Designer handbags, especially ones like the Hermès Birkin, have grown in value annually by 14.2% between 1980 and 2015, while the S&P 500 index delivered an average annualised return of just around 10%.

These bags currently retail for about $9,000 and up but can resell for $30,000 or more, depending on their size, colour and condition, CNBC reported.

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Such luxury handbags, also from other brands such as Chanel, Goyard and Louis Vuitton have even outperformed some other collectibles in the recent years and are increasingly being seen as a potential investment category.

Even global investment banking giant Credit Suisse had said in a 2022 study that handbags are among the least volatile of collectable assets, offer a good risk versus reward, and are also proven to be a worthwhile hedge against inflation.

Meanwhile, according to the report, gold, which is known worldwide as a safe-haven asset, delivered an annualised return of just 3.4%.

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However, just the Hermes Birkin and a small group of other top designer bags have value retention rates nearing 90% or higher, according to the report which cited luxury resale site Rebag.

However, there is a negative side to all of this too.

“In order to appear that you are in your place, you have to look a certain way, and that grooming can cost more for women, and they are doing that at a lower pay,” the report quoted Jasmine Tucker, the National Women’s Law Center’s vice president of research, as saying.

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Even Carolyn McClanahan, a certified financial planner and founder of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida, told CNBC that “It grosses me out when I see purchases positioned as investments, it hits me the wrong way.”