Breaking: Hermes Australia Admits Birkin Bag Wait List Never Existed

The death of the Hermes Birkin bag waiting list caused a lot of stir, but according to Michael Tonello, author of “Bringing Home The Birkin,” a reporter from a U.K. magazine divulged to him yesterday that Hermes Australia confirmed there never was a waiting list. As Tonello says, the news is ” truly scandalous.” (We have to agree.) A New York rep for Hermes did not return phone calls.

Tonello, who traveled the world buying up Birkins and selling them on Ebay, tells us, “The only thing Hermes was ever ‘waiting’ for was for someone to drop a bunch of money on non-Birkin items, (like shoes, scarves and belts)  and then they’d offer them a Birkin, almost like a reward.  The woman suddenly feels like a VIP, and Hermes turns a very large sale by adding a $9,000 bag to it. Shameful, in my opinion.” Read our entire interview with Michael Tonello here.

Says Tonello, “If there truly was a ‘two year waiting list,’ how could they sell me and my associates hundreds of bags? After spending in the store, 99% of the time, we got one. What about all of those people waiting?” he asks, “Wasn’t the bag they just sold me already spoken for?”

If the waiting list was fashion myth, does that mean Samantha of Sex and The City lost her job as Lucy Liu’s publicist for no reason?

Skip the fussy boutique and buy your Birkin from Ebay, or Portero, or save your money and check out our guides to the best cheap handbags, and the best evening bags.