Birkin buyer says he cracked the code for Hermes "it" bag

by Amy Judd | April 14, 2008 at 01:41 pm

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I think that Birkin bags are somewhat ugly in appearance, but they represent something else in the world of fashion and celebrity - they represent status. If you have a Birkin hanging on your arm, you are considered a 'somebody' as you had to wait two years and pay a lot of money to get that.
However, a man from Australia is now claiming that he bought tons of Birkins without waiting on a list, and is spilling the beans in a tell-all book.

Michael Tonello, a beautician turned fashion buyer, says hedevised a system to bypass the much-talked about list and spentfive years traveling between different Hermes stores to snap upBirkin bags to meet -- and profit from -- this pent-up demand.

Initially he sold them online but then began selling themat a handsome mark-up to wealthy private clients who didn'twant to wait two years, with people aware that Hermes handbagsare one of the few brands that hold or increase in value overtime.

Tonello said cracking the code let him to buy hundreds ofBirkin bags and he is now adamant that the waiting list is justa fantastic marketing ploy. So what was his trick?

"I would go into a store with a list in my Hermes Ulyssenotebook and pile up scarves, shawls, bracelets, worth about$2,000. This made me seem a regular Hermes client," Tonellotold Reuters in a telephone interview.

"Once I had that pile ready to buy at the last moment I'dask for a Birkin and they would usually produce one of the backroom. In 2005 I bought 130 Birkins in a three-month period --and you tell me there is a waiting list?"

Tonello, who wrote the book "Bringing Home the Birkin,"released this month, about his Birkin adventures, said he hasreceipts to back his story.

A spokeswoman for Hermes in Australia, Nicole Morgan, saidthe company was making no official comment on Tonello's book.