So why did Hermes announce a price cut last week? It appears they think they'll do better in the Far East after the EU announced a free trade agreement between Korea and the European Union. Other major European luxury brands started to raise prices. Hermes, however, went the other way. What an embarrassment to the luxury sector. The luxury industry has raised prices every year as part of their strategy to keep their premium image, and Hermes did the same whenever cause for a raise arose. This time, Hermes announced an average price cut of 5.6 percent and a high of 10 percent Friday, saying, “Hermes goods are produced mostly in EU countries such as France, Italy and the U.K., so it benefits most from the Korea-EU FTA. We decided to lower prices to return some of the benefits to our customers.” Also, it will help them clean up in those Seoul department stores and boutiques.
