Summary
- Hermès has defeated a class-action lawsuit for a second time
- The suit alleged the company illegally “tied” Birkin bag sales to other purchases
- The judge ruled that reserving bags for high-paying customers is not an antitrust violation and dismissed the case with prejudice
The quest for a Birkin bag remains as exclusive as ever. For a second time, a US judge has dismissed a class action against Hermès, rejecting claims that the French luxury brand violates antitrust law. The lawsuit, brought by three shoppers in California, alleged that the company’s famously opaque sales process was an illegal “tying” scheme, forcing customers to spend thousands on other products to qualify for the chance to buy a Birkin.
In a powerful ruling that supports Hermès’s business model, US district judge James Donato rejected the claims “with prejudice,” meaning the case cannot be refiled. The judge wrote, “It may be, as plaintiffs suggest, that Hermès reserves the Birkin bag for its highest-paying customers, but that in itself is not an antitrust violation.” This statement echoes a comment he made during a previous hearing, where he told the plaintiffs that if Hermès “chooses to make five Birkin bags a year and charge a million to them, it can do that.”
The lawsuit, which claimed the Birkin’s retail price was an “illusion” masking a “hidden lottery system,” now appears to be definitively over. The court’s decision is a significant victory for the luxury brand, solidifying the legal precedent for its long-standing model of exclusivity, which prioritizes a deep client relationship over open-market sales.
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