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Hermès is one of the oldest and most famous luxury brands on the planet, especially for women’s bags. The French luxury label is well known for its quality and durability, but the question is: why is Hermès so expensive?
We are talking about a brand that sold one of its bags for hundreds of thousands of dollars, which seems absolutely crazy since we are speaking about a fashion label. Why would someone spend so much money on just one bag? Or is it considered an investment?
Read: Where Is Hermès Made?
With price tags of thousands of dollars, Hermès can be considered one of the most expensive fashion brands worldwide. So let’s find out why Hermès is so expensive. You can also check out the best British and American luxury fashion brands.
Why Is Hermès So Expensive?
Hermès stands out for prestige, power, status, and desirability, making it more valuable. It’s considered a luxury brand whit a rich heritage that makes you pay for an experience and has a loyal customer base with higher consumer demand. Hermès bags are also one of the most desirable worldwide, made of the highest quality raw materials, and loved by celebrities.
So let’s find out the nine reasons why Hermès is so expensive.
Hermès Has A Rich Heritage
Hermès is one of the oldest luxury fashion brands in the world. The French luxury label was founded in 1837 by Thierry in Paris, France. The French brand won several awards, including the First Class Medal of the Exposition of Paris in 1855 and again in 1867.
The French label appeared in one of the most iconic TV series that set the trend at the time, Sex In The City, with storylines centering around its Birkin bag. The heritage of Hermès is so powerful that people say Birkin, and everyone knows what brand that style belongs to. Hermès has a rich and powerful history, influencing the brand’s value.
Hermès has a rich heritage passed from wealthy people to wealthy people through generations, making the French brand associated with high value and high status through the years. After all, Hermès has been around for so long that most people can’t remember when the brand was created. However, Hermès has stood the test of time and generates billions of dollars yearly.
Hermès Is A Luxury Brand
Why is Hermès so expensive? Because it’s a luxury brand. Therefore it’s more expensive than high-end and mass-market brands because not everyone can afford to buy a product from the French label. Luxury is synonymous with quality, elite craftsmanship, the best and most rare materials, and some of the best shopping experiences. Hermès offers all the above, and that’s why it can be so pricey.
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When buying a Hermès bag, consumers know they are purchasing something special that can boost their self-esteem, make them feel they belong to an exclusive group of people, and feel richer and unique. After all, not everyone can pay thousands of dollars for one bag.
Likewise, luxury brands like Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Dior, Loro Piana, or Gucci know they can make their prices high because customers will pay whatever it takes to own a piece from a luxury label.
Hermès Provides Status and Exclusivity
Hermès is one of those brands providing status and exclusivity to those possessing any product from the French label. Therefore, if you know or see someone who has or is wearing a Hermès bag, you will think about that person as wealthy since they can spend thousands of dollars on one product. After all, some Hermès bags cannot be simply purchased, and you must have a certain status to receive one or be able to buy it.
Hermès doesn’t want everyone to be capable of purchasing its products. Instead, they want to provide status to those who can and make them feel special and unique. So how can a brand justify such high prices if their products don’t make you feel different from mass-market ones? That’s the big difference between them, the way they make you feel and the status they provide in the eyes of others.
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In high-end circles, wearing luxury brands is the only way to be accepted by the most exclusive groups. You are assessed on how much you can spend on a bag, and you can’t even wear the same items more than once. Having a Hermès Birkin or Kelly Bag can help you enter the most exclusive groups due to its high prices and how upscale they are.
Hermès Makes You Pay For An Experience
Given Hermès’s exclusivity and status, most people will feel intimidated to experience firsthand what the French luxury label has to give since not everyone can afford the brand, and some consumers are afraid of being judged.
The French label believes that the human element and face-to-face communication with consumers are so crucial that they don’t even hire someone who doesn’t smile during the interview. After all, you can only find and get the Birkin bag in-store, so that’s another reason to visit Hermès stores.
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Also, what Hermès sells in one store will be completely different from another one. This is because every store director visits Paris twice a year to buy the next season’s product, keeping in mind that these directors know their customers better than anyone and know what precisely to buy.
Hermès is expensive because you are not only buying a product. You know you are buying something it will make you feel special and part of a restricted group. You also settle for an incredible shopping experience if you go to one of their stores, having a representative that can take care of you and your wishlist now or in the future.
Hermès Has A Loyal Customer Base
Hermès is consistently among the top 5 most valuable luxury brands globally and one of the most exclusive. Hermès knows it can charge whatever price they want for an item and that customers will purchase it because they are loyal to the brand. As a result, some people only buy Hermès goods and don’t even consider other luxury brands.
A good reason why consumers are so loyal to the French luxury brand is not only because they love it but also what they can get in return. If you are a very loyal customer that has a very close relationship with a sales representative and spends a lot of money in-store, you can have access to a Birkin or Kelly bag. Sometimes a free one (if you are one of the best customers in-store and spend thousands there) or the possibility to purchase one.
