Three people sued Hermès because Hermès wouldn’t sell them a handbag.
They had the money. A Birkin starts north of ten thousand dollars, and they walked in ready to spend it. Hermès said: not yet.
That’s how the Birkin works. You don’t buy one. You qualify for one. First come the scarves, the jewelry, the shoes — what Hermès calls relationship-based retailing and what the plaintiffs called an illegal tying scheme. Spend enough, prove yourself, and maybe the boutique offers you the bag.
A federal judge sided with Hermès. At one hearing he said, essentially, that if Hermès wants to make five Birkins a year and charge a million dollars each, it can. The case is on appeal, but the message landed: manufactured scarcity is not a crime. It’s a strategy.
