A Real or Fake Handbag? How To Buy The Real Deal
Fake Handbags Are Often Confused With Real Ones at the Sales Counter
Some people are quite happy to buy a good quality knock-off handbag at a great price. The problem arises when fake handbags are being sold as original, but only slightly cheaper than the genuine article. Telling a real or fake handbag apart can be hard to do. This happens all the time in both the primary marketplace ( retail stores) and secondary marketplaces (eBay, Facebook Marketplace etc.) It is often quite hard to tell the difference between a real or fake handbag.
To be able to tell a a real or fake handbag apart, it is helpful to familiarize yourself with what the real Chanel, Gucci, Prada, Coach, and Louis Vuitton handbags look like before venturing out for a new handbag. The differences between the real bags and the fake ones used to be dead giveaways but the fakes and “Super Fakes” are now getting much better at copying and are increasingly harder to spot to the untrained eye.
When trying to figure out whether it is a real or fake handbag, first examine the stitching and quality of fabric. If it is supposed to be faux leather, make sure the leather is not too stiff and plastic feeling. Also pay attention to details, for instance if the logo is believable or not. There are some replica handbags and wallets that even with a real logo, are still obviously fake. Keep looking until you find something that satisfies all the check-boxes as some high street stores sell fake merchandise without knowing it.
Noteworthy Details To Look For When Looking at a Real or Fake Handbag
Location:
Think about who and where you are buying the bag from, if the purchase is made from a retail store or from a brand ambassador, then the bag is most likely real, but not always and if the handbag deal is going down on a city street corner, that the bag is undoubtedly fake. the real problem is that there are many other locations in between that are a grey area where consumers could be duped. The location gives a few clues to tell if it is a real or fake handbag.
Price:
If the handbag is being sold for a to-good-to-be-true price, then it is definitely going to be fake. High end handbag manufactures never have sales, so that to-good-to-be-true price, is exactly that.
Material / Softness:
A genuine handbag, from one of the top manufacturers, is made from the very finest materials. If the bag does not live up to the quality of a luxury brand and feels stiff or has an imperfect sheen, then it is probably fake.
Stitching:
Look for errors in the bag’s stitching, logos, branding. The genuine bag should have perfect lines in their stitching. A real or fake Handbag can often be determined just through the stitching.
Wear:
Fake bags wear unevenly and quickly. In a store, a fake bag that has been handled a few times will start to show wear quickly. Fake handbags are more prone to show significant signs of wear that would not show on a high end bag.
Weight:
Check the bag’s weight, if it is surprisingly light, it is probably fake too. The finest materials are usually the lightest, but still the toughest materials.
Smell:
A good leather bag has a particular smell to it, that cannot be faked. Knock off handbags usually have no smell, indicating that there could be a problem. They are usually made from plastic and forgers will often add a leather smell to make it hard to a real or fake handbag apart.
Logos:
Logos and brands are fairly easy to copy, but some of the higher brands are going to extreme lengths to make their logo 3 dimensional or even use holographic strips on their logos that are more difficult to copy.
New Technology:
Some high end brands are beginning to use blockchain technology that means sales, ownership, repair and the bag location are all tracked on a chip embedded the body of the bag, that is automatically scanned whenever they walk close to an official brand store, making theft of these high end products very difficult.