Peek into my journal on my first luxury bag purchase!
It is a late post, I know, but better late than never right?!
This post is dedicated to all of those who are #Hermes #Crazy and dream of buying a Birkin or Kelly someday.
On 12/13/2019 I made my first high class range of Hermes purchase. I bought my first Kelly Ever!
Granted that I could have gone to several Hermes stores to try asking the SA’s and beg them to give me a call back on my list of “dreams”; with a 70% chance of never receiving a call back; because let’s face it, I am not super rich or high profile or some famous name who would get the bag in single-shot…
Besides, I DONT WANT TO BEG!
And so… I decided to look into the second-hand market and had the option of either going with Fashionphile or with The Real Real. Better to do some background research on both these websites to avoid any chances of falling into a trap and buying a fake.
I searched on Forbes, which is usually known for its accurate reviews. In one such searches, I found that Neiman Marcus now is investing in Fashionphile, and so, in turn, I just decided to trust the giant company’s trust in the online market retailer which followed with me downloading the app on my phone.
I kid you not, I am now having a fever and a backache (with a headache) with the amount of research I put into this to close in on the purchase I made. The reason being that even though I can afford to buy a bag which is 10 grand, I wanted to buy something cheaper since its second hand and also didn’t want to over splurge my wallet; to feel empty later. Finally, I found the bag that fits right into my budget! I then spent hours and hours together comparing this bag with the rest of the bags that popped up in the filter search category just to conclude that I am making the right decision.
Now, I have been following the Hermes brand for a while, and I currently own a HerBag. And so I compared the pictures of the couchette and the keys with my Herbag. They seemed to match the style mostly. I kept in mind that this is a vintage Kelly I am looking into. This Kelly did not come with a Lock though. Which was disappointing, but I didn’t want to miss it. Then I took it a step further, to ensure that I don’t apply my logic and stay in doubt forever as to whether my opinions in this matter were right or wrong, I decided to send the pictures from the website to a real authenticator. And so, I started searching for a Hermes authenticator. A lot of places, I saw this name “ Bababebi” pop up. Seems like she is the real deal. She even has an Instagram count with close to 10k followers and multiple personas like Charles Gross (whom I have come to know as a person full of complaints) has used her opinion in purchasing from the second-hand market.
And so I sent her a request via her website. She replies not so late while I am feverishly checking my interest again and again. I read through her email and sent her a reply back asking her whether there are any more steps to follow apart from paying her on PayPal (95$). I was confused a bit and so I just included the website’s link onto the email chain and sent it. She replied saying please just go ahead and pay and that she will review the bag in the afternoon. Whats a 100$ vs 6000$ in the total purchase I was making for my piece of mind….
Meanwhile, I decided to put the item on reserve. I made this decision because the bag was 120–200 times liked with being in 15–20 other people’s baskets. And this has happened many times with me, one min, the bag is in the basket, the next min I refresh the page I see a Sold stamp on the bag of interest.
And so, when I am trying to reserve the bag, I am not being able to activate the pay now button on the website. My heart stops and I am feeling the disappointment to Start boiling down in my stomach. “Has the item been sold already?” “ I am I at a loss of the 100$ I have invested in to get a piece of professional advice on the bag?” “If this bag is sold, I will resend Bababebi the link for blue Kelly which is in my basket at the time, just so that I save the money.”… all these thoughts were going in my head. The only reason why the pay now button was not working, was because the address was taking an extra tax and it was taking time to refresh! Phew! I didn’t want to lose the real deal! So the item was finally reserved!
A few minutes later I receive the authentication certificate which claimed that the product was the real deal.
I then proceeded to make a call to Fashionphile, and ask them whether there is any chance I can update my address to include my APT number on it. The person on the phone said that it looks like the apt number is already there and that after I pay the whole amount they will be able to ship it to my address. I then asked her a couple of questions like where is the nearest UPS store located near my apartment so that in case I miss it, I can go and pick it up in the customer store. I then proceed to request her to bring the shipping to a 2-day method, so that I have the bag before I leave for my vacation and don’t have to worry about it again. The customer service was good at Fashionphile.
I go back to my desk and attempt to pay off the entire amount. Bloody Amex! It declined my offer! So I responded to the decline via my app and re-attempted to make the purchase. Server failed! BLOODY HELL!
I then re-attempted with my BOFA card using my app. It failed again! I replied YES in my fraud text that was sent by BOFA… and re-attempted. It went through this time! PHEW!
While I appreciate the declines and the texts on fraud attempts, I just couldn’t wait to get over with this hassle. It is nerve-racking to prevent anyone completing a transaction while struggling with payment right?
I finally got a confirmation that the purchase has been made. I stood up with my head hurting, went downstairs to eat something. Now I am going back and forth with Bababebi on a symbol on the gold plating hardware, and the zipper and just cross-checking, again and again, to ensure that I made the right purchase. I am also celebrating by going online to youtube and watching people review their Hermes purchases from Fashionphile. I also saw the video of “Buying for millionaires” that I had seen a long time ago.
All of my concerns are slowly vanishing away. I hope that the bag is as per the pictures. I don’t care about the significant wears on the bag, because they are barely visible. All I care about are tears…I also want to ensure that this bag will be my prized possession. I was sitting in the conference room and also thinking out loud, that I could have made a purchase of brand new 24/24 on the Hermes website to avoid this hassle but I wanted to stay in my budget and let’s face it, a Hermes Birkin and Kelly … nothing can replace that. And I also realized yesterday, that I keep trying to compensate for a Birkin or Kelly’s absence and trying to make up for it, thus spending more money. So I decided to take the step.
With the authentication assurance in hand and with my bag coming by the 17th of Dec, I am now a proud owner, of a chocolate vintage kelly of a higher-end leather (nowadays unique since it has been discontinued)
My hearts pounding and I wish myself merry Christmas and a happy new year!
#Hemeskelly #Bababebi #Fashionphilepurchase
