Hopefully none of you have been here before, but I was scammed into buying what I thought was an authentic designer purse online. Not only was this a HUGE letdown, it also put me hundreds of dollars in the hole with a bag that had no real value. I was able to puchase an authentic version of the same purse a few months later (it’s the Gucci Marmont style) and now that I have them both I can see a ton of differences between the two that should have been giveaways that one was fake!! To help you not get scammed like I did, below is a YouTube video detailing 6 things you can do to spot fake designer bags online!
1. Research
This is less of a tip and more of a strong request, but you should ALWAYS know in detail what you are buying. A designer item is truly an investment piece – something where the quality will last you for years if you take care of it, it will retain a good portion of it’s value overtime, and be a true staple in your closet.
In the video I used the analogy of a car. Now I know a purse is not a car, but hear me out. You wouldn’t just see someone driving a car down the road and say “I want that car!” and then buy it online the next day would you? No. You would research to see how many people it sits, the mpg, what bells and whistles come with it, the average price range it should cost. Although a designer item is not as big of a purchase as a car (well…I mean some of them can be), you still should take time to research what exactly you should expect of this item so that when you do
2. Serial Codes
Most designer items have a serial code. It varies from designer to designer, item to item, but most of them do have one. If you are buying a designer item online and the serial code is not where it is supposed to be (or not there at all), it 100% is a fake item. If you are buying pre-loved online and the photo set does not include the code, you can always ask the seller to provide that photo! In most cases they will be happy to do so, whether they post it publicly to the listing or privately just to you, but if they refuse to send the code then I would strongly suggest you look elsewhere.
Unfortunately, designer dupes are getting GOOD (if you don’t believe me, watch the video above), so many of them now will include a serial code, in a very similar format, font, locations, etc. One of the discrepancies I showed with the serial codes in my video was the font – the fake purse actually used the EXACT serial code first line as my real purse, but the font was ever so slightly off. These designer items are made to perfection, and any manufacturing error is a true indication that the item is fake as these luxury designers do not release flawed items.
3. Logo
The easiest visual way to spot a dupe or inspired item is through the logo. The Gucci GG logo is a great example – so many fakes use different letters like GC/CG, or the line on the G will be too long. These are the obvious examples though.
For the really good dupes, like my fake purse, these differences will be incredibly small. If you look closely to the two purses above, you will see that the fake purse’s logo has the slightest extra black space between the two Gs. This is a difference you wouldn’t be able to tell unless you had a real item to compare it to, but as I mentioned earlier, these designer items are not released with any errors, so this was a dead giveaway that it was a fake.
This also applies to other items where the logo is included in the fabric materials, like most Louis Vuitton items.
4. Stitching
I will keep harping on this, but designer items Do. Not. Have. Flaws! Of course if you buy a pre-loved item you will have to use your best judgement because someone else has owned this item before you and life does happens. Items can get torn, marked up, the stitching can be pulled, you name it. Life is not perfect and often the quality of a pre-loved item will not be either, but there is a difference between life happening to a stitch and the stitching being incorrect or of lesser quality.
For an example, in the purses above the fake purse has a shinier stitching fabric as well as deeper stitches overall. Once I could compare the two, that was another sign that it was not real.
5. Coloring
This tip is a continuation of the last one – life happens and external factors can alter the coloring of a designer item, like color transfer from jeans. Simply put, if the color is a different color, hue, sheen overall and it doesn’t look like something that could have been life “getting in the way”, it will be a fake.
6. Accessories
Typically if you buy a designer item, fake or real, the seller will advertise if it will come with a box, bag, and/or an authentication card. My point with tip is that, just because it comes with a box/bag/authentication card, does NOT mean that it is real. Just as easily as the bag itself can be replicated, so can any accessory that could be included.
In the video I showed the accessories included with both of my bags. The “authentication care card” that came with my fake Gucci purse along with the box and bag were all replicated to help sell me on the fact that my bag was real. I’m telling y’all, these scammers are getting GOOD.
Hope y’all loved these tips and happy shopping!!
XOXO,
Taylor Emery
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