Real vs Fake Designer Handbags: How to Spot the Difference

Dior Bag- Image by trieu ha from Pixabay

Real vs Fake Designer Handbags: How to Spot the Difference

So at this point, you have your very luxurious and fancy designer handbag but are not sure whether it is a fake one or a legit one. In the world we live in, all of us always remember ‘cheap is expensive’ and thus careful all the time to not fall into the trap of buying cheap merchandise because the truth is that it will somehow cost you. Either by tearing easily or even embarrassing you because the quality is so poor. That’s the cost you will have to pay. Better yet, you don’t want ever be conned. Whereby you end up being sold a counterfeit designer bag, at the price of a legit one. This is why it is important to always be able to tell the difference and outright be able to spot a fake one and thus stay very far away from it. So how do you spot this difference? Here are some 10 tips you can always use to tell this difference.

1. The pricing

Handbag shop- Image by Sabine Bends from Pixabay

Typically speaking, designer bags are quite pricy. I mean, that’s the whole point of anything designer. Usually, the starting price of a designer bag is $800. That is almost 100,000 Kenya shillings. So in essence, a designer is very, very expensive. When you, therefore, walk into a boutique and they claim a bag is designer yet the price tag talks of $50, then of course that is a knockoff. You should therefore always know that nothing that is meant to be designer is cheap. Not in this world anyway.

2. The location of the shop you purchase it from

Gucci shop- Photo by Do Nhu on Unsplash

The truth is, you won’t find a designer bag in a thrift shop (mitumba), a market stall or a street vendor. There is a reason why high-end shops and places look the way they look. It’s all in making the statement that people in that place are honestly not broke. Many designers usually try to restrict the circulation of their merchandise in order to maintain a high demand. That way, the name of their brand remains relevant. Thus, they usually restrict and limit the number of bags an interested buyer will purchase in a particular time frame. So don’t think you will enter a shop and buy 100 of them all at once. Thus, when you enter a shop and this is allowed, chances are those bags are counterfeit. Moreover, if the address of that shop is a bit wanting and doesn’t scream wealth in its ambience then to be brutally honest, the bags you will find there are fake.

3. Quality of the zipper

Bag zip- Image by Stjepan Zlodi from Pixabay

For a designer bag, the zipper should be very smooth. It should feel somewhat heavy and the material supporting it be of high quality. When buying a designer bag, you should zip that bag all the way up to test it. If it ends up falling off too quickly and feels jagged, light and flimsy, then high chances are, that one is a fake one. Additionally, for designer bags, the underside usually has the designer’s logo. So obviously before buying the bag, just check for a logo. It doesn’t hurt. If you do this and the seller gets offended then honey it is a con. Otherwise, why would one get offended when you are just trying to determine whether merchandise is legit or not. Balenciaga for instance has the wording ‘Lampo’ printed on the back.

4. Always check out the stitching

Leather bag stitching- Image by HeungSoon from Pixabay

Just like with zippers, a legit designer bag will show with how its stitching has been done. A fake one will have sloppy stitching done. It’s like whoever was doing the stitching didn’t have a sense of direction and they were teaching themselves how to stitch hence they were just winging it to see how it goes. If it is uneven and slanted, that is a poor sign for sure.

5. Smell if it smells of leather

A girl smelling floers- Photo by Motunrayo Babatunde on Unsplash

A real designer handbag is typically made of leather and real leather has a smell. It should have a smell. Thus when considering buying a designer bag, go ahead and smell that baby. I know it’s gonna look awkward and maybe even the seller will be offended, but hey! You can’t risk going home with a fake one.

6. Lift the bag to weigh it

A woman carrying a handbag- Photo by Leif Inge Fosen on Unsplash

If you ever go into a shop that sells designer bags, make sure to lift it and test how heavy it is. A legit designer handbag is pretty heavy. If you however notice that the bag is quite light and fragile, then high chances are, you are being conned.

7. Check out the quality of the bag’s material

Leather handbag- Image by Greg McMahan from Pixabay

A legit designer handbag will always be lined mostly with polyester, nylon or cotton material. A fake one is usually lined with a very poor quality satiny kind of material. The kind that tears easily and gets old pretty quickly. If it is a designer bag, it should be able to serve you for quite a long time (of course if you take good care of it). However, if the bag’s lining is quite loose, sloppy and bumpy, then there is a good chance that one is a fake.

8. Check whether the bag has labels, brand tags and serial numbers

Tags- Photo by Harper Sunday on Unsplash

Typically speaking, a designer bag will have on the inside part of it, its brand name, a brand tag and a serial number. These tags should either be stamped or hand stitched into the leather. Some designers instead of having tags have authenticity labels on the outside of the bag. Chanel for example usually has a physical card separate from the bag and has a six serial number code. Don’t be fooled though. Even fake ones come with tags and labels. However, the text on the tags is usually in different fonts and sizes compared to the original one. To tell whether the serial number is legit, most times these codes can be searched online with code checkers. Although this can also be copied by scammers, they would have to be pretty good. The idea is to be very, very observant because nowadays, even scammers know all the nitty-gritty of telling a fake one from a real one.

9. Check the bag’s logo

YSL Designer bag- Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

This might actually be the best way of telling whether the designer handbag you want to purchase is real or fake. Fake manufacturers more often than not misspell the designer’s name hoping no one will be the wiser. For example instead of ‘Gucci,’ they will change it slightly to something like ‘Guccy’ and ‘YSL’ becomes ‘SL.’

Thus, you need to always take a close look at the brand name. Just be keen. Also, take a close look at the logo on the bag you are being presented with. You can google so as to be sure what that particular brand’s logo looks like. Compare them and if you notice a difference no matter how slight it is, then it is probably a fake one or better yet, a knockoff. Well, it may be a legal knockoff (since there are those in the market) but the thing is, it is still a knockoff at the end of the day and not the real one you wanted.

10. Check the hardware on your bag

Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

Always. I repeat, always! Check the hardware on your bag. These include the clasps, buckle, straps and so on. For a legit designer bag, this hardwares should all be made of the same metal and that metal should have the same colour all through. The only exception is Chloe bags as they usually use a variety of colours thus being a unique brand. Furthermore, the hardware should feel heavy, and smooth and be of high quality. For the fake ones, they usually use plastic. Therefore, when you go to a shop, feel the metal hardware. Given how metal is a good conductor of heat, if it has been sitting out in the sunshine, then the hardware should be very hot. Likewise, if it has been sitting in an air-conditioned room, then it should be very cold. The fake ones won’t have this capability because anyway plastic is plastic. It is a very poor conductor of heat.