Gen Z’s reality check: Birkin resale prices slump as aspirational luxury takes a hit

The luxury handbag flung across the elbow of celebrities like Cardi B and Heidi Klum has appeared to have lost some of its appeal on the secondhand market, new data shows, though it continues to sell for higher than its eye-popping five-figure retail value. Birkin bags are a particularly hot commodity on the resale market because of how difficult it is to get the product new, requiring a customer to be a loyal Hermès shopper or build a relationship with a sales associate.

According to Bernstein Research’s Secondhand Pricing Tracker, the average resale premium for Birkin and Kelly bags—a metric representing the auction price compared to its retail cost—has fallen from 2.2 times its original value in 2022 to 1.4 times as of last month. That means a Birkin originally bought for $10,000 and resold in 2022 would have fetched for $22,200, while a bag originally retailing for the same price and resold at auction today would be worth about $14,000 on the resale market today.

Birkin bags, prized by many for the exclusivity associated with buying the bag, became a pandemic resale darling as wealthy shopping unaffected by COVID-related economic woes, sought out the in-demand bag on the secondhand market, as Hermès produces a limited number of the accessory each year. However, 2025 has marked the end of a “luxury supercycle” according to Berenberg analysts, as consumers face headwinds like inflation, and retailers fail to woo aspirational shoppers. A Bain & Co. report released this summer also found the luxury market contracted 3% in early 2025, losing about 50 million customers.

Simmered-down resale prices for the Birkin bag is bad news for Gen Z’s aspirational luxury dreams, perhaps quieting a trend of young big spenders scooping up luxury items in hopes of making a profit on the secondhand market.

Gen Z is besotted with Birkin 

Luxury retail brands are targeting Gen Z, who have entered the luxury market earlier than generations past, but are still developing their taste for what products they seek out. Some members of this young generation—with a penchant for investing and side hustles—have channeled their love for the finer things into a lucrative entrepreneurial effort.

“Whoever says handbags aren’t an investment are lying,” one TikTok user said in a 2023 video. “What I’m holding in my hands [an Hermès Birkin bag] is undoubtedly a better investment than the S&P 500, stocks, and gold.” 

James Firestein, founder of luxury resale and authentication platform OpenLuxury, said the appreciating value of a Birkin is no joke, claiming the resale value of the handbag and its Kelly counterpart, over the last decade, has outpaced gold.

“I know several instances where people have doubled their money based on buying it 10 years ago, and reselling it today in pristine condition,” Firestein told Fortune last year. “It’s similar to buying a Picasso and holding it in your home, because you can look at it, you can enjoy it. But then you ship it off in a couple of years and trade it for something else.”

Birkin’s resale value compared to more traditional assets, though still steep, is perhaps overexaggerated: $10,000 invested in the S&P 500 a decade ago would be worth about $30,000 to $40,000 today, while a Birkin bought 10 years ago for the same value would be about double its value, according to a report released last week by secondhand retailer Rebag. The analysis indicated Hermès bags appreciated an average of 92% on the secondhand market during the last decade. 

Resale risks

While luxury items like a Birkin bag can soar in value during a period of high demand, most luxury goods are vulnerable to the very trends that once made them popular. 

Jessica Ramírez, cofounder and managing director at retail data firm The Consumer Collective, told Fortune that beyond economic struggles, Birkin bags may be losing some resale value just because trends are slowly shifting. According to Ramírez, resellers wanting to get the most on a secondhand sale have to time their initial purchase before the item gains too much popularity and resell it at the height of its influence. That peak has likely passed.

“From a market perspective and from a brand perspective, you want to cater your trends in the early days and see how early adopters are going to take and mature them, so you can get that mass,” Ramírez said. “It works in reverse for a collector or someone who’s trying to make profit.”

The good news for resellers is despite Birkin prices cooling off at auction, the Hermès arm candy is still in rarified air: The Rebag report found Hermès was still the top brand on the secondhand market. When actress Jane Birkin’s original Hermes Birkin sold for more than $10 million at Sotheby’s in Paris earlier this year, it was record-breaking. According to the auction house, it became “the most valuable luxury item ever sold at Sotheby’s Paris.”