The Hermès Sale
Say what? Hermès?? Sale?!?! Do these two words even go together at all?? Well, your eyes aren’t deceiving you, and I promise this isn’t a clickbaity sort of post. In fact, unbeknownst to many, Hermès does in fact has sales on a bi-annual basis held over 3 consecutive days in January and July at Le Palais de Congress in Paris. This year though, there was also one held in Toronto earlier this week, on May 15th.
*cue squeals, screams , and OMGs* Okay, let’s calm ourselves down for a sec… Before you start tripping all over yourselves and start tallying up the figures in your bank account, there are no bags on offer at the sale. However, what you will find at the sale, are silk items (scarves, shawls), cashmere, accessories (hats, gloves, belts), homeware, shoes (both men’s and women’s), Ready-to-Wear, and jewellery. Yep, you read that right, jewellery. So, if you’re looking for enamel bangles, clic clacs, leather bracelets, this is where you want to be, and oh, you might even get lucky and snag some CDC cuffs while you’re there.
If you’re worried about shoving, pushing, and all that grabbing and scratching that you’ve seen during sample sales ala Confessions of a Shopaholic, there’ll be none of that. Each section (except RTW) has a line, so queue in an orderly fashion and an SA will attend to you when it’s your turn.
What to expect
- Long queues, so do ensure that you head there as early as possible. The sale begins at 9am daily, so try to arrive before 9am. It isn’t unusual to find approximately a hundred or so people ahead of you, even if you arrive around half-past eight.
- Your bags will be inspected before entry.
- You’d be asked to pick large clear plastic bags to hold your items.
- Have an idea of what you want, because you’d only be given 10 minutes when it’s your turn in each section. They only attend to one person at a time.
- For jewellery, each item that you pick, will be handed to you in a clear ziploc bag
- Each item you decide to purchase would also be noted down onto a sheet, which would be checked by the cashier when making payment.
- You’re only allowed to shop there once daily.
- VAT is non-refundable on these sale items.
- Your sale purchases would be packaged in white Hermès paper bags used specifically for the bi-annual sales, instead of the iconic orange paper bags.
Here are some tips if you plan on going:
- Do not bring or wear any Hermès items on your person, because if you did, you’d be required to declare all this to the security personnel before entry, and he’ll proceed on to listing down your Hermès items on his list.
- It’s best to not wear or bring your coats with you if you want to hasten the process, else you’d need to head to another line so they can check your coats.
Hope you found this info helpful!! Now happy planning, and shopping at the next Hermès sale! Thank me later! 😉
Sale images via Pursebop
