$185,000 for a handbag? Sold!

Fine art and vintage cars sell for jaw-dropping amounts at collectors' auctions. Now, add handbags to the list.

An extremely rare Hermès handbag was auctioned Tuesday for $185,000, the second-highest price ever for the category. You probably won't see anyone toting the bag at the mall, however. It's a collectors' item.

Bidding was intense until the very end for the Himalayan Nilo Crocodile Birkin bag, which has 18-karat white-gold hardware. Heritage Auctions had two bidders on the phone, more on its online bidding platform and several written absentee bids, Kathleen Guzman, managing director of the company's New York office and the auctioneer for the item, told CBS MoneyWatch. The winning bidder preferred to remain anonymous.

What makes this bag so special? It was made from a crocodile so light-skinned it was almost an albino, Guzman said. Hermès raises crocodiles on its own farm, breeding them to have very light coloring. It's "very hard to get skins large enough as it is," Guzman said. "But then to search for a crocodile that has almost an albino skin is extraordinarily rare."

It likely took a Hermès designer a full year to create the handbag, Guzman said. And if it's scratched or damaged in any way, the company promises to repair the flaws immediately.

Guzman said Hermès is the only line of bags that can sell on the secondary market for more than their retail price. As a result, some handbags are now viewed as investments. But you couldn't buy the Himalayan Nilo Crocodile Birkin at a Hermès store. Handbags of this caliber are made only in very limited batches and offered to a select number of elite clients.

"If you walked into an Hermès store anywhere in the world and asked for a Birkin ... they would probably look at you like you had two heads," Guzman said.

The bag had a chance at breaking the world record for a diamond Birkin, set in 2011 with a $203,150 bid. That didn't happen, though the bag did sell for more than its expected price of $150,000.

Luxury handbags made of exotic skins are getting increasingly popular. Significantly more high-end bags are now made from crocodile, alligator, lizard and ostrich, Guzman said. Heritage Auctions in Beverly Hills, Calif., was auctioning 480 handbags Tuesday from Hermès, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and other designers.