The Birkin bag is a series of handbags by Hermes that cost a minimum of $8,000 each. And you can't buy one now unless you're willing to pay a big premium. The waiting list is about two years long.

Michael Tonello's new book about the buying and selling of Birkin bags will hit bookstores soon. Tonello says that a Birkin on your arm "tells other women your place in society. It sort of suggests to them that you are successful, that you have money, that you are someone, or else Hermès wouldn't be selling you this bag."

Tonello is a makeup artist and hairdresser who started a very lucrative site on eBay selling all things Hermes. His book recounts his year of traveling the world, scouting out Birkin bags, reselling them on eBay and all the adventures and craziness he experienced in this pursuit. He tells us how he accidentally discovered a secret formula that gave him access to the Hermés Birkin bag vault.

See Bringing Home the Birkin.