Hermes Birkin Bag
Hermès Ostrich Birkin bag, with matching leather-covered lock and key lanyard, displayed with a plaid bow. Photo by Wen Cheng Liu.

If you’re thinking of gifting an Hermès Birkin bag to the fashionista in your list, you might have to wait months to get hold of one. In fact, you might have to plan for the Birkin to be next year’s gift while you order one now.

The reason, the US economic growth has witnessed a surge in demand for Birkin bags, but supply is scarcer than ever before according to the latest market research conducted by ultra-luxury consignment service, Baghunter.

Factors such as a growing US economy and celebrities continually pictured with Birkin bags have both contributed to an increase in demand. Meanwhile, a decrease in Birkin owners willing to sell their coveted possession has brought about a mini-Hermès drought across the secondary market.

As one of the largest consignors of Hermès bags in the United States, Baghunter has analyzed company data including the number of clients and collectors inquiring about selling or consigning their Birkin bags, and the number of clients inquiring about purchasing Birkin bags. Collaborating data from the first eight months of 2018 with data from 2017 and 2016 clearly shows a widening gap between demand and supply.

The number of clients and collectors inquiring about selling or consigning their bag has dropped by almost 40% when compared to data from the same period in 2017. Figures comparing 2016 to 2017 are almost identical, showing this to be a recent phenomenon occurring only over the last few months. Additionally, the data shows that smaller Birkin bags are the rarest to find with size 25 Birkin bags especially hard to come across this year.

Further data analysis shows that the number of purchase inquiries has increased throughout the first eight months of 2018 by just over 25%. Contributing to the increase in demand is the rapid US economic growth, reported to currently stand at a record annual rate of 4.1%.

Additionally, celebrities are regularly appearing in the news clutching their latest Hermès Birkin purchase. This year alone, numerous feature pieces have been written across major publications focusing solely on celebrities and their Birkin bags with names such as Kylie Jenner, Ariana Grande, Usher, Melania Trump, Drake, Paris Hilton, Chua, Emma Watson, Kim Kardashian and Sarah Jessica Parker among those featured.

The increasing scarcity of Hermès Birkin bags could lead to a significant rise in the value of such bags across the secondary market in the near future. Previously, a study published by Baghunter detailed the steady upwards trend in the value of Birkin bags since their release. Should supply of Birkin bags to the secondary market continue to wane, we will undoubtedly witness a spike in Birkin value in the near future.