‘Hell hath no fury like a wealthy person being told no’: can elite shoppers really force Hermès to sell them Birkins?

“Hell hath no fury like a wealthy person being told no,” says Alex Pardoe, an Hermès superfan and TikTok creator, recalling the many times he has seen “grown men and women having fivestar meltdowns” within the otherwise fragrant environs of the Hermès flagship store in Paris.

These tantrums, says Pardoe, are always sparked by the same conflict: a rich person walks in, asks to buy an Hermès Birkin – fashion’s most highstatus handbag, which costs $10,000 or more – and is told that none are available. This happens a lot, because Birkins, according to luxury handbag lore, are not mere products to be sold over the counter like cans of baked beans. Buying a Birkin takes more than money, so the received wisdom says: deliveries are limited and sales associates will earmark them for their favourite clients.

Such stories have been reverberating around the internet for the past fortnight, after two California residents sued the French mega-brand after thwarted attempts to buy the bags. Their suit accuses Hermès of “unlawful tying”: getting customers to buy items such as scarves, jewellery, clothing and home goods to demonstrate “sufficient purchase history”, in order to prove themselves “worthy” of a Birkin. Whether or not it is successful, the suit has raised questions about how Hermès cultivates an air of exclusivity in an age of resale, and it has shone a light on the extreme lengths some customers will go to to convince Hermès that they are Birkin material.

Though Hermès (which did not respond to requests for comment for this story) has not confirmed the “tying” practice, there have been complaints of the alleged system. In China, it is called peihuo. Jing Daily reported two protests outside stores during the summer of 2021, with one customer holding a sign that read, “Rubbish Hermès. Peihuo but no bag.”

On US and European forums such as r/TheHermesGame – where shoppers swap tips and tricks and share their own try/fail cycles of Birkin acqui