The 10 million dollar bag: Why a wizened piece of leather is redefining the rules of the sales game

10 million dollars. For a used handbag. Scratched, wizened - and presumably with its very own odor cocktail of old leather, perfume residue and preserved contemporary history.

What sounds like madness to many is a crystal-clear signal to sales psychologists: story paired with scarcity sells.

On July 10, 2025, the first example of the legendary Hermès Birkin Bag was auctioned off in Paris. The bag belonged to Jane Birkin herself - the British-French actress, singer and style icon after whom the model is named. Within a few minutes, the bidding rose to 10 million dollars. The buyer: Valuence CEO Shinsuke Sakimoto. His reason: "It's not about fashion. It's about history."

And therein lies the crux of the matter: people don't pay for products. They pay for meaning.

From airplane vomit bag to myth

The story of how the Birkin bag came about is itself a prime example of true storytelling. In 1984, Jane Birkin sat on an airplane next to the then CEO of Hermès, Jean-Louis Dumas. Her complaint: "I can never find a bag that fits everything." Dumas took a vomit bag - and scribbled the first design for the bag that was later named after her.

What followed was not a planned marketing launch. A myth was created that has continued to grow over the decades: with waiting lists, limited availability, celebrities - and a real psychological pull.

And myths don't smell of new leather.

They smell of memory, history and closeness.

The smell of desire

In sales psychology, the sense of smell is one of the strongest emotional triggers. The scent of old leather, worn for decades by a style icon, triggers immediate reactions in the limbic system: Nostalgia, fascination, connection.

Not despite the smell - but because of it.

Because this fragrance is not a perfume note from the Hermès catalog.

It is the olfactory aura of an era:

Cigarette smoke in Parisian cafés. Chanel N°5. Wildness. Elegance. Feminism. Sex appeal. 80s.

A story, preserved in the scent. And that's exactly what collectors buy: tangible history. No function. No freshness.

What companies need to learn from this

If you want to win customers today, you need more than quality and features. They need a brand with emotional relevance. The Birkin Bag impressively demonstrates how powerful storytelling can be as a selling point - regardless of industry or price level. It's not the materials that sell. It's the meaning behind it.

Firstly: Facts tell, stories sell!

Companies must therefore communicate their origin stories, backgrounds or aha moments in a targeted manner. People buy what they feel - not what they understand.

Secondly, nostalgia works. Recourse to origin, retro references or traditional craftsmanship activates trust. Brands that consciously stage history or origin create identification - and stand out clearly in a sea of slick advertising space.

Thirdly, perfection is no longer a selling point. Imperfection makes things genuine. Traces of use, flaws or visible wear and tear create closeness. People don't buy sterile, smooth brands. They want character. And this is created through experiences, not Photoshop.

And fourthly: emotions are multi-sensory. If you can't experience, smell or feel a product - the language has to convey it. Entrepreneurs who manage to convey a feeling of experience - for example through scarcity, countdown or personal reference - create a psychological pressure to buy that goes far beyond logic. This is price psychology that works.

Conclusion: You are not selling products. You sell what people want to feel.

The Hermès Birkin Bag is not a sales miracle because of its design. It is a sales phenomenon because it combines all the triggers of modern sales psychology: story, scarcity, status, identification, nostalgia, olfactory.

psychologie, die verkauft
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https://www.matthiasbullmahn.de

Herr Matthias Bullmahn
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matthias@matthiasbullmahn.com

Matthias Bullmahn is a TÜV-certified expert in sales psychology and certified by the renowned sales psychologist Matthias Niggehoff.

As an interim manager, he has extensive experience in international corporate structures. With his unique combination of storytelling, hormone marketing and sales psychology, he supports companies in strengthening their customer loyalty and sustainably increasing sales. As a co-author for Springer-Gabler-Verlag, he shares his expertise from major change and transformation processes in public authorities and (international) corporations.

His training as a negotiator, including with Gary Noesner, the founder and first head of the FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit, and with Nicky Perfect, former Director of Hostage and Crisis Negotiations at Scotland Yard, has given him exceptional skills in crisis communication and complex negotiations.

He uses these to successfully advise companies in dynamic markets.
Matthias is convinced that people buy from people and supports coaches, consultants, service providers, agencies and SMEs in positioning themselves as distinctive brands and building long-term customer relationships.

Websites:
https://www.matthiasbullmahn.de
https://www.psychologiedieverkauft.de

This release was published on openPR.