On a recent Tuesday night in SoHo, a group of eight women and two men donned white cotton gloves and gathered around a conference table on the lower level of the RealReal’s Wooster Street store. A line of Hermès Birkin handbags, in colors ranging from tasteful beige to gauche lime, sat under a glowing screen that read “How to Authenticate a Birkin.” A store associate offered glasses of champagne and cake, then decided that it was best if the attendees sipped their drinks at a safe distance from the bags. When everyone had returned to their seats, Claire DeBoer, a handbag-valuation manager, passed a Birkin to each person at the table. “Oh, my God,” one attendee said. “This is the first time I’ve held something this small worth ten thousand dollars!” Others took selfies with the bags. Read more