A Birkin bag is the ultimate status symbol, one that money alone can’t buy. The notoriously exclusive process of acquiring the iconic bag, which can cost between $8,000 and $450,000, is now the subject of a class action lawsuit.
In a complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in Northern California, two shoppers allege that French luxury house Hermès violated antitrust and trade practices laws by offering Birkin bags only to customers who already have a history of purchasing with the brand.
Plaintiffs Tina Cavalleri and Mark Glinoga alleged that Hermès ran a “scheme to exploit the market power” of the Birkin by “requiring consumers to purchase ancillary products…before they are given the opportunity to purchase” the bag.
“In other words, consumers are forced to purchase ancillary products from Hermès by virtue of the desire to purchase Birkin bags,” the document reads. “This is anti-competitive and restrictive conduct.”
This practice of “tying” purchases, according to the plaintiffs, artificially inflates the cost of purchasing a Birkin bag and limits consumer choice, violating federal and state antitrust laws and the California Business and Professions Code.
Hermès has not responded to the lawsuit. The company did not respond Fortunerequest for comment.
Can anyone buy a Birkin?
Short answer: no. According to the indictment, plaintiff Cavalleri has spent tens of thousands of dollars at Hermès and already owns at least one Birkin. In September 2022, Cavalleri contacted Hermès about purchasing another Birkin bag, but was told that the special bags would go to “customers who have been consistent in supporting our business,” according to the lawsuit.
The other plaintiff, Glinoga, made multiple attempts to purchase a Birkin, but “on each occasion was told he needed to purchase other items and accessories,” the document states. Glinoga returned home empty-handed each time, according to the lawsuit.
You can’t simply walk into an Hermès store and ask for a Birkin: the opportunity to purchase the bag is instead offered to the brand’s most loyal customers. Interested customers can inquire in store, but the final decision on who will be offered a Birkin rests with sales associates, according to Byrdie.
And even if lucky customers are willing to shell out five or six figures to purchase the bag, they may not be able to choose the model they want.
“Hermès allows boutiques to purchase only a select number of Birkins on a semi-annual basis, and the style of Birkin bag delivered to boutiques is rarely known in advance,” according to Sotheby’s. “As a result, customers must settle for the available Birkin bag offered by the sales associate or wait patiently for the style they want to become available.”
Therefore, purchasing a Birkin not only requires thousands of dollars, but may also require a purchasing history with Hermès, a relationship with a sales associate, and pure luck. While the spotlight is now on Hermès, fellow luxury brands Rolex, Celine and Chanel have also been accused by social media users of engaging in the practice of tying, reported The business of fashion.
Why are Birkins so expensive?
The Birkin bag was “born in the sky, in 1984, on a flight from Paris to London,” according to Hermès. The late actress Jane Birkin was sitting next to Jean-Louis Dumas, then executive chairman of Hermès, when she confided to him that she couldn’t find a bag that suited her needs as a young mother.
The actress told CNN in 2020 that she sketched out a design for a sick bag, and Dumas added to the design with inspiration from existing Hermès bags.
The first versions of the bag sold for around $2,000 in 1984 BusinessInsider. Over the years, the Birkin has increasingly become a celebration of craftsmanship, a flexible fashion item and an investment item, and has inspired a robust resale market that in some years has outperformed the S&P 500 Index.
For collectors, part of the appeal of Birkins is that they hold their value well compared to other luxury goods: On online luxury retailer Farfetch, the cheapest second-hand Birkin costs $11,500, while the most expensive one is listed for $48,502 . As for the most expensive Birkin ever sold, the record is held by the “Himalayan Diamond Birkin”. It fetched $450,000 at a Sotheby’s auction in 2022, thanks to its precious components of Niloticus crocodile skin and nine to ten carats of diamonds.
For luxury enthusiasts, the Birkin’s allure and unattainability only add to its desirability. And considering the current economic landscape, a Birkin is perhaps one of the most stable investments you can make.