The company’s decision not to support sales of pre-used bags comes at a time when other luxury brands are venturing into the space to both profit from the lucrative market and have more control over the sale of their products.
Kering, for example, acquired a 5% stake in resale platform Vestiaire Collective in March 2021. In addition, several of the company’s brands, such as Alexander McQueen and Gucci, have also previously experimented with buy-back and resale programs.
Hermès, however, sees the sale of its pre-owned products as a threat to its business model since resale results in an increase in prices and counterfeiting.
“It would be to the detriment of our regular client who comes to the store,” Dumas said.
In an effort to maintain exclusivity around its brand, the company will instead continue to focus on ramping up production capacity without compromising on quality. Hermès has, as such, capped the increase in production of its leather products to 6% to 7% annually.
The company is currently working on opening two new leather workshops in France over the course of the next five years. In addition, Hermès is also currently constructing three other locations for producing leather products in Tournes, Cliron, and Riom.
“We produce with one thing in mind, quality, if we don’t manage to have this in terms of know-how or beauty of materials, I prefer not to produce,” Dumas added.
