YOU CAN GET WONDERFUL DEALS ON HERMES SALE ITEMS! BUT KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR!

Several times a year, Hermès holds a "warehouse type" public sale in Paris, New York, Toronto, Beverly Hills and occasionally other cities.     There was a sale in Milan and Madrid in the summer of 2009.   The Paris sale lasts 3 days, NY is 5 days and the Toronto sale is usually 1 day.   The first day of the NYC sale is by invitation only.   The number of eBay listings jumps dramatically in the days and weeks following the sales.  Know what you are buying!  Watch for new Hermès listings during the following time periods:

PARIS:  Late January and Late June

NYC:  March and August/September

TORONTO:  May

BEVERLY HILLS:  August

WHY SHOULD IT MATTER IF AN ITEM COMES FROM A SALE? 

When you are buying an authentic luxury designer item, you have the right to know what you are buying and its provenance.  It's a matter of good business practice.  Hermès sale items may or may not have small flaws and they will be specially marked.  Also, the items will be handled with far less care and may have shopwear that you would never find in a boutique.  At the sale, many silks are just dumped into boxes for people to sort through and grab!  Also, you NEED to know that it is a sale item because you will have no recourse with a boutique to refund or exchange it.  Your seller should be forthcoming with you about this.

DOES HERMES SELL SECONDS AT THE SALE? 

Technically Hermès is not supposed to sell items with flaws.  However, some pieces may be flawed in a small way.  You MUST ask the seller.  Cashmere shawls may have a thread pull.  That is the most common "flaw."   Many of the silks that are jumbled in boxes are wrinkled, but that is not a flaw.  It is just shopwear. 

HOW CAN I TELL IF THE ITEM CAME FROM A SALE?

Honest sellers will say it in their listings!  Also be aware of the timing of a flurry of new listings and be aware that each sale item is discreetly marked in some way with an "S" indicating "Soldé" which is the French word for "sale."  Hermès uses black ink to stamp the sale pieces.  On silks and textiles, the "S" is stamped on, under, or near the caretag.  For leather, it is embossed or stamped into the leather on the reverse side.

DO BLACK SCARVES HAVE AN "S" STAMP?

This is an excellent and subtle exception.  Very occasionally if the background color of the scarf is black, it may appear that there is no "S" stamp.  Look very carefully at the closest other color in the silk to check for the stamp.  OR it could be on the white fabric care tag.  If the scarf is black under the caretag, look for the closest yellow, pink, etc. part that could be used.  Having said that, sometimes an associate will elect to just not stamp a black piece of silk or cashmere. It could still very well be a sale item!

"S" stamp on turquoise part of black cashmere shawl

ARE ALL "S" STAMPS THE SAME? 

No. Some are within a square, some are within a circle, and some are just a plain "S."  And here is a VERY important detail:  On the silk pieces, always ask the seller if the ink from the "S" stamp bled through to the other side. This can occur when the scarf is white or a pastel colour.   Also, when the associates are stamping the silks, they do not re-ink the stamp every time.  Therefore the ink will be heavier and thicker on the first few stamps after a re-inking and the amount of ink will subsequently fade with progressive stamping until the next re-inking.

                                                       "S" stamped onto leather bag                               Bleedthrough "S" ink onto other side                               

HOW DOES HERMES PUT AN "STAMP" ON ENAMELS, JEWELRY AND LOCKS? 

The "S" is hand engraved or etched.  It will be on the inside near the Hermès logo on the metal part.

Engraved "S" on enamel bracelets

CAN I RETURN A SALE ITEM TO AN HERMES BOUTIQUE? 

Absolutely not, and this is the main reason Hermè uses an "S" stamp.  You can neither request a refund nor an exchange.  This is true even if it comes in an Hermès box, with the acid-free tissue, the brown Bolduc ribbon, etc. If it has an "S" stamp, you cannot take it back.  Again, this is why you MUST know what you are buying.

WHAT IF THE SELLER WON'T TELL ME IF IT'S FROM THE SALE? 

