How to Tell Knock Off Designer Handbags From Authentic Ones

Purchasing a designer bag is a big investment. However, there is always the worry that you have purchased a fake or knockoff designer handbag and not the genuine article. Making the discovery that you have purchased a fake bag is frustrating and upsetting. Therefore, it is important that you are able to identify the bag as real before you buy it. Fortunately, there are several ways that you can ensure that the item you have purchased is genuine and authentic.

Instructions

1. Familiarize yourself with the labels in the designer's products. If you can recognize the authentic label that the designer puts in his handbags, you will be able to make sure that the handbag you are considering purchasing has a label that looks and feels exactly like the real one, and is attached to the bag in the exact same way. This is very important. If the label is sewn in with visible stitching, for example, in a way that is not characteristic of the designer's other bags, then the bag in question is probably a fake.

2. Check the detailing. Stitching, fabric hardware and closures should be the same on the bag you are considering purchasing as they are on all of the designer's other merchandise. If the hardware looks cheap and poorly attached and if the closures on your bag are different from the other bags the designer's makes, you can be certain that the handbag is a knockoff.

3. Make sure you are purchasing it from a licensed retailer. The vendor selling the bag must be a licensed vendor of the designer's products in order to sell them. If you are dealing with a vendor who cannot produce proof that he or she is licensed to carry the designer's wares, go elsewhere.

4. Take the bag for authentication. If you are able to return the bag after purchasing it, bring it to one of the designer's stores or showrooms and ask that they authenticate the bag for you. If you find out that it is a knockoff, return it immediately and report the vendor.

Tips & Warnings

• If the bag has a label anywhere that says it was manufactured in Asia or any country different from where the designer is based, you can be pretty sure that it is fake.

References

• Hilary: Fake or Fendi? The difference between designer bags and knockoffs