I bought a Birkin as an investment. It taught me a hard lesson about human judgment

In 2017, I bought my first Birkin. Not because I wanted to impress anyone. Not because it was a status symbol. I bought it because I saw it as an investment. As an entrepreneur, I naturally look at assets differently. If something has the potential to hold or appreciate in value, I’m interested. Ironically, after spending so much on the bag, I barely used it. It stayed in my closet because I was afraid of scratching it, staining it, or hurting its resale value. One day I caught myself thinking, What’s the point of owning something you’re too afraid to use? So I started carrying it. What happened next surprised me. People opened doors faster. Staff greeted me differently. At luxury stores, the service felt noticeably warmer. While shopping for linens in France, I was offered sparkling water almost immediately and received a level of attention that stood out. At conferences and events, conversations seemed to begin more naturally. The bag didn’t change. I didn’t change. People’s perception changed. The psychology of fast judgment That experience forced me to confront something we don’t like to admit: Humans make incredibly fast judgments. We like to believe we evaluate people based …