Shopping secondhand at a consignment shop is such a fantastic way to find unbelievable deals that I'm always shocked to hear people admit they're too scared or nervous to actually do it. Shoes and clothing are nice, but trust me: Pre owned designer handbags are where it's replica christian louboutin shoes at. If you're wondering where to start, you have two main routes: consignment shops (online or brick and mortar) and, of course, eBay. The biggest pro of consignment shops is that many work hard to authenticate pieces that come through the doors, while the user to user setup of eBay makes that a little trickier. While fakes are floating around, there are also all kinds of fantastic legitimate bags that you're too scared to find (sorry for the tough love).
To get you going, I consulted Jaclyn Shanfeld from online consignment site Shop Hers, who started the business after getting burned herself. "I'd had a handful of horrific incidents where I received fake merchandise. Some were glaringly obvious, but others weren't and I was fooled before being called out by a friend." When shopping for a pre owned bag, keep an eye out for anything that feels cheap or rushed. "All leather should be buttery and rich replica louboutin shoes and everything is executed perfectly. Hardware shouldn't rust into leather, no glue will be visible, and stitching is taken very seriously. They'll be lined up and not sloppy looking."
leather handles will be sealed in a burgundy red trim, which will wear and fade with age and as it's used. Fakes will have a bright red trim that doesn't change color.
produced before the '80s don't have a date code, but afterward LV started making them with a three digit number. The first two numbers refer to the year it was made, and the last number is the month. In the '90s, the system changed to what it still is today: two letters and a four digit number. The letters refer to where the bag was made, and the first and third numbers tell the week it was made. The second and fourth stand for the year. A surefire way to tell a fake is if it sits straight up.
backside of all zippers should say Lampo, which is the company Balenciaga outsources to to get zipper hardware. Really good fakes will say it, but it won't look quite the same as the real company's logo.
attached mirror should be heavy duty, without any bend or flexibility to it.
string that weaves through the handles shouldn't be finished or overly polished. It should look almost like a louboutin replica shoelace.
metal pieces that connect the straps to the bag should be oval, not square or round. This is one of the quickest ways to replica louboutin tell if a bag is a fake.
a serial number tag attached on the inside that has black stitching at the top of it. It'll be black stitching, no matter the color of the bag.
Chanel bags
the mid '80s, all Chanel bags will have a serial number attached to the interior. Good fakes might have one, but they're often easier to peel off than the real thing.
a bag has mismatched hardware, it'll christian louboutin shoes replica be a very intentional design feature (and isn't a common thing for Chanel, reserved mostly for limited editions). The majority of the time authentic bags will have the same hardware, gold or silver, throughout the interior thing, including the interior logo stamp.
it comes to those famous double Cs, the real ones will have the top portion of the right C overlapping the top portion of the left C. The bottom portion of the left C overlaps the bottom portion of the right C. On fakes, the overlap is rarely perfect and sometimes not even attempted (looking instead like one fused double letter).
authenticity cards will have a holographic or multicolor edge around them, whereas real ones will be solid.
Gucci bags
popular canvas monogram fabric should have a slight sheen you can see when you hold the bag at an angle.
inside: The interior serial number should have an R with a circle around it and Gucci stamped on it. The U should be more bold on the left side than the right.
serial number should be on the backside of the interior louboutin shoes replica label and consist of two lines of hand stamped numbers. They'll be thin and lightly pressed, not wide and scattered.
interior label should have a heat stamp that says C and Made in Italy, no matter the size of the bag.
numbers have the pattern of one letter, two letters, and four numbers. Any starting with an S as the first letter and GA as the second two are often fakes, so be extra careful.