Hermès Bag Lawsuit Alleges Luxury Retailer Illegally ‘Ties’ Birkin Handbag Buys to Other Clothing, Accessories [UPDATE]

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges Hermès International and Hermès of Paris have illegally “tied” the sale of high-end Birkin bags to other items sold by the luxury brand.

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The 17-page antitrust lawsuit says the handmade leather tote bags—which sell for upwards of a few thousand dollars and are often considered a status symbol due to their “unique desirability, incredible demand and low supply”—are not available for purchase on Hermès’ website and are never publicly displayed for sale at its luxury retail stores. Instead, Hermès sales associates provide the opportunity to purchase a Birkin bag only to those “deemed worthy,” the complaint claims.

According to the case, Hermès instructs sales associates to offer Birkin bags exclusively to customers who have what it considers to be sufficient purchase histories. As a result, customers are effectively “coerced” into buying other Hermès items—such as shoes, scarves, belts, jewelry or home goods—in order to obtain access to the French-made handbag, the lawsuit explains.

The filing claims this so-called “tying arrangement” violates the federal Sherman Act, an antitrust law which prohibits companies from intentionally engaging in “predatory” conduct to restrain competition within a certain market.

“With this scheme Defendants were able to effectively increase the price of Birkin handbags and, thus, the profits that Defendants earn from Birkin handbags,” the case summarizes.

Per the suit, Hermès carries out this anticompetitive scheme through its sales associate incentive program. Although the workers don’t earn commissions from Birken bag sales, the defendants direct them to use the exclusive product as a way to pressure consumers into buying other items for which they are paid 1.5 or three percent commission, the case alleges.

One plaintiff, a California resident, says that when she contacted Hermès in September 2022 about buying a Birkin bag, she was informed that the specialty bags go to “clients who have been consistent in supporting our business” and denied the opportunity to make the purchase. Another plaintiff, also from California, made multiple unsuccessful attempts to buy a Birkin bag in 2023 and was told by sales associates on each occasion that he first needed to purchase other items and accessories, the complaint says.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States who, within the past four years, purchased or was asked to purchase ancillary Hermès products in order to purchase a Birkin handbag.

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