With every upcoming fashion trend and season, designer handbag prices rise, making them even more out of reach for many ladies who want to achieve a style statement without paying thousands. As an alternative, most ladies consider buying handbags from local shops believing they have scored a deal. Unfortunately, such local shops sell imitation bags that are less durable and long-lasting than the real ones. In some cases, they are even forbidden!
Even if they've never seen a real luxury purse or women’s leather coin purse, experienced shoppers can quickly identify fake designer handbags. When designers are well known for the beautiful work of their products, fake designer handbags are easy to spot because of the quality of workmanship and other aspects that stand out the most.
How to spot a fake designer bag by price
One of the most obvious signs of fake bags is low cost. Although genuine designer handbags can be reduced in price, they are never marked down to extreme clearance prices. Any vendor who advertises designer handbags at too-good-to-be-true prices is telling the truth in one sense: the prices are indeed too good to be true as they don't correspond to the costs of actual bags.
Location and Number of Bags Sold by the Seller
Another sign of authenticity is where the bags are being sold, you won't discover a real bag at a flea market or from a street seller. Designers set quotas for each style to maintain high demand, frequently capping the amount of bags a customer can buy in a given period (typically three bags of one design per month). Anyone trying to sell a dozen of the same kind of purse is probably trying to sell replicas rather than the real thing.
Characteristics of Fake Designer Bags
The best approach to determine whether a bag is genuine or fake is always to examine it directly. Examine a bag for potential fakes and look for the following characteristics:
Fabric and materials: Low-quality materials are used in fake bags; the fabric's dye is splotchy and the leather may feel more like plastic than smooth and flexible leather.
A knockoff bag may feature loose, sloppy workmanship, uneven stitching, or even missing threads when cloth (particularly on the interior) is glued rather than sewed, as opposed to an authentic designer bag, which has tight, even stitches.
Labels: The interior labels on high-end handbags will read "Made in Italy" (or another real locale), and while some knockoffs also state this, others will say "Made in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, or other manufacturing nations."
Designer logos: Most designers sew plates with their signs onto their bags. Those plates should have clear printing, while counterfeit plates might be a little off. Misspelling the name of the designer, such as Prada becoming Proda, is a typical technique. Additionally, keep an eye out for logos printed on internal linings, fake bags frequently omit this feature.
Designer bags frequently include authenticity certifications to attest to their provenance. Sellers may claim that the paperwork will be mailed or was just misplaced, but fake bags will not have it.
Inaccurate styling: Fakes could come in colours or designs that real bags don't. Don’t trust sellers that try to convince you that the unique design is more affordable because it's rare.
Illegal to Purchase and Sell Fake Handbags
Because designer bags have such high-profit margins, unethical producers are tempted to produce knockoffs of popular designs. Asian countries, in particular, have the required ability to produce imitation bags with just enough variations to trick most buyers, especially those who might not be intimately familiar with authentic designs. Some fakes may even be made in European countries, giving their producers the right to claim, for example, that they were manufactured in Italy (one of the most respected nations for high fashion).
Fake purses are of poor quality
The quality of imitation purses is far poorer than that of genuine designer bags, which further increases the profit margin of counterfeit bags. Soft leather handbags and black leather crossbody bags may be replaced with pleather or plastic. Similarly, real gold may be replaced with gold-plated hardware. Eager and inexperienced consumers frequently overlook those differences and unintentionally buy a fake item.
Fake Handbags have Unauthorized Use of Company Logos and Trademarks
The Lanham Act forbids using brand names and emblems of businesses. It's against the law to sell counterfeit handbags with minor features of brand logos added to make them look like the real thing. Handbags that are knockoffs but don't copy the brand names and emblems are not regarded as “prohibited”.
The impacted designer may wish to be informed if you discover that you have a fake bag so they can change their creations and make such knockoffs simpler to recognise. Additionally, it is a good idea to inform the appropriate authorities of any shady transactions or suspected unlawful behaviour.