So, what should you do to claim one of these 200,000 bags for your own?
First, you’re going to need to look the part. As one Vox article reports, a Hermes sales associate told one buyer that a potential customer should look “deserving” of a Birkin before even asking to see one (make of that what you will). On the flip side, you can also try to go to a Birkin location that’s situated in an area where it’s a little more difficult for sales associates to judge clientele (and their wealth). For example, the same Vox article reported that clients found great success at Las Vegas Hermes stores, as it’s not uncommon for the clientele there to be dressed in a variety of ways and, after all, one never knows which customer just won a huge amount of money at the slot machines.
It also helps, Vox noted in the article, to develop a strong relationship with your local Hermes sales associates. You can do this by going into the store on a regular basis and making much smaller purchases, whether that be accessories, perfume, etcetera. Of course, you’ll want to be as friendly as possible to woo your sales associate of choice, but without going over the top. If you haven’t gotten onto that sales associates’ good side, you may hear a range of excuses regarding your Birkin request. Customers report hearing that they’ve been put on a wait list (hint: the wait is never over). Or a sales associate might just say that they simply don’t have any Birkins in stock and that they have no clue when they’ll get more and, no, they have no idea if other Hermes stores have them in stock and, again, no, they won’t put in a call for you.
But is that all a lie on the sales associates’ parts? Not always. Hermes told The Daily Mail that each Hermes store director only has knowledge of their own store, and they place orders for items like Birkin bags twice a year and then those bags come in anywhere from six months to a year later. So, in some cases, snagging a Birkin bag all comes down to luck — walking into a boutique at the right time, wearing the right clothes, talking to the right sales associate who just so happens to have a bag in the back.