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The Kelly and Birkin bags are some of the most desirable and recognizable bags in the market worldwide. Therefore, you can say that Hermès is expensive because it uses its supply and demand to its benefit by rewarding its loyal consumers with the chance to buy one of the most desirable fashion items in the world. This makes customers feel appreciated and loyal to the brand in order to acquire a second bag.
Hermès Bags Are Desirable All Over The World
Hermès bags are so desirable that if you speak about Birkin and Kelly bags, everyone knows you are talking about Hermès. The price tags of these bags range from £10,000 to hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, it’s also known that some Hermès bags have a waitlist of many years before you can put your hands on them. So no matter how rich you are, you must be well-connected to purchase or receive a Birkin bag.
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Who wouldn’t want a bag that can take over 15 hours to be handmade, and most people can’t have it? That explains why the white Himalaya Birkin bag was sold for over half a million dollars in 2019, which is crazy when you think this is a fashion bag.
That shows how desirable Hermès bags are and how much people will pay to have them. Another was sold for £162,500 ($185,000) in London, beating the predicted sale price of £70-90,000 ($80-102,000). In addition, one of Hermès ex-employees used Birkin bags for a total value of almost 2 million USD since 2014.
Hermès bags are expensive because people don’t care how much they have to pay to be part of such a small restricted group. Remember that rich people like to feel exclusive and unique, and Hermès bags provide that feeling. Not everyone that visits a Hermès store can say that a Birkin was shown to them.
Hermès Has a Higher Consumer Demand
We all know that Hermès is a very desirable brand, especially when it comes to Birkin and Kelly bags, but that doesn’t mean Hermès will produce more to face the demand.
Their strategy is to keep a very limited distribution since people like to have things that most can’t, and that’s what a luxury brand does best. If everyone could purchase a Birkin bag, it would become stale and saturated, and the bag would end up losing its value, making the luxury customer not want one so badly anymore.
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When a brand is as alluring as Hermès, it knows it can charge whatever it wants for a Birkin bag, which consumers will pay. That’s why Birkin bags are sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars because of the demand.
Hermès Provides Highest Quality Raw Materials
Hermès provides the best materials and craftsmanship for its products, with every detail on its bags made by skilled people. The French brand avoids any advanced machinery and sticks with handmade work. All the products are primarily made in France (all bags made here) and Italy (all shoes made here), but you can find some other countries on Hermès labels.
For you to have an idea, artisans spend 18 months learning the craft and spend eight years working towards the title of master artisan. The attention to detail regarding Hermès products is extensive, especially for their bags. All pocket placement, seams, shape, zip type, and stitching must match. The products are also tested to ensure and assess their durability and resilience.
Hermès uses the best leather materials on the market, like calfskin, goatskin, crocodile, lizard, pigskin, ostrich, and lambskin, but also silk and cashmere, making the products more expensive.
Hermès Is Loved By Celebrities
Celebrities are essential for any luxury brand because they bring the desirability and awareness that any label needs to be seen as more expensive and exclusive. Celebrities are seen as individuals with loads of money who can buy any brand they want. So if they are buying Hermès, that means the brand is somehow unique.
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Another reason why fashion labels love celebrities is that they have power over customers. Some people will purchase and pay high prices if they see a star wearing something from Hermès. They want to feel closer or look like someone they idolize.
Some celebrities that love to wear Hermès are the Kardashians, the Jenners, Victoria Beckham, Heidi Klum, Jennifer Lopez, Cardi B, Lady Gaga, Miranda Kerr, Rita Ora, Kate Moss, and Katie Holmes.
Common Questions About Why Is Hermès So Expensive
These are the most common questions about why is Hermès so expensive.
Why Are Birkin Bags So Expensive?
Birkin bags are so expensive because not everyone has access to or the opportunity to purchase one, making the demand a lot bigger than the offer. Many consider the Birkin bags the most desirable bags in the world. If you add the raw materials and the fact Birkin bags are handmade, you have a very costly item.
Why Are Hermès Scarves So Expensive?
Hermès scarves are expensive because they are made of silk, one of the most costly materials, and have a made-in-France and Italy label.
Read: Why Is Prada So Expensive?
Why Are Hermès Ties So Expensive?
Hermès ties are expensive because they use silk screen printing, the fabric is cut intricately, and the brand pays great attention to quality and detail in every tie.
Conclusion
Why is Hermès so expensive? Because the French label has a rich heritage and provides status and exclusivity because it’s a luxury brand with a loyal customer base. When you visit one of their stores, you pay for an experience and check out some of the most desirable bags worldwide, which have a higher demand since they are made from the best and finest raw materials. Celebrities also love Hermès.
If spending thousands of dollars on a Hermès bag brings joy to your life, no one can tell you how to spend your money or that a Hermès bag is not worth its price.
