The-Collectory is a luxury handbag curator for smart shoppers. W e are driven by the strong belief that there is a smarter way to shop for luxury.
Carole Bettane, a Paris-based banker and co-founder of French cashmere brand Kujten, has bought two Hermès bags as financial assets. In 2010 she paid €5,200 for a new limited-edition Hermès Kelly black box, and the same bag was sold last year at a Monaco auction for close to €24,000. “It was a bit expensive at the time but I was pretty sure within two to five years it would’ve made 20% minimum.”
The reason Carole was able to make more than quadruple her purchase price was because she knew what to buy. It might have started out as a fashion purchase to indulge in her love for the iconic piece, but the second she purchased her luxury bag, she officially made a brilliant investment.
For the past year, we have been experimenting with this idea - the idea that truly special bags can hold their resale value and make for smart financial investments. After studying market trends and popularity, we learned to recognize which pieces hold their value longer, what conditions they need to be in, and how to forecast the future value of a handbag in order for it to become a good investment. The most surprising insight we found? The problem isn’t that women don’t want to make money selling their handbags. The problem is that most women don’t know which is the right piece to buy, nor which is the right price to pay, to turn their purchase into an investment.