6 Easy Ways To Avoid Purchasing a Knockoff Designer Bag

Here are the 6 easy ways to avoid purchasing a knockoff designer handbag.

6. Stay away from online designer bag outlets. Most manufacturers have their own outlets for stock that didn’t sell. Come across an outlet store online, not run by the manufacturer, where you can buy multiples of the same designer bag? The bags for sale are probably counterfeit.

5. You can’t fake leather. Leather items should smell like leather, so if you smell glue, rubber, or chemicals, you likely have a fake on your hands. Remember, if it claims to be made from leather then it should have a soft but dry feel to it—fake leather will feel sticky and oily. Be sure to study the handles of a bag. If the bag has leather straps or handles then after a few weeks of wear the color from the leather should have discolored slightly—fake leather handles will remain shiny and unchanged.

4. Pay careful attention to seams and stitching. The seams of a designer bag are rarely glued. Another giveaway can be the stitching. If the stitching seems to be sloppy, uneven, or slanted, you’re probably looking at a fake bag. This one’s a given, but the stitching on a new bag should never be frayed!

3. Check the hardware. Pay extra attention to zippers, clasps, and closures, which are often the most telling factors when it comes to discerning whether a bag is counterfeit. Hardware on designer bags should all have the same color and finish (an exception being Chloé, which creates bags that use mixed hardware). Zippers should also open and close smoothly.

2. Be wary of deals that are too good to be true. If a bag normally retails for $2,500 and is being offered to you for $150, you’re probably being taken for a ride. Keep in mind that if you’re looking for a a majorly discounted handbag, you’re likely going to have to buy something that’s secondhand, with a lot of wear and tear.

1. Do your research. If you’re not planning on buying a bag from a particular designer’s store or a reputable department store, then you’re going to want to make sure you do a ton of research. Get as familiar with the bag that you’re interested in as possible. A great way to do this is to head to the designer’s store and scope out the real bag in person. Get familiar with how the leather of the bag is supposed to feel, what the hardware looks like, and where the logos are actually supposed to placed. It’s all in the details.

Although it’s very convenient to shop online, you need to take #6 very seriously. You shouldn’t risk buying a luxury handbag and spending your hard-earned money online.

Take a look at this article on abcnews.go.com. It featured Valerie Salembier of The Authentics Foundation, an anti-counterfeiting organization in New York.

Salembier says that counterfeiters are getting much more sophisticated online: increasing prices so they don’t look too good to be true, replicating website artwork, and posting pictures of the authentic handbags but shipping knockoffs.

So if you really want the real deal, avoid online shopping and just go to the store. It’s the best way you can avoid purchasing a knockoff designer handbag.

If you want to learn more about this, you can read Leah Bourne’s full article here. Aside from the six easy ways to spot a knockoff designer bag, she also shared some serious tips on how you can differentiate the leading luxury handbags from their fake counterparts. So before you make your first investment in a luxury bag, go read her article first.

Have you accidentally purchased a knockoff designer bag?

Love This? Like Us on Facebook.