A catalogue, not a shop window.
Pre-owned Hermès, brought to you to inspect before you buy
BRAND Bag Center sells pre-owned Hermès bags and small leather goods from Dubai, across the United Arab Emirates and Europe. Every piece is checked against five physical tests before it is listed. When you ask about one, a representative brings it to you to inspect in person, before any payment and with no obligation to buy. There is no cart and no checkout.
Birkin 30, Epsom
Gold and palladium hardware · Price on request
- Every piece is checked against five physical tests before listing: stamp and date code, leather and grain, saddle stitching, hardware, and condition.
- Whatever the piece came with, box, dust bag, clochette, keys, receipt, is recorded on its page, and anything missing is recorded as missing.
- You inspect the piece in person before any money changes hands.
- Pieces are brought to buyers in the United Arab Emirates and Europe.
Availability
Why the bag you want is not in the boutique
The bag you want is not in the boutique because Hermès does not sell Birkin and Kelly bags on request. They are offered to clients by a sales associate, and no shop can promise one or say when. That is how Hermès chooses to sell its best known bags, and it applies in Dubai in the same way it applies in Paris.
This is not a rule anyone can work around, and nobody honest will tell you otherwise. A boutique cannot sell a bag it has not been allocated, or say when one will arrive.
The secondary market works the other way round. A piece bought once can be sold again, which means a specific size, leather, colour and hardware can be bought when you want it rather than when it happens to be offered to you. That is the whole of the proposition. Every piece here had an owner before you.GATE 10, same-day or next-day availability
How Hermès availability works
The models
Which Hermès models we carry
Five Hermès models are carried here: Birkin, Kelly, Constance, Evelyne and Herbag. They differ in how they are carried and how much structure they hold.
Birkin. The Birkin is the open-top bag with two handles, carried in the hand or over the forearm, and the roomiest of the five. It has no shoulder strap, and comes in 25, 30, 35 and 40 centimetres.
Kelly. The Kelly has a single handle and a detachable shoulder strap, so it is the one to choose for a Hermès bag worn hands free. It is a trapezoid with a front flap, built two ways: Sellier, stitched outside and rigid, and Retourne, stitched inside and softer.
Constance. The Constance is a shoulder bag with the H clasp across the front, and it holds the least of the five. The strap is long and looped: the 18 is worn crossbody, the 24 on the shoulder.
Evelyne. The Evelyne is the soft one, a shoulder bag with the perforated H on the back panel and an adjustable canvas strap. It is worn crossbody and packs flat.
Herbag. The Herbag takes the Kelly's shape and flap but builds the body in Officier canvas with Vache Hunter leather on the flap and handles, so it weighs far less than an all-leather bag. The Zip 31 suits a day out, the Zip 39 a laptop.
Available now
What is available now
Two models are held at the moment, both in Epsom: the Birkin 30 and the Constance 18. Each is available in a range of colours and in either gold or palladium hardware.
Tell us the model, the colour and the hardware you want, and a representative brings it to you to inspect before any payment.
The shoulder bag with the H clasp across the front, worn crossbody on its long looped strap. Held in a range of colours.
Price on request
Enquire
BRAND Bag Center is an independent dealer on the secondary market and is not affiliated with, authorised by or licensed by Hermès International.
Provenance
How each piece is checked before it is listed
Every piece is checked against the same five tests before listing, and a piece that fails any one of them goes back to the seller. Each test below states what is examined, how, and what rejects a piece, because a check nobody can picture is not one a buyer can use. Ask any seller of authentic pre-owned Hermès to describe their checks in these terms.
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Stamp and date code
The blind stamp is read in the position that model carries it, with the artisan marks beside it. The letter and any shape place the year: a letter alone for 1945 to 1970, in a circle to 1996, in a square to 2014, a letter alone again from 2015. A piece fails where the stamp and the bag disagree, or where the lettering is pressed deep and uneven rather than crisply embossed.
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Leather and grain
The panel is matched against the leather the piece is sold as. Togo carries a raised but fine grain, Taurillon Clemence a larger and more irregular one, Epsom a pressed grain that holds a sharp edge, Swift a near-smooth semi-matte surface, Chevre a fine grain with a lustre. A piece fails where the grain repeats on a fixed interval, which is a print and not a hide.
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Saddle stitching
Each seam is examined for the slant of the stitch, the thread and the reinforcement at stress points. Hand saddle stitching uses one waxed linen thread with a needle at each end, passed through pre-pierced holes from both sides, so each stitch locks itself instead of relying on a second thread under tension. A piece fails on stitches that run perpendicular rather than slanted, on shiny synthetic thread, and on handle bases with no reinforcement.
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Hardware and touret
The plate, the touret, the plating and the fittings are examined together. Lettering is crisply etched and centred, not deeply stamped. Screws are flathead and sit flush. One metal runs across the whole piece. A piece fails on Phillips screws, on lettering that is deep or off-centre, on two plating colours on one bag, and on hardware that rattles.
