“Investment” is a word that gets thrown around a lot when it comes to luxury fashion, but when it comes to actual, annual increases in value, Hermès Birkins are the gold standard. According to a data evaluation recently done by resale platform Baghunter, that might be even truer than bag lovers previously thought.
Baghunter looked at investment returns over the past 35 years on S&P 500 stocks, gold and Hermès Birkins and found that Birkins were the safest bet, with an average annual return of over 14%. Stocks and gold, by comparison, both failed to match that mark, with an average annual return of 11.66% and 1.9% in that period, respectively.
This is good news on the whole if you have some Birkins in your closet that you’d like to resell, but there are, of course, a few things to keep in mind. There aren’t full details on the study’s methodology, and as best as I can tell, there’s no adjustment for the condition of the Birkin. When reselling consumer products like handbags, the maximum returns generally only go to resale pieces in pristine or unused condition; that’s not a consideration for stocks and commodities, which have a different relationship with their valuations.
The Birkin does have some points in its favor, though, if you’re looking at it from a purely investment-minded standpoint. As Luxury Daily points out, Hermès operates on the ultra-luxury market, which mostly shields it from fluctuations in consumer spending that can damage sales for regular luxury brands. That, combined with continued development in global markets and the relatively small amount of of Birkins produced, helps keep the bags rare and desirable, shoring up their value in the process.
It’s something to keep in mind if you’re interested in resale, but as always, the best reason to buy a bag (or anything) is because you love it.
Many husbands will get this forwarded to them, all men need to understand this lol.
xx,
Liz Lizo
http://www.LizLizo.com
First thing that I did
My husband forwarded the article to me. I’m very lucky!
wow! 14% is a lot. I just can’t bring myself to buy a Birkin.
Still not tempted. I think the over-saturation, ease of acquiring a pre-owned Birkin, and overexposure by C- and D-list “celebrities” will change these numbers pretty soon. Yes, if you’d bought one 35 years ago and never used it, it will probably have quadrupled (or more) in value but I don’t know if that trend will continue, do you?
Some people are just jealous about others who have and use their Bs , fainting they’re dont like it, complaining about it, and all…
I was in a Neiman Marcus cafe once and saw a busboy clearing a table and accidentally knock over a glass of tea. It went on to the floor and left a huge puddle. After setting the table back up, a pair of beautifully dressed women with their Birkins sat there and placed their bags squarely in the wet mess.Everyone in the restaurant just cringed.
HangUpMyPurse.com are purse hooks designed to permanently affix to the underneath side of table tops and bar tops. Never worry about putting your handbags, backpacks, briefcases, etc on the dirty floor again!
Restaurant floors are disgusting regardless of the bag.
HUMPhooks.com or HangUpMyPurse.com – Under table purse hooks for use in restaurants, bars, offices, etc….Keeps your beautiful handbags off the floor and near your body…so now you can relax and let the Hang Up My Purse provide a point of suspension under any table top for your purse, backpack, bag, etc…
Who sits an expensive bag on the floor? That is silly!
HangUpMyPurse.com provides ‘a point of suspension’ under table tops and eliminates putting our beautiful handbags on the floor. Great for men as well as HUMPhooks.com can hold up to 50lbs – so “hang up’ your backpacks, briefcase, shopping bags, etc.
honestly i do ! because i dont see them as trophy bags i personally enjoy the birkin beacuse its the bag that suits my life and look best on me and i must say this is very much the way many eductaed-long time Kelly birkin owners tend to carry bags ,
What these studies never mention is that when you sell a Birkin, it is always done through a service, like a consignment shop, auction house, or private dealer (to protect buyers and insure authenticity). Any of these will take around 30% of the selling price, so even if the value does increase at 14% per year, you have to account for what it costs to sell the bag, which adds years on to the time frame for seeing a real net return on your investment.
Buying a handbag as an investment is a VERY bad idea. First of all, unless one is a regular seller of luxury goods on eBay, most likely a bag will have to be resold through a reseller. They will either buy the bag outright (for very little!) or you will pay them at least 30% of the sale price as a selling fee.
Condition, leather and color affect resell prices greatly. There was a time, when Blue Jean Birkins were all the rage; not so much now and prices will be lower.
If one inherited ones mother’s or grandmother’s Black Box Kelly and it was kept in pristine condition (and bought decades ago), there will be a tidy profit. But two years ago hot color that one is now bored with? Not a good investment. One buys handbags and jewelry because one loves it enough to keep for a long time, not in place of stocks and bonds.
My husband works in finance and I, like many women out there, forwarded this to him. He said he literally laughed so hard he spat his coffee out at work.
Grr. We need a more official looking study!! This didn’t work! ????????????
That is the first thing that I did.
Auctions of luxury accessories are a good option for purchasing next-to-new handbags but at resale prices. Quality is authenticated but the price can be well under retail. Our upcoming auction, Arm Candy, on February 20 will feature 5 of these coveted Birkin bags as well as almost 150 additional Hermes and Chanel handbags and accessories. http://www.lesliehindman.com/sale/armcandy/
Protect your investment with HUMPhooks.com or HangUpMyPurse.com – Under table purse hooks for use in restaurants, bars, offices, etc….Keeps your beautiful handbags off the floor and near your body.
I really like the gold color, just wow