Thousands of eager shoppers CAMP on London high street in the hopes of snapping up second hand Birkin, Chanel and Louis Vuitton bags

By FRANCINE WOLFISZ, NEWS REPORTER Published: 23:34, 26 May 2026 | Updated: 23:40, 26 May 2026 Thousands of fashionistas lined the streets, camped out on pavements - and even jumped on a flight - to join other hopefuls looking for a bargain at a flash sale in central London on designer handbags.  Despite an hours-long wait to get to the front of the queue, hordes of shoppers politely waited for their turn inside Sellier, in Knightsbridge, Kensington, on Saturday morning.  Founded in 2019, Sellier has established itself as a purveyor of pre-loved luxury bags selling for thousands of pounds - and yet at a fraction of their original cost. Shoppers were given strict 10-minute time slots and only one bag per person could be purchased.  The first customer through the doors arrived at 1am to beat off up to 2,000 standing behind her. Within moments she had selected a Chanel Vintage Classic Flap Bag in black quilted lambskin leather. 'Honestly, so amazing,' she told shop staff in a video later posted to Instagram. 'I'm not kidding, this bag has been on my list for so long.'  As she emerged from the store with her new purchase, the supportive crowd broke into widespread cheers and applause. Another shopper revealed she had bought a rare Chanel flower denim bag at a 'steal' of a price - for less than £2,500.  Thousands of fashionistas lined the streets, camped out on pavements - and even jumped on a flight - looking for a bargain at a flash sale at Sellier on designer handbags Many stood in the queue for eight hours or more hoping to purchase a pre-loved bag Sellier founder Hanushka Toni told her: 'This was a super collectible bag, this was reselling for £5,500, £6,000. I'm so glad you got your dream bag.' Many were in the queue for eight hours or more and included husbands and boyfriends looking for the perfect present for their other half. One said he had arrived at the store at 5am. 'I was late,' he quipped, moments after a staff member could be seen ringing up the till for his Chanel purchase. A second man looked pleased as punch as he held up a pink Hermes bag he purchased for his mum - having woken up at 3am to carry out his mission.  One woman even flew in from Dublin the night before to get a Chanel 2.55 reissue 227 in bronze. The bag was released in 2005 by Karl Lagerfeld to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the original designed by Coco Chanel in February 1955.   'I'm so happy with it, I'm delighted,' the customer said. 'I really wanted a reissue today. This is exactly what I wanted. I was here since 6am so it was worth the wait.' More than 500 designer bags sold out within hours at the store, with some customers saving upwards of £10,000 on their purchases.  Pre-loved bags have been gaining in popularity in recent years, with department stores Selfridges and John Lewis getting in on the trend with their own vintage collections. They are typically indistinguishable from brand new bags and sell at a fraction of the full price.  One man revealed he had bought a pink Hermes bag for his mother - after getting up at 3am However, in some cases a second-hand piece can sell for more.  To buy a new Birkin, Hermes requires the shopper to jump through hoops to prove their brand loyalty before they are permitted to part with their £10,000. This exclusivity means that pre-loved Birkins can sell for as much as £30,000.  The most covetable among pre-loved bags are the Hermes Birkin (named after its inspiration Jane Birkin); the Hermes Kelly (after Grace Kelly) and the classic Chanel quilted flap bags: the 2.55 (named for the date of its creation, February 1955) and the 11.12. Prices for these models can top anywhere up to £200,000 on the resale market.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.