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Image / Living / Property

A Chanel Bag Is A Better Investment Than Buying Property


By Niamh ODonoghue
20th Jun 2016

A young woman walks past the Chanel store in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan.

A Chanel Bag Is A Better Investment Than Buying Property

As if we need any more excuses to lust over Chanel bags: a new study conducted by Baghunter suggests that Chanel bags currently hold a higher resale value than your property. The study focuses on Chanel’s Medium Classic Flap Bag – also known as the extremely sought-after Chanel 2.55 – which has been on the market since 1955; showing that its value has increased by an astonishing 70% in the last six years. It highlights the French designers transition from seasonal accessory to financial investment.

Statistics by Baghunter highlighting the increase in price of the Chanel 2.55
Statistics by Baghunter highlighting the increase in price of the Chanel 2.55

To give you a better insight into the mechanics behind Chanel’s extortion increase in bag prices; in 1955 the Chanel 2.55 was worth $220. Mediocre, right? Jump forward 40 years to 1990 and the same bag is worth $1,150. Ten years later the price almost tripled again to $2,850, and again in 2013 when prices rose to $4,400. Now prices have reached a record high for these medium-sized beauties; valuing in at an astonishing $4,900. The Chanel 2.55 ?has experienced a 70% hike in retail value since 2010. Furthermore, it’s interesting to note that the 2.55 has never experienced a depreciation in value; meaning that the value is expected to keep rising for the foreseeable future. But has popularity alone caused the price acceleration? While there’s no doubt that brand longevity and iconism is partially responsible for Chanel’s popularity (basic economics of supply and demand), it’s necessary to factor the increase in the cost of materials, labour, production, and the fluctuation of currencies, taxes, and inflation.?The detailed study also lists the top five most popular bags since 2010 and their respected sales increase. Unsurprisingly, the 2.55 sits at the top while the reissue 2.55 size 226 comes second; experiencing an increase of 69.23% since 2010. Next comes the reissue?2.55 size 227 at 66.66%, and then the Boy Bag Small?at 53.84%, and finally, the Boy Bag Medium sits last at 31.25% growth since 2010.?Recession, eh?

This isn’t the first time this year that fashion accessories have made headlines for holding exceptional value for long term investment. In January, Baghunter also identified the Hermes Birkin bag to have a higher returning investment than gold – which is not bad going considering the Birkin only appeared on the market in 1981. In layman terms, the report identified that the annual return for a Birkin was valued at 14.1%, compared to gold which stood at -1.5% at the time the study was conducted.?Hermes Birkin bags are extremely in vogue and highly requested with waiting times as long as six years for a bag that can cost anything upwards of $60,000. For this reason, the bags are never advertised, are limited in numbers, and are often seen as the ultimate symbol of elitism and wealth.

In short, we suggest that everyone go and buy a Chanel bag and Hermes Birkin at once.