The iconic Hermes Birkin bag remains the ultimate status symbol-even the rich and famous must put their names on a two-year waiting list. Enter Michael Tonello, an American expatriate living in Barcelona. Strapped for cash, he stumbles on the almost magical secret to buying Birkins whenever he wanted them, and virtually overnight becomes one of eBay's most successful entrepreneurs.


Bringing Home the Birkin follows Tonello's forays around the globe, into the lives of celebrities and poseurs, and sometimes into danger, from enduring a "hostage handbag" situation to eluding Hermes's watchful eyes. In a story of serendipity, bribery, fraud, insatiable greed, fashion, heartbreak, and romance, Tonello shares the events of his accidental career.