Luxury brands, which typically raise their prices annually, have unusually increased their prices twice this year. This suggests that other luxury brands may also raise their prices.
Hermes
According to the luxury industry on the 22nd, the French luxury brand HERMES recently raised the price of its popular Garden Party bags.
The price of the Garden Party Canvas 30 has been adjusted upwards by 23.5%, from the original $2,346 to $2,989. The price for the 36 increased by 17.6%, from $2,683 to $3,157.
For Garden Party Leather, the price for the 30 has been raised by 3.1% from $4,082 to $4,211.
Earlier in January, HERMES raised the prices of its popular bags and shoes by 10% to 15%.
HERMES, which typically raises its prices once a year, unexpectedly raised them again in June.
Rolex
The Swiss luxury watch brand Rolex usually raises its prices once a year. However, it also adjusted its prices upwards twice this year in January and June.
Earlier in January, Rolex raised the domestic product price by about 8%. However, on June 1, it suddenly increased the product price by about 5%.
With this increase, the price of the Datejust 36mm increased by about 4.3%, from the original $8,889 price tag to $9,269. The 41mm model jumped 4.1%, from $10,216 to $10,633.
With HERMES and Rolex unusually raising their prices twice, there are observations that other luxury brands may follow and increase their prices.
What Does This Mean For Resellers?
Meanwhile, it is speculated that resellers will suffer from Hermes increasing the price of the Birkin bag again after raising it earlier this year.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 23rd (local time), the store price of the black Birkin 25 bag is $11,400 before tax. Buyers can immediately pass this bag to resellers for over double the price at $23,000. Major reseller companies such as Privé Porter sell the bag immediately on social media or pop-up stores in Las Vegas for $32,000.
This phenomenon is because it is complicated to get a Birkin bag from the store. After all, there are so many wealthy people eager to get their hands on a Birkin bag.
Despite HERMES’ price increase, it turned out that the reseller businesses passed on the price increase to the customers without any loss.
However, it is not easy for HERMES to decide to significantly increase the production of Birkin bags.
WSJ analyzed, “Increasing the production of Birkin bags will eliminate the incentive for resellers to resell the product, but at the same time, it will destroy the mystique of the Birkin bag.”
