Just as we predicted a post-Brexit 2021 price rise for all Hermes goods has come to UK shores. Whilst the brand is yet expected to announce its general global Hermes 2021 price increase which will also affect the UK, the current bump seems to extend pretty much across the board with increases seen by as much as 20% for most goods - making it more expensive to shop Hermes products in the UK (unless you’re shopping with us - we explain why below).

Whilst it was announced that the Deal negotiated with Europe meant that goods could move across European borders without tariffs - one aspect of this deal which did not get much press is that now brands are having to pay an additional 20% VAT bringing goods from Europe into the UK, which thereby increases their cost base and pushes up prices for the rest of us.

With the UK also cancelling the ability to claim back VAT and tax-free shopping for travellers - it will probably mean that Britain will go from one of the best places in the world to shop Hermes to being one of the most expensive jurisdictions for Hermes goods.

Hermes Price Rises in the UK 2021

Being the diligent Hermes obsessives that we are, we scoured the products on both the UK and French websites to compare current prices. It’s worth mentioning that whilst we don’t have the precise old prices for every product - they were more or less on a par. However, now, things are markedly different.

It will be interesting to see what the UK prices for the Birkin and Kelly bags - with shops still closed, we haven’t seen any come to the market from UK stock, but if prices do rise in line with other goods, it will be a significant price rise.

These are the differences in just a few of the products, but what you can see is that price rises have happened across the product lines affecting both leather goods and other accessories.

What does that mean for the Hermes Resale Market?

The Hermes resale market is already inflated, with many sellers getting a false sense of resale values from forums like Vestiaire Collective where greedy sellers regularly market plain leather models for as much as £17,000. Of course these bags do not sell and simply sit there, but it does give sellers a distorted view of the market. 

Sellier works with a few select private resellers who are mostly based in Europe. Our incredible network means that our sellers are still buying their bags for European prices, bringing them to us in the UK and that we can continue to offer the best value of any Hermes reseller out there.

That being said, when the main market goes up, so does the resale market - so buyers should expect to see increases across the board. 

The good news, if you bought a brand new bag from us last year, on a “real” basis the premium you paid has decreased as the base cost of the bags should, if the rest of the increases are any indication, be so much higher.