When it comes to investing, Jill Silverstein’s got it in the bag.
The 35-year-old Hermès hedonist lives by the motto, “If you’re workin’ hard, Birkin hard.”
But Silverstein, a luxury real estate agency owner from Chicago, told The Post that her collection of Hermès’ ever-haute, ever-enviable Birkins isn’t just for flashy show.
Instead, the pricey purses are a part of her retirement portfolio.
“The Birkin has literally outperformed the S&P 500 over the last 20 years. And, you know, the stock market is very volatile,” Silverstein noted, calling the bags “a safe investment” — and even claiming that they’ve attracted new business to her bustling brand.
“It’s just so much fun to invest in things that you care about and really like,” she said.
And it’s especially fun when that thing is more precious than gold — at least in appreciation value.
The gold standard of accessories, the Birkin, eponymously named for actress Jane Birkin, has dazzled as the arm candy à la mode to A-list ladies, trendy tycoons and everyday women (not to mention a faction of fashionably macho men) since, Jean-Louis Dumas, late artistic director of Hermès, debuted it via the French fashion house in the 1980s.
Owing to its ultra high-quality, dare-to-dream exclusivity and towering cost — unless, of course, you’re that anonymous big spender who snagged the original design for $10 million last year — the Birkin remains in a class by itself.
It achieved an average annual gain of 14.2% between 1980 and 2015, simultaneously outpacing the Standard & Poor (S&P) 500’s 8.7% and outracing gold with a negative 1.5%, per market data.
Compared to the S&P 500 between 2022 and 2025 — a period marked by tariffs, inflation, rising interest rates, and shifting consumer demand — the couture carryall maintained its reign, appreciating by nearly 300%, according to a recent report from FashionNica, a luxury resale hub.
Using the index’s 2022 starting price of $4,778 and 2025 ending price of $6,845, researchers calculated the S&P 500’s total return as 43% with a CAGR — which measures the average annual growth rate of an investment — of 9.4%.
The Birkin, however, boasted a starting price of $30,000 in 2022, an ending price of $115,570 in 2025 and a 285% total return with a 41% CAGR, according to the findings. It ranked second place as the top-appreciating handbag, trailing closely behind the Mini Kelly II by Hermès, which returned 302% within the same time frame.
The luxe label’s Mini Kellys are so in-demand, yet hard-to-get that even Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s eldest daughter, North West, 12, was reportedly refused the bag at a Beverly Hills location. The rumor just goes to show the dire desirability of the brand that put the Birkin on the map.
These favorable numbers have lured in collectors like Silverstein, who snagged her first Birkin, a secondhand Iris 25, while on vacation in Florence two years ago, she said. Since then, she’s admittedly succumbed to the powers of the “Birkin bug,” which has compelled her to buy more and more — including the Birkin 25 craie Togo leather with gold hardware, that Hermès offered her in January.
Even though that particular model can cost upward of $25,000, Silverstein said she was so excited to be considered eligible, she ran down to her local Hermès shop in a robe and bath slippers to make the purchase.
Collectors eyeing a payoff ought to slow their roll, warned Haley Sacks, a NYC financial educator, who said she advises against putting one’s nest egg in one basket — or rather, one bag.
“Don’t buy the Birkin to get rich. Don’t buy it if you’re looking at it as an investment — unless it’s hermetically sealed and very rare,” she urged. “You may recoup some of your money, but you will not make money on it.”
“It is such a beautiful bag that makes you feel so powerful,” Sacks, who bought her own Birkin back in 2021, told The Post. “Buy it because you love it, not because you’re counting on it for your future.”
Sacks knows from whence she speaks.
“I spent $7,000 on a pre-owned 35 centimeter, black Togo leather Birkin with gold hardware in July 2021, and tried reselling it for $9k to $10k a few years later,” she recalled. “I really made the wrong decision. If I’d put that $7,000 into the index fund I like, I’d have $13,300 right now.”
The Brooklyn-based guru and author of forthcoming tome “Future Rich Person,” debuting in May, said she encourages forward-thinking fashionistas to look towards the market, rather than the moneybag, for long-term gains.
“I recommend people buy two to three low-cost index funds that track the S&P 500,” said Sacks, host of the Financial Tea podcast. “Avoid individual stocks. Look into tax-advantaged accounts and see if you qualify for a Roth IRA — you can put in $7,500 for 2026 and you take that out during retirement, tax-free.”
The gamble of going bust aside, other luxury bag buffs aren’t backpedaling away from their designs on seeing serious returns on their designer goods.
Caroline Begleiter, 32, a fashion and financial literally influencer, hasn’t saved up enough to bring home a Birkin just yet.
However, the native New Yorker, now living on the West Coast, tells The Post that her posh purses from Yves Saint Laurent and Chanel are due to pay off, big time, in no time.
“I purchased a white Sac de Jour bag from YSL ten years ago,” said Begleiter, who couldn’t remember the exact amount she paid for the showstopper — which currently retails for $2,950 — but bragged that it’s “appreciated 150% in value.”
“I watch the resale market, and it’s cool to see the price go up more than some of the stocks in my portfolio,” she laughed.
“I also bought a Classic Caviar Chanel double flap for under $6,000 in 2018,” Begleiter added, “it now retails for around $11,000.”
And although the must-haves of her collection are several years old, Begleiter ensures that both look better than brand new.
“I keep my bags in pristine condition,” she insisted. “I travel a lot between San Francisco and New York City, and I’ll pack my Chanel it in the box for every trip.”
“I make sure to wear it and enjoy it, but I also treat it like fine art,” Begleiter said. “I am very emotionally attached to my bags. I’m not quite at the point in my life where I’m ready to self them, but I do plan to.”
And back in the Windy City, Silverstein has similar ideas for her financial future — if she can bear to part with her investments.
“I’m super careful with my bags because I love them so much,” Silverstein chimed. “My financial guys kind of laugh when we talk about my plan, but I don’t mind. It’s fun.”
“I’m like Carrie Bradshaw,” she teased, equating herself to Sarah Jessica Parker’s iconic role in “Sex and the City.”
“I like my money where I can see it — in my closet.”
