End of an era? How the Hermes Birkin bag is losing its scarcity appeal

By Tassilo Hummel, Helen Reid and Alessandro Parodi PARIS/LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) London-based Cai Baochun used to make a hefty profit reselling Hermes famed Birkin bags for more than double their $10,000 retail price. Now he has stopped stockpiling them as second-hand prices fall. “I don’t want to lose money,” said Cai, who started selling the bags on online platforms such as Vestiaire Collective and on social media in 2020 and rode a pandemic-era luxury spending boom. The resale value of unworn Birkins sold as second-hand online has dropped by more ​than $6,000 from its 2022 peak, he said. The decline reflects a broader shift in the market for one of luxury s most exclusive products whose appeal and success have been driven ‌by scarcity. Increasing supply of Birkin bags in the second-hand market is depressing resale premiums, according to resellers, industry consultants and analysts interviewed by Reuters, raising questions about a strategy that helped propel Hermes to become one