Consumers to receive Halloween’s trick, as Chanel are about to raise prices by 6% for three bag models

Chanel are supposedly about to raise by 6%, on a worldwide scale, starting from next 1 November, the price of three bag models: Timeless Classic, Boy Chanel and 2,55. The brand’s decision has been reported by Chinese Jing Daily, while publishing, to support the news, the screenshot of a mail, which dates to 17 October. In the email Chanel informed their “accessories clients” about an upcoming price increase, which can’t be helped because of several factors, such as currency volatility, augmented production expenses and costs for materials. The Chinese newspaper, which quotes Fashion News Daily, stresses the fact that they tried to contact, without success, the French fashion house to get a confirmation about it. Should Chanel raise prices again, in November, that would be the third time in 2018, following the first two, in May and July respectively. “It is quite normal, for luxury brands, to increase prices twice a year, that’s the way they safeguard the value of the brand itself”, commented Zhou Ting, in charge of the Yaok Research Institute. Ting pointed out that Chanel have maintained, over the last three years, a gap, very small though, between prices, on an international scale. Since 2015, Chanel have been reshaping their price lists, aiming to reduce the price gap between Chinese market and international playgrounds; one more aim of the brand was to act against the other market, namely the daigou one. It is no coincidence, then, that the price increase, regarding three bags, will also concern the Chinese market: for the records, last July in China luxury items prices had gone down on the whole, owing to customs duties reduction (for further details, see news https://www.laconceria.it/ China and luxury costs: following Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Burberry also knock down prices by 5% on average/). Ladymax, a Chinese website, reveals that from 2008 to 2017 the price of Chanel’s Flap bag has increased by 9%, on average, every year (good to know it for collectors and investors), while emphasizing that prices go up owing to the relationship between commodity demand and supply. Will other luxury brands decide to raise prices, as much as Chanel did? Let’s wait and see.