The men who made millions selling women's purse

THE ORIGINS

Hermes Paris was started by a French businessman Thierry Hermes in 1837 and almost 150 years later, Hermes announced Birkin and Kelly inspired by the late actress-singer Jane Birkin.

The origin of the Iconic Hermes Birkin is an intriguing chance of encounter when Jean-Louis Dumas , the then chief executive of Hermes met Jane Birkin on a flight from Paris to London in the 80’s.

The demand for Hermes Birkin soared and is still soaring till this day. The waitlist for Birkin and Kelly is non-existent. The only way you can purchase a Birkin is through showing loyalty towards the brand for years.

HOW A FEW MEN MADE MAD MONEY OUT OF THIN AIR

THEY came up with an ingenious path to build a multi-million dollar a year reselling business. Here’s how they did it-

The first step was to recruit women to show up to Hermes stores on rotation (just to keep down the suspicions) and buy the bags following the waitlist.

Next, once the Birkin’s were delivered, they started reselling it three times (3x) the retail price raking in over a million dollars every month (mind boggling isn’t it?)

They even went as far as to open their own store on the same lane as The Hermes store in Paris reselling the bags to the same Hermes clientele who wanted to escape the tedious waitlists.

The Birkin bag has an average value increase of 14% every year and there has been an entire black market around the product . Birkin’s are so rare that leading fashion magazines such as Vogue suggest readers turn to the world of reselling.

A French Law in fact prevents citizens from paying thousands of euros in cash.

So, the question has to be asked, were the men con artists scamming the fashion giant or were they legitimate businessmen trying to make a living reselling a luxury product ? A business module that in the present day is a well recognized business ?