Just in time for holiday shopping - for an incredibly small selection of uber-wealthy customers - Louis Vuitton has unveiled its most expensive handbag of the moment: a $55,000 alligator skin purse.

More expensive than a new Mercedes and costlier than a cruise around the world, the City Steamer features genuine alligator skin, cowhide lining, an engraved padlock, a nametag, and a hot-stamped LV Circle.

The nude-colored number can be carried in hand, over the shoulder, or cross-body, and has 'ample room for papers and files' - and stacks and stacks of money, naturally.

Of course, the French design house is hardly the only one to offer exclusive accessories inaccessible to the masses - or even most of the upper class, for that matter.

Several other designers are also selling bags that cost five figures this season, though it's unknown how many of the swanky satchels and totes they actually manage to sell.

Hermes's Birkin bags have always been pricey, but their alligator and crocodile skin versions can cost upwards of $100,000.

Perhaps inspired by the French brand's air of exclusivity, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen set jaws dropping in 2011 when they debuted their $39,000 crocodile backpack for The Row, which is still available for purchase.

The Italian-made splurge was the priciest item in an already extravagant line - and the twins managed to attach even heftier price tags after collaborating with artist Damien Hirst a year later.

Hirst decorated a series of 12 one-of-a-kind gator backpacks, adorning them with gold and mutilcolor spots, as well as brightly-hued pills. They went for $55,000 each and are sold out.

Fendi's not far behind The Row with its $34,000 3Jours Alligator Shopper, a flared gusset tote with top handles made in Italy.

Only a few hundred dollars less than that is Saint Laurent's Sac De Jour Small Alligator Tote, a $33,500 structured piece that has three separate compartments inside. And with that kind of price, shoppers should be able to expect free shipping.

Those gator bags' crocodile cousins went into making Valentino's most luxurious bag of the moment. The brand's $30,045 Tricolor Crocodile Satchel Bag has a color-block design and suede lining to justify the credit card bill.

It's also made of an exotic skin, which designers are increasingly using to up the luxe factor of their bags. According to Bloomburg, exotic skins now make up ten percent of revenue from luxury brands' handbag sales, and can sell for 30 times more than leather pieces.

That's because crocodiles are expensive and difficult to raise, and getting a perfect skin - one that hasn't been damaged during the animal's life - is even more challenging.

The use of these skins is also controversial. This summer, members of the animal rights group PETA went undercover at an 'alligator factory' that provides skins for Hermes, exposing that the creatures were kept in terrible conditions.

The exposé outraged many who read about claims that animal handlers shot, cut, and stabbed the gators, as well as kept them in dark sheds without sunshine or clean water.

Bottega Veneta's most upscale bag, a $29,600 Edoardo Soft Crocodile Fume Roma Bag, is of course made of crocodile leather as well.

The brand describes the item as 'pure luxury', crafted from the exotic skin with woven handles and suede-lined compartments. Leather versions are available for just $3,450.

Ralph Lauren makes an alligator bag, too, selling a $29,500 drawstring crossbody that's lined with calfskin and features a wooden lock.

Italian brand Gucci also demonstrates the sexy allure of a scaly texture with its Jackie Bucket Bag. For $22,000, wealthy shoppers can snap up a brown, hand-stained crocodile version - but $2,850 will get the same style in leather, $2,300 will snag it in suede.