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Condition
Corners, handle leather, the base, the lining, plating wear and any smell are recorded against the same points on every piece and written onto that piece's page.GATE 9, condition grade names and definitions A piece fails where it has been restored in a way that cannot be identified.
GATE 1, who performs the checks: name and one line of real background
The limit of this method
These five tests are a physical examination by a named person, not a Hermès authentication. Hermès does not authenticate pieces sold outside its own sales channels, issues no certificate to a reseller, and endorses no independent authentication company. No dealer, this one included, can offer you one.
GATE 2, what happens if a piece is later shown not to be genuine
The private viewing
What happens at a private viewing
A private viewing is a visit to you: you say what you want, a representative brings the pieces, and you inspect before deciding anything.
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You say what you want.
Model, size, leather, colour and hardware, or as much as you have settled on.
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Availability is confirmed before anyone travels.
You are sent photographs and video of the specific piece.
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The piece is brought to you.
A representative travels to the address and time you choose.GATE 5, confirmed viewing city list
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You inspect it, without pressure.
Open it, handle the leather, work the closure, read the stamp, and take the time you want. You may bring your own authenticator.
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You decide, or you do not.
Nothing is paid until you have said yes to a specific piece.
Where we travel
Which cities we bring pieces to
Pieces are brought to the buyer, because BRAND Bag Center travels rather than keeping a shop you have to visit.GATE 5, confirmed viewing city list A city outside that list is arranged case by case, so ask.
The sell side
How to sell your Hermès piece to us
BRAND Bag Center buys pre-owned Hermès pieces as well as selling them, and the catalogue is supplied by private owners. Send photographs of the exterior, interior, stamp, hardware and any wear, and you are quoted on that piece. The same five tests run on pieces bought in, so a seller is told what was found. Nothing is agreed on photographs alone.
Questions
Questions buyers ask before a first purchase
Are your Hermès bags authentic?
Every piece is checked against five physical tests before listing, and a piece that fails any one of them goes back to the seller. The tests cover stamp and date code, leather and grain, saddle stitching, hardware, and condition. Hermès itself authenticates nothing sold outside its own channels.
Does Hermès authenticate bags for resellers?
No. Hermès does not authenticate pieces bought outside its own sales channels, issues no certificate to a reseller, and endorses no independent authentication company. Any dealer who tells you a bag carries Hermès authentication is describing something that does not exist. What a dealer offers instead is a named examination and your own inspection.
Why can I buy a Birkin here when the boutique has none?
Because this is the secondary market, where a piece is sold by its previous owner rather than offered by Hermès. Hermès does not sell Birkin and Kelly bags on request. They are offered to clients by a sales associate, and no shop can promise one or say when.
How quickly can I see a piece?
A piece already held in your city can be shown sooner than one that has to be sourced for you, and you are told which applies to your request before anything is arranged.GATE 10, availability speedGATE 7, response time A sourcing request is not an immediate viewing and is never described as one.
Can I see the bag before I pay?
Yes. A representative brings the piece to you and you inspect it before any money changes hands. Open it, handle the leather, work the closure, look at the stamp and the stitching, and take as long as you need. You may bring your own authenticator.
Which cities do you travel to?
Viewings happen where the buyer is, because the business travels to you rather than keeping a shop you have to visit.GATE 5, confirmed viewing city list Where a city is not on that list, ask, because a trip is arranged case by case rather than ruled out.
Why are prices on request?
Because the price of a pre-owned Hermès piece is set by that one piece, not by the model. Two Birkin 30s in the same leather sit far apart on condition, colour, hardware and what came with the piece. A published figure would be wrong for almost every piece.
Does the bag come with its box, dust bag and receipt?
It depends on the piece, and that piece's own page says which of them it has. Some come with the box, dust bag, clochette, keys, rain cover and the original receipt. Others come with none of them. A full set is not evidence of authenticity, because packaging is faked too.
Is buying a second hand Hermès bag a good idea?
Buying used Hermès bags is a good idea if the piece is checked and you hold it before paying, and a poor one if neither happens. The risk with second hand Hermès is that the piece is not what the listing says. Buyers of used Hermès handbags ask who checked it.
Are you affiliated with Hermès?
No. BRAND Bag Center is an independent dealer on the secondary market with no affiliation to Hermès. It is not an official, authorised or licensed Hermès retailer, stockist or partner. Hermès, Birkin and Kelly are trade marks of Hermès International, used here to describe the pieces.
Begin a conversation
Start a conversation
There is no form on this site and no account to create: you message or ring, and you talk to a person. Ask about a specific piece, ask what is available in a size and leather, or ask a question about pre-loved Hermès before you buy.GATE 7, response time promise