for the resale market, according to the investment bank Jefferies and the website The Fashion Law. Bitcoin, meanwhile, has gone from a record high of 126,000 dollars last October to under 60,000 dollars this summer, so “better than Bitcoin” may not be the best advertisement.
First, you have to be allowed to buy one
You only make a profit if you bought the bag at the retail price. A new Birkin 25 in Togo leather costs around 9,600 euros in Europe. The moment you walk out of the shop, you’ve in theory made around NOK 40,000, if we apply the 1.4 multiple to the letter.
That also explains why it’s often extremely difficult to get hold of a Birkin. Hermès wants to avoid scalpers and flippers, and CEO Axel Dumas has himself complained about buyers who are only out to resell the bag at a profit.
That’s why you can’t just walk in and point. Hermès chooses who gets to buy, and for the most sought-after models the boutiques usually expect you to have bought a fair amount of other Hermès items first, such as shoes, scarves or homeware. Naturally, you’ll have to factor that into the investment.
Many try their luck in Paris. There, you have to apply online for a so-called leather appointment the day before. According to PurseBop, more than 10,000 applications compete for 30 to 60 slots spread across the three Paris boutiques. Without an appointment you usually can’t buy a bag, and even with one there’s no guarantee a Birkin will be on the counter.
One tip: On social media, several people reveal that it can help to be a boomer (preferably a fairly rich one).
“Some people just walk in and buy one“
Most first-time customers have to wait anywhere from six months to two years, according to Rome Station. At the same time, social media is full of stories about people who simply walk in and are offered a Birkin.
TikTok user Talissa Benamou walked into a Hermès boutique without an appointment, asked to look at bags and walked out with a black Birkin 30. Another TikToker claims that the chances of being offered a Kelly or Birkin are high if you stay at the Ritz in Paris and ask the concierge to arrange the appointment.
On PurseForum, one user says she was shown a green crocodile Birkin, but that it was way over budget. She brought her mother into the shop, and because nobody else had the bag on their wish list, her mother was allowed to buy it.
If you’re flexible on colour and size, your chances improve. If you want a classic Birkin 25 in black or gold, you’ll normally be in the longest queue.
These are the exceptions, not the rule. But it doesn’t hurt to ask.
It can pay to buy in Paris
Hermès has a boutique in Oslo, but it can often pay to shop in Paris, even though you have to pay 25 per cent Norwegian VAT in the “red channel”. Luxury goods tend to have a lower list price in the eurozone, and you get a good chunk of the French VAT refunded. It’s also worth mentioning that the euro is 10% weaker than at the same time last year.
| Step | Euro |
|---|---|
| Buy a Birkin 25 in Paris | 9,600 |
| Plus 25% Norwegian VAT on the full purchase price | +2,400 |
| Minus tax-free refund (approx. 11%) | −1,056 |
| Total price once imported | 10,944 |
| Self-correction: Norwegian VAT back on the refund | −264 |
| Total price after self-correction | 10,680 |
Norwegian Customs calculates Norwegian VAT on the full purchase price, including the French VAT you paid at the till. Effectively, you therefore pay 13–15 per cent extra to “import” a Birkin to Norway.
If you get the refund, you can apply to Norwegian Customs for a self-correction and get back the Norwegian VAT on the amount you were refunded. That brings you down to around 11 per cent. Amounts under NOK 100 aren’t refunded, but that’s unlikely to be a problem with a Birkin.
Remember to get the tax-free form stamped before you fly home, or you’ll get nothing back.
Don’t wear it!
According to Sotheby’s, an unused leather Birkin sells for up to three times the retail price. If it shows visible wear, the price drops by 30 per cent or more. So the best investment is a bag you never carry.
So, how smart is that Birkin investment really?
It can pay off, but only if you play by the rules. Buy in a boutique, preferably abroad and in the eurozone, for example in Paris. Keep the box, dust bag and receipt, because the receipt is your best proof on the day you want to sell. And ideally, leave the bag in the wardrobe.
You can also do the opposite and use the bag whenever you like. Even a Birkin with a little wear often goes for around the retail price. Then you’ve carried the world’s most talked-about bag for years and still get a decent price for it when you tire of it.
Whether a Birkin is better or worse than Bitcoin, we can’t conclude. But at least you can’t carry a bitcoin.
For the record: The journalist owns neither Birkin bags nor bitcoin. Unfortunately.