A luxury personal shopper finds, checks and buys luxury pieces on your behalf: a wardrobe for the season, a bag that is not on the shop floor, a watch with a waiting list, a gift that has to arrive tomorrow. Some work for one store or brand and cost nothing to use; others are independent or part of a concierge, work across every brand and are paid by fee or commission. Which one you need depends on what you are buying and how hard it is to find.
What does a luxury personal shopper do?
At its simplest, a personal shopper saves you the search. In practice, at the top of the market, the job has four parts:
- Understand the brief. Your size, your style, your budget, what you already own and what the piece is for.
- Find it. On the shop floor, in the stockroom, in another branch, at another brand, or on the resale market when the boutique cannot sell it to you.
- Check it. Condition, authenticity and paperwork for anything pre-owned; fit and alterations for clothing.
- Get it to you. Private appointments, pieces held or sent to your home or hotel, and insured delivery abroad.
The best personal shoppers also remember: your measurements, what you returned and why, the birthdays you buy for. That memory is most of the value after the first few purchases.
Store personal shoppers, independents and concierges
There are three kinds of luxury personal shopper, and they are good at different things.
| Store or brand shopper | Independent personal shopper | Sourcing concierge | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who they work for | The store or brand | You | You |
| What they can offer | That store’s stock and new arrivals | Any store they can reach | Stores, the resale market and private sellers |
| How they are paid | By the store; usually free to you | Hourly or day rate, a share of spend, or a retainer | Commission or fee, often built into the price |
| Best for | Building a wardrobe at one house | Styling across brands | Rare pieces, watches, bags and gifts, worldwide |
Department stores such as Harrods and Selfridges in London, or Bergdorf Goodman and Saks in New York, run personal shopping suites, and most luxury houses have client advisers who will call you when something arrives. They are excellent for what they sell, and limited to it. An independent shopper or a concierge works for you rather than for the shop, which matters when the piece you want is somewhere else.
Personal shopper or concierge?
A personal shopper buys; a concierge arranges. If you also need the trip, the table and the tickets, a concierge who handles shopping is one contact instead of three. That is how many clients use us: the same person who arranges your travel and reservations also finds the watch, the bag or the gift. Our article on a luxury concierge as one contact worldwide explains how that works day to day.
What a personal shopper can and cannot get you
Hermès. No one outside Hermès can buy a Birkin or Kelly from a boutique on your behalf; the house offers them to its own clients, usually after a purchase history. A shopper can find a new or pre-owned bag on the resale market, check it and buy it for you. Our guide to sourcing a Hermès Birkin handbag covers every channel, and the Birkin outlet store myth explains why there is no discount route.
Limited and waiting-list watches. The same logic applies to a steel Daytona or a Nautilus: authorised dealers allocate to their own clients, so a shopper works the secondary market and private sellers. Watches need a specialist, which is why we run watch sourcing as its own service; our guide to luxury watch sourcing and how to source discontinued Rolex watches show what that involves.
Couture, past seasons and sold-out pieces. A shopper with good store relationships can find a size in another branch, reserve a piece from a new collection, or track a past-season item through consignment and private sellers.
Private appointments. After-hours viewings, a selection sent to your hotel suite, a fitting at home. Stores arrange these for good clients; a well-connected shopper arranges them for you.
What nobody honest can promise. A boutique allocation, a price below the brand’s own, or a delivery date on a piece that has not been found yet. Anyone who does is a reason to walk away.
How personal shopper fees work
- Store and brand shoppers are paid by the store. Using them is generally free, although some suites expect a minimum spend.
- Independent shoppers usually charge an hourly or day rate for styling and shopping trips, a percentage of what you spend, or a monthly retainer for ongoing work.
- Sourcing concierges usually earn a commission, often built into the price of the item delivered to you rather than added on top, or a fee agreed for the search.
Whichever model, ask before the search starts: what is the fee, is it in the price or on top, and what happens if nothing suitable is found. For pieces bought through us, the price is agreed for the individual item before you commit, and payment is by bank transfer in any major currency, with crypto also accepted; our crypto concierge guide for London explains that option.
How to choose a luxury personal shopper
- Start with what you are buying. One brand, a stylist is enough. Several brands, rare pieces or several countries, look for an independent or a concierge.
- Ask about their network. Which stores, which brands, which resale channels, which cities.
- Ask how they check authenticity. For anything pre-owned, they should set out condition, provenance and paperwork in writing before you pay.
- Ask how they are paid. A clear answer, in writing, before you brief them.
- Ask about discretion. How your details, sizes and purchases are kept, and who else sees them.
- Start with one piece. A gift or a hard-to-find item is a good test of the relationship.
Personal shopping in London, Paris, Dubai and New York
London. New Bond Street, Old Bond Street and Sloane Street for the luxury houses, Mayfair’s jewellers and Harrods and Selfridges for personal shopping suites.
Paris. Avenue Montaigne and the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, where many houses keep their flagships, Hermès among them.
Dubai. The Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates, where most luxury houses have boutiques.
New York. Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue, with Bergdorf Goodman and Saks for department-store personal shopping.
When the shopping is the reason for the trip, the flight and the stay come from the same team: a private jet to Paris, London, Dubai or New York, and the suite through our luxury hotel concierge.
Hong Kong, Milan and Tokyo complete most shopping itineraries. Prices, allocations and tax-free rules differ between them, which is part of what a personal shopper working across cities takes care of.
Gifts
Personal shopping often starts with a gift: something rare, something personal, something that has to arrive on a particular day. Give the shopper the person, the occasion, the budget and the deadline, and leave the search, the wrapping and the delivery to them.
Tell us what you are looking for, where you are and when you need it. We come back with what is realistic before you commit to anything.