How much to pay for vintage?

[sweetmelody]

I think I'm quite a savvy shopper (i.e. know the value of things) but I'm not a 'high-end designer gal' so need some advice.

My DH says that he would like a new briefcase/satchel for Christmas. He prefixed that request with 'mulberry' , but since he bought me a vintage mulberry bag last Christmas I am happy(er) to indulge him....

I have been scouring EBay. Not for very long, but conscious things will get more expensive as we approach Christmas. I have seen a tan Mulberry Wexford satchel/briefcase that is perfect.... Except the seller bought it in 1996! The starting price is £249 and he paid £500 for it new. Looks like it is in excellent condition. See here. Is this too much or is that the price you pay for the Mulberry name??

I don't know about vintage but that seems awfully expensive to me. It is more than half of what he paid for it 17 years ago!

Stretch to buy new then it will be exactly what he wants, won't be 17 years old and won't have leaky pen marks. They last well and keep their value so a new one will be worth the spend.

Technically 1996 is not vintage. Its more than I would pay for 2nd hand. I would scour outlets to find a new one for a similar price.

Happy to buy second hand (as it was called in my day) since I cannot afford Mulberry's current list prices and happy with a lived-in look (and confident he will too) notwithstanding the ink stain. Have not seen any similar online

But like dexter73 says, more than half the original price seemed excessive and that is what I wanted to check with y'all. Didn't really want to pay the 'vintage premium' but conscious I need to allow for inflation (new ones are £800+ which is not an option for me)

Mulberry is not exactly a heritage brand so I would not expect to be paying vintage heritage prices.