Paris, October 10, 2007 - The French business press is reporting that Hermes has sued online auction site eBay in the Tribunal de grande instance in Troyes. This marks a policy departure for the luxury group in its ongoing battle to snuff out counterfeiting. Up until know, Hermes' policy has been to join suits brought by eBay's disgruntled customers relating to counterfeit Hermes products. This time, Hermes will themselves be the plaintiff. This is actually good news for the fight against counterfeiting as Hermes has greater resources and heft to throw at eBay than any individual disgruntled buyer. It also brings them in line with the policies of other luxury groups such as Tiffany's and cosmetic giant L'Oreal both of whom have sued eBay directly.
As anyone who has ever used eBay can attest, the trade in the coveted Hermes Birkin bag is ubiquitous. The problem is that many of the Birkin bags listed on eBay are indeed counterfeit but that not all eBay clients are aware of this fact. Apparently, to some people, it seems perfectly reasonable to buy a coveted custom made bag that retails for thousands of Euros and for which there are waiting lists in virtually every Hermes store throughout the world, for a mere few hundred US dollars. The most common ploy of counterfeiters is to provide a picture of a genuine Hermes Birkin bag but then send a cheap counterfeit bag to the winning bidder. The excuse for selling such a treasure usually goes something like this: "My mother/grandmother/sister/husband bought me this bag on their last trip to Paris and I've decided it's not really my style." To me, the saddest aspect of these scams is not that they take place, but that there are women out there who actually fall for them. In this respect, a well planned education campaign might be a more effective riposte to counterfeiters.
In the words of Ines de la Fressange, former face of Chanel, current brand ambassador for Roger Vivier and uber cool style icon, "I would rather carry an inexpensive Hello Kitty bag than a fake designer bag. It's too tacky." Well put!
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