Then I would assume it IS from the sale.  You should always ask, especially if the price is below full retail and if the item appears around sale time.  I believe in full disclosure and honest business practices.  When buying a luxury brand like Hermès that is widely copied, you want to have the utmost confidence in your seller.  If they are honest with you about it being a sale item, they are much more likely to be honest about other matters.   Ultimately you will have to decide if you want to do business with this person.   Ask if they got it from the sale or if this is a sale item.   Some sellers prefer to be coy and may respond that they use secret sources or won't divulge a source.  You should know the Hermès sales are open to the public.  They are not secret.   Also, again, you cannot refund or exchange a sale item at an Hermès boutique so you have the right to know that before you buy.

CAN A SELLER REMOVE THE "S" STAMP? 

This is a highly controversial area. It has been reported that some people are able to remove the "S" stamp.  In my own business practices, I would never try to remove a stamp and represent it as a non-sale scarf.   Beware that some sellers reportedly do this.    Ultimately you decide with whom you wish to do business.     Ask, ask, and ask again.  The astute question to ask a seller is, "Can I take this item back to an Hermès boutique for an exchange?" 

WHAT IF THE LISTING DOESN'T SAY IT'S A SALE ITEM AND I DISCOVER THE "S" STAMP AFTER I RECEIVE IT?  

First, decide if this is a problem.  You may love the piece regardless!    If you decide this is a problem, you should  immediately approach the seller.   You may want a full or partial refund...or you could decide you still would like to keep the item.  Either way, you should notify the seller that this has happened.  Each seller will react differently and you will get a good idea about the business practices of this particular seller.   If  you decide you do not want to keep the item and the seller will not refund your money, you may try filing a complaint with PayPal or eBay on the basis that the item was not as described. 

DO SALE ITEMS COME WITH A BOX?

Almost all sale items come without a box.  A few porcelain pieces have come with the box but there is the same black "S" stamp on the inside lid or the Hermès logo is blacked out. I have also bought a sterling piece that came in its original box, but the lid had the "S."  Several years ago some of the Herbags on sale came with their box as well.  Shoes generally DO come in their original box.  But scarves, ties, belts, gloves, small leather goods, enamels and almost everything else comes with no box.

IF THE ITEM COMES IN AN HERMES BOX, DOES THAT MEANS IT'S NOT A SALE ITEM? 

No. There is a secondary market for Hermès boxes. You can buy and sell them on eBay for example.  Also, many sellers and resellers collect boxes and use a box from a previous purchase to repackage a sale item. Be aware of this.   Some sellers or resellers do like to include a box as an added value to your purchase, but it may have no bearing on whether or not you are buying a sale item.   Do not assume that if it is "new with box" that it is not from the sale.   Always ask the seller.

DO SALE ITEMS COME IN AN ORANGE HERMES SHOPPING BAG?    

Hermès sale shopping bags

Sale items do NOT come in an orange shopping bag, but they may come in a white shopping bag.   If you see a white Hermes paper shopping bag, it came from a sale.   They are used for the Paris sale.  When you buy something at the sale in Paris, the merchandise goes in a white shopping bag.  Some versions of this white bag have handles and some have the cutout oval that forms a handle.   The logo is printed in a taupe colour. These bags come in various sizes.  Also, Hermès makes white "pochette" envelope bags that they will sometimes give at the Paris sale for you to put the item in as a gift.  They are not always available, it depends on the stock. The white paper is thinner, not the textured paper of the lovely orange bag.  At the NYC sale, the bags are plain white shopping bags with no logo, but at the Paris sale, the white bags have the logo printed on both sides.

WHAT KINDS OF ITEMS DOES HERMES PUT ON SALE? 

Scarves of all kinds,  ties, small leather goods, handbags (mostly canvas or older model leather), belts, gloves, pret-a-porter, shoes, boots, hats, large nylon travel bags,  leathers for dogs, fragrances, baby items, beach towels, some discontinued porcelain patterns, enamel jewelry, leather bracelets, cadenas, among others.

CAN A SELLER GET A BIRKIN OR KELLY BAG FROM THE  SALES? 

No.  Hermès stopped selling these pieces and most other popular leathers at the sale several years ago.   Now, one sidenote.  Very, very rarely you may see a Birkin or a Kelly that an Hermès employee is selling.  These bags are marked in a special way with another kind of stamp indicating that this bag was sold to an employee. It is a small letter a circle.  It would be embossed in the leather.  And, even more rare still is a leather bag from the actual maker of the bag. These are prototypes that never made it to a boutique.  These are embossed with a shooting star.

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