Hermes CEO Axel Dumas: Birkin’s second-hand market surge: “I don’t feel good”

The luxury brand boss has expressed his dissatisfaction with the resale market that has emerged for collectible handbags, telling investors during a second-quarter revenue call on Wednesday when buyers buy arm candies to buy arm candies, diluting Hermes’ true consumer base.

“Sometimes, we come to our stores to buy them, resell them and they are preventing us from serving our real customers, and that’s the real cause of our concern,” Dumas said.

“So I’m not happy to see the development of new bags for sale in the second-hand market,” he added. “I pulled my face and I’m not happy and it doesn’t make me feel good.”

The Birkin bag, which can run buyers of at least $12,000, is worn by celebrities like Cardi B and Victoria Beckham, and its exclusiveness makes the accessories a status symbol. in Q2 In 2025, Hermes reported 9% salesit became a whim, mainly due to the continued popularity of Birkin, Kelly and Constance Bags. Luxurious slowdown.

The coveted status of the bag helped sell Hermes, but the active second-hand market for the bag is also encouraged. Hermes is a limited number of bag productions. Elusive standards To allow the item to be purchased, the reseller jumped at the opportunity to auction it out of the bag. Birkin’s resale costs can be evaluated exponentially comfortably beyond sticker prices The cost will be doubled And, through some measures, Over the S&P 500 and gold price.

An original Birkin bag once owned by the late British actress and singer Jane Birkinon sale at Sotheby’s Paris earlier this month Cool $10 million.

Hermes didn’t respond immediately. luckRequest a comment.

Imitation is a sincere form of flattery

Buying for sale behavior can be seen as taking on the “opportunistic benefits” of the brand, according to Marie Driscoll, an equity analyst focusing on luxury retail.

“He sees products and brands as more than a product,” Drisco said. luck. “Essentially, he considers these to be the products of someone’s imagination, someone’s diligence and labor, and the best artwork Hermes can do.

Dumas has long defended Birkin’s lasting exclusiveness. last year, Walmart I launched something that looks like it or a bag “dupe” For $78, I quickly emptied the discount retailer shelves. Hermes CEO told investors in February He was “irritated.” With the popularity of copycats, he said he understands that consumers are not buying “wirkin” because they believe it is a real deal, but he said.

“Making a copy like this is very hateful. It’s stealing other people’s creative ideas,” Dumas said.

Still, the exclusiveness of luxury brands drew the rage of shoppers, including two California customers He sued Hermes in 2024claims that by purchasing auxiliary Hermes products, Birkin buyers engaged in “anti-competitive” practices by requiring them to establish themselves as “valuable” customers.

Some luxury brands Like Gucci and Balenciaga It has been more involved with accredited resale markets to attract new customers, Hermes is likely not to do so, Driscoll said. With demand for bags still ongoing, there is little reason for Hermes to interfere with the mysticism it worked so hard to do.

“You have to have longer engagement in a very romantic way, like getting engaged to someone before the culmination of a wedding night,” she said. “You’ll just have to postpone satisfaction.”