(Yicai Global) Feb. 8 -- Long queues have formed outside Louis Vuitton stores in China after a rumor circulated saying the French luxury goods brand of LVMH Group is about to raise the prices of its products worldwide.

According to the rumor, Louis Vuitton’s first price hikes of the year would range from 8 percent to 20 percent and take effect on Feb. 18.

A ‘daigou,’ one of the cohort of personal shoppers who help Chinese mainlanders buy products overseas, told Yicai Global that Louis Vuitton’s pricing would likely increase from the end of the month by about 10 percent to 15 percent, based on previous cases. It usually raises prices twice a year, the person added.

Paris-based Louis Vuitton raised all of its product prices by 3 percent to 10 percent last November. As of the first half of 2022, most brands under LVMH had hiked prices by 3 percent to 7 percent, according to incomplete figures.

In the luxury industry price cuts only hurt a brand’s influence, so any increase needs to be reasonable, said Li Jie, director of the Luxury Brand Research Center at Shanghai Jiaotong University.

Hermes has already announced a price hike this year. The chief financial officer of the French luxury handbag maker said last October that it plans to raise prices worldwide by 5 percent to 10 percent.

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione