Where to buy a second hand luxury bag: whether it is a Chanel timeless handbag or a Louis Vuitton travel bag?
You want a luxury bag; it's an excellent idea. But you are not tempted by the new one: too expensive, too much in the "unreasonable consumption" for you, too little in agreement with your environmental concerns. In short, "too much of everything" for you... Fortunately, there are second-hand luxury bags, whose concept breaks all your barriers.
But how to go about it? Because a good deal has a price: that of trust. And the places offering this type of purchase are legion. So, can we trust them with our eyes closed? The answer is yes, if you respect some obligatory passages: it is always necessary to take care to have guarantees with the bag which you covet.
Buying a used luxury bag from a private seller is still very risky
Some sellers write: "authentic bag" in their ad! The Net is full of great fake bags called "authentic"... So, unless you know the seller personally, do not trust this kind of allegation.
Catherine, from IconPrincess: "The kind of statement that says 'I got it from a friend who works at Chanel' really means that the person knows someone who knows someone, who knows someone who works at Chanel! And in this chain there is often a weak link. Therefore, one can, in good faith, offer you a counterfeit. The best thing to do is to refrain from this type of purchase, unless you have the item thoroughly evaluated beforehand.
At IconPrincess, we have an authentication service. We do a double evaluation; the one qualified as human, which is carefully examined by real people, where an initial diagnosis is made.
Then we do a microcomputer-assisted inspection: the coated canvas, the leather, the logo, the embossing of the letters and numbers, their shape and depth, are magnified thousands of times, and then compared with images from a huge database. This second evaluation usually confirms the first one. In case of discrepancies, we do not hesitate to call upon other sources to establish a conclusion.
But few private people will agree to give you the item to be appraised before purchase. This is why we do not recommend this solution. Beware of false bargains! If you think that it is rare to find yourself in the presence of a counterfeit, especially when your seller seems to be in good faith, tell yourself that if it falls on you, the 30% or 40% of possibility of acquiring a fake on the net, can become 100%! And it is always better to prevent than to cure!
Buying a luxury bag from a professional seller or on a specialized platform is the safest solution
Here, we are not playing in the same court. The professional sellers, store or platform, offer you guarantees. For the latter, make sure that they are registered in France; because a dispute in Lithuania or Turkey will be much more difficult to resolve, without good will on both sides and especially in the presence of two different legislations.
For online sites, if it is a marketplace, you should be offered a hand-on examination of the item and, in the absence of an invoice, a certificate of authenticity or conformity. If the guarantee is an invoice that accompanies the bag, check that it is the same item on paper, identical model, matching color, etc.
Also pay attention to the date of purchase, which should match the data code, or serial number of the bag. A professional salesperson will have done this due diligence and established these matches.
Catherine: "Photocopies of real invoices accompanying counterfeits are unfortunately not rare. But mistakes are made, sometimes gross ones: data code of a Chanel bag from 1991-1994 does not correspond to the invoice provided, which turns out to be that of an article from the years 2006-2008, for example. And unfortunately, the buyers often don't see anything wrong with it.
In serious houses, all these checks are often systematic and free of charge from a certain price. They should be offered for a few extra euros, if the article does not fall into the category of systematically evaluated bags (e.g. below a certain amount).
The serious marketplace must be easily and quickly reachable on line
You may have questions, you may need advice in your choice. You may need to be reassured. For this, you need to be able to talk to a real person, who will answer you live on the phone and not "chat" with a robot, in a chat room.
This service must be easily accessible. Banish unreachable sites, which force you to go through an obstacle course to get answers, often next to what you are asking and which never call you back. It is a waste of time for you and this kind of process is not correct.
Catherine: "All too often, I have customers on the phone who have bought a second-hand bag on a platform based outside of France and who, six months or a year later, want to sell it to buy another model; when we reply, after evaluation, that their item is a fake, imagine their disappointment! And of course, it is impossible for them to get in touch with someone directly.
At this point, and depending on where you bought it, there is nothing you can do! There are many cases of fraud and astonishment, you should not let yourself be influenced by certain external elements: we have seen fake bags with real invoices, real bags with fake dustbags and the opposite.
The box and the dustbag are not necessarily a proof of authenticity. Remember that you can buy real and fake ones on the net.
And above all, we have seen fake items completely bluffing! But by referring to the model and comparing it with the article we have in hand, we can already see with the naked eye details that are wrong.
We've never seen an absolutely perfect fake. Bluffing, yes! Perfect, no! Camera detection and magnification often confirms what was detected before.
We must be serious, systematic and professional. That's why we at IconPrincess believe that the human eye and experience must be combined with a systematic examination by computer.
In summary
At IconPrincess, we offer you all the guarantees in case of purchase, which are security, proximity and advice
Used luxury bags should be purchased with real guarantees and proof in hand. Avoid purchases where the legislation, in case of fraud, will leave you no recourse, outside France or the EU.
Go through professional sellers, stores or sites, which systematically examine the items, using several methods, human inspection, assisted by computer: these market players, serious, will issue you an invoice and certificate.
Also, you must be able to reach someone easily and directly, who must answer your doubts and questions. If you respect these points, you will undoubtedly make a beautiful purchase, which you will not regret and which will have a market value, if you wish one day to separate from your Chanel Timeless bag or your Vuitton bag of occasion.
