Hermès Bag Types: Every Style and Name Explained pre owned hermes birkin bag for sale
Author : Kirkegaard Houston | Published On : 19 Sep 2026
Each Hermès bag comes with a story, a waiting list, or both. Hermès offers much more than the two bags everyone recognizes. Below reddit break down the different Hermès bag names, the purpose of each style, rough pricing, and which ones are actually available to walk-in buyers.If a specific model brought you here, jump to its section below. New to the brand? Read top to bottom — the styles are ordered by how difficult they are to obtain.
Birkin and Kelly: The Quota Bags
Each year, Hermès restricts how many of its two flagship bags any client can purchase. Collectors call these the quota bags. You cannot just walk in and order one. They are offered to established clients only, which is why resale prices for both sit far above retail.
Hermès Birkin Bag
The Birkin is the most famous handbag in the world. The design is a structured top-handle tote: two straps, a turn-lock closure, no shoulder strap. The most common sizes are the 25, 30, and 35.
Expect Hermès Birkin bag prices to open around $11,000–$12,000 retail for a Togo 25, climbing fast once exotic skins enter the picture. Pre-owned, popular sizes and colors command $20,000 and up. Diamond-encrusted crocodile Birkins hold the record as the most expensive Hermès bags, with auction prices in the hundreds of thousands.
Hermès Kelly Bag
The Hermès Kelly bag is the older, more elegant sibling — a single top handle, a sculpted flap, and a removable shoulder strap. It comes in two constructions: Sellier (rigid, sharp edges) and Retourne (softer, relaxed). Grace Kelly made it famous in 1956, and the house renamed the bag after her.
Pricing lands close to the Birkin: about $10,000–$11,500 retail, depending on size and leather. The mini Kelly bag — the Kelly 20 — is presently the toughest to obtain, with resale often at twice retail.
The Kelly vs Birkin question in one line: the Kelly is the dressy, fully-closing option; the Birkin is the casual, roomy, easy-access one.
Icons You Can Actually Order (No Quota)
Busy boutiques may test your patience, but these styles carry no yearly cap. Many buyers consider this the smartest place to spend.
Hermès Constance Bag
This structured shoulder bag with the large "H" clasp is the closest Hermès comes to a logo bag. The Constance moves from day to evening easily and keeps its value almost on par with the quota bags. Pricing opens near $8,500 retail for the Constance 18.
Hermès Evelyne Bag
The Evelyne is the maison's laid-back crossbody bag. It has a perforated "H" on the front, an open top with a tab closure, and a wide canvas strap. Originally built to carry horse-grooming gear — hence the ventilation holes. Priced near $3,500–$4,000, it is one of the easiest everyday Hermès bags to actually own.
Hermès Lindy Bag
The Lindy is a slouchy, double-zip bag you can carry by hand or over the shoulder. The soft silhouette has made it a go-to for travel. The Mini Lindy has become the trend piece of the line in recent years.
Hermès Picotin Bag
The Picotin is a small open bucket bag inspired by a horse's feed bag. There is no lining and no hardware fuss, only a lock-through closure. Anyone looking up a Hermès bucket bag is really looking for this. Starting near $3,000, it is often cited as the cheapest Hermès bag in leather.
Hermès Garden Party Bag
A practical canvas-and-leather tote for daily errands. The Garden Party is the workhorse of the range and one of the easiest styles to find in a boutique. Expect to pay more for all-leather editions; the canvas blend keeps the entry price accessible.
Other Hermès Bag Names Worth Knowing
There is real depth to the catalog. These names surface again and again in boutiques and across the resale market:
Bolide — a rounded zip-top bag with a claim to being among the first zippered handbags ever made.
Roulis — a compact shoulder style with a distinctive clasp, for those who find the Constance too loud.
Herbag — canvas construction topped with a Kelly-style leather flap; the bags swap on one frame.
Geta — a small curved Swift-leather crossbody introduced in 2022 and still hard to find.
Victoria — a soft, unstructured tote for travel and daily use.
Della Cavalleria — Hermès's saddle bag shape, finished with a clasp borrowed from equestrian hardware.
In-the-Loop — a modern bucket silhouette whose 18 size does brisk business on the pre-owned market.
24/24, Halzan, Jypsière, Kelly Danse — adaptable shoulder and crossbody designs that switch between carry modes.
On reddit , the Haut à Courroies (the Birkin's ancestor), the Steve messenger bag, and the Cityback line anchor the Hermès men's bag range.
How Much Is a Hermès Bag?
In short: from around $3,000 to far beyond $100,000. A realistic ladder looks like this:
Entry level (canvas and small leather): Herbag, Garden Party canvas, Picotin — roughly $3,000–$4,500
Daily leather: Evelyne, Lindy, Bolide — around $3,500–$9,000
Structured icon tier: Constance, Kelly, Birkin — roughly $8,500–$13,000+ retail
Exotic skins and rarities: crocodile, ostrich, and limited pieces — $30,000 into six figures
Retail prices climb most years, and quota bags typically resell at 1.5–2x retail.
How to Actually Get a Hermès Bag
You can find the Evelyne, Picotin, Garden Party, and comparable styles as walk-in stock, particularly at bigger boutiques. To land a Birkin or Kelly, your realistic options are building purchase history with a sales associate or going pre-owned through a reputable reseller.
If you go pre-owned, authentication is everything. Know how to tell if a Hermès bag is real before parting with money: examine the heat stamp, the hand-sewn saddle stitch (slightly angled), the hardware engravings, and the blind stamp. A fake Hermès bag is usually betrayed by machine-perfect stitching and lightweight hardware. When in doubt, use a professional authentication service — the price of the check is trivial next to the price of the bag.
Vintage Hermès bags are their own reward. Older Kellys and Bolides frequently cost less than new non-quota styles, with patina no new bag can imitate.
Which Hermès Bag Should You Buy First?
If you want one answer: the Evelyne for casual daily use, the Constance if you dress up more often, and the Picotin if you want the lowest-cost entry into Hermès leather. Save the Birkin or Kelly for when you know the house — or choose authenticated pre-owned and bypass the waitlist completely.
Related reading: our Hermès leather guide plus Birkin vs Kelly deep dive.
