Kelly Bag Value: What Your Kelly Is Worth

What a Kelly Is Worth by Size

These are the bands we pay today for every Kelly we buy, before we have seen your bag. Every row uses the same baseline: complete set, 2012 onwards, excellent condition, Togo leather, palladium hardware, Noir, Gold or Etoupe. The same model sets every band in our Hermes price guide, so the Kelly can be compared directly with every other model.

What we pay a private seller for a complete set from 2012 onwards in excellent condition, in Noir, Gold or Etoupe, Togo leather, palladium hardware. Indicative, subject to authentication in person.

As with the Birkin, the smaller the bag, the more it is worth. A Mini Kelly 20 is worth about 82 per cent more to us than a Kelly 35 in the same specification. The smaller Kellys are also worth more than a Birkin of the same width: a Kelly 25 is worth about 7 per cent more than a Birkin 25. Our Birkin resale value guide gives the Birkin figures in full.

Kelly Sizes Explained

A Kelly's size is the width of its base in centimetres, so a Kelly 25 is about 25 cm across. Hermes has made the Kelly from a tiny 15 up to a 50, but the five sizes below, plus the Pochette and the Kelly Cut, are the ones that trade most often and the ones we buy. Each of the five has a single top handle and a detachable shoulder strap.

Widths are approximate. What fits depends on the construction: a Retourne holds a little more than a Sellier of the same size.

Sellier vs Retourne: How to Tell, and What It Does to Value

Every Kelly is built one of two ways, and it changes how the bag looks, how it carries and who wants to buy it.

To check yours, look at the side of the bag where the front meets the gusset. Visible stitching along a sharp edge is Sellier. A rounded edge with no stitching showing is Retourne.

On value, Sotheby's says both constructions are highly valued, but on the auction market Sellier tends to be the more sought after, especially in exotics: it reports that Sellier ostrich Kellys sell about four times as often as Retourne ones. Our bands cover both constructions, so the table above applies whichever you own. Tell us which yours is when you send photos.

How Condition Changes a Kelly's Value

Condition moves a Kelly more than anything except size and leather. In our model good condition takes 15% off against excellent, fair takes 32% off, and store fresh adds 15%. On a Sellier Kelly, look hardest at the corners and the edges of the flap, which carry the most wear. On a Retourne, the handle and the shape of the body matter most.

Complete set from 2012 onwards, Togo leather, palladium hardware, Noir, Gold or Etoupe. Only the condition changes across each row.

How Leather Changes a Kelly's Value

Togo, Epsom and Swift price close together. Chevre goat, often used on the Mini Kelly, adds +12% in our model. Exotics are a separate market: ostrich adds +35% and crocodile or alligator +120%. Our guide to Hermes leather types explains how to recognise each, and exotic Kellys have their own page on selling an exotic Hermes bag.

Complete set from 2012 onwards in excellent condition, palladium hardware, Noir, Gold or Etoupe. Only the leather changes across each row.

Colour and hardware move a Kelly less than leather does. Noir, Gold and Etoupe are our baseline because they always have buyers. Other classic tones sit -6% against them, bright seasonal colours -15%, and a special order with the horseshoe stamp +11%. Gold hardware adds +4% over palladium and rose gold +6%. An Etoupe Epsom Mini Kelly with gold hardware, like the one at the top of this page, is about as safe a specification as a Kelly gets: we would pay about £16,300 to £19,600 for one in excellent condition.

The Kelly Pochette and the Kelly Cut

Both are clutches built on the Kelly's flap, straps and turnlock, and both are worth more than many full-size handbags.

The Kelly Pochette was first introduced in 2004, as part of Jean Paul Gaultier's first collection for Hermes, according to Sotheby's. It is about 22 cm wide, with a top handle and no shoulder strap, and it holds most smartphones. We pay about £8,700 to £10,400 for one in Togo in excellent condition; Swift is the leather you will see most often.

The Kelly Cut arrived in 2008. It is a long, slim clutch, about 31 cm across, with the Kelly's closure on a flat, rectangular body. It is one of the bags we have buyers waiting for, and we pay about £9,200 to £11,000 for one in excellent condition.

Selling Your Kelly

When you are ready for a firm figure, our sell your Kelly page covers what we need and how the visit works, or use the calculator below. A specialist prices your exact Kelly from six photos and rings you within 20 minutes. Payment goes by Faster Payments within 2 hours of authentication, on a UK banking day.

Sources checked for the Kelly facts on this page: Sotheby's, The Ultimate Guide to Hermes Kelly Bags; Sotheby's, Complete Guide to Buying a Kelly Bag; Sotheby's, Hermes Kelly Cut and Other Below the Radar Bags; Sotheby's, The Most Popular Ostrich Hermes Bags.