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Rumors have long circulated that Louis Vuitton (LV), the luxury fashion brand, destroys unsold merchandise, including its iconic handbags, to preserve its exclusivity and prevent products from being discounted. Additional claims suggest that this destruction may also allow the company to recover import duties under U.S.
law, incentivizing the practice. For instance, one Reddit post on the topic read: "TIL that Louis Vuitton burns surplus bags and products at the end of each year. This maintains exclusivity of the brand and ensures that their products are never sold at a discounted rate.
" The post redirected to an article by Marketing Mind, claiming the brand burns all of its unsold bags at the end of every year "to not sell its products at low prices, in order to maintain the exclusivity that LV is known for." The post also mentioned "duty drawback" as yet another incentive for this alleged practice. "Although no one from LV has said [anything] about this, many industry insiders believe that the luxury brand even organizes a sale for its employees before destroying them," the article concluded.
"Is it true that Louis Vuitton burns all their unsold bags?" a Quora user asked in 2013, with one responding "before the burning, they organize private sales for Louis.
