Sustainable Luxury | How to Buy Pre-owned Designer Bags

I love shopping second hand, and the only thing better than scoring preloved vintage dress is a preowned designer handbag. For many brands, the vintage quality far surpasses the current quality, making pre-owned designer bags a better value. For example, the quilting on preowned vintage Chanel is neater and thicker. Vintage Louis Vuitton monogram canvas is more durable. Elements that are considered “extra” now, such as leather lining, were standard in the past. The benefits of pre-owned designer bags go on and on.

Having spent many years selling vintage clothing in a past life I’ve become quite familiar with pre-owned handbags and clothing. Now that the whole pre-loved market has moved from in-person to online, many people ask me how to buy a preowned handbag online and guarantee its authenticity. The fear of spending thousands of dollars only to receive a fake keeps many from buying pre-loved or vintage bags, stops many people, but it shouldn’t. Here are my tips to mitigate your risk.

Become an expert on the pre-owned designer bags you’ve got your eye on

Do your research make sure the brand actually made that specific bag. This seems like a no-brainer but an important one that people frequently overlook. I have seen pre-owned designer bags that are a mishmash of two different styles in one bag, this is the first sign that it is a fake.

Make sure the bag was produced in that specific style, color, and hardware option. This means researching the bag, counting stitching, puffs, making sure the logos line up. This is time-intensive but well worth it to get the preowned designer bag of your dreams. The more often you do it, the more you’ll know about the particular designer and the quicker and easier it will become the next time your hunting for pre-owned bags.

Get your pre owned designer bags authenticated online

The Purse Forum is one of the best places where fellow handbag enthusiasts happily authenticate bags for free. Be sure to read the forum rules closely to make sure you’re following them.

Yoogis Closet is a mecca of pre-owned bags from every designer under the sun, they also have great resources for authentication guides. Find them here.

You can also pay to get bags authenticated for as low as $10. Professional authenticators typically specialize by brand and can provide quick turnaround than The Purse Forum.

Voice your concerns

Ask if the item is authentic! You will be surprised by how many people will simply be honest and tell you “No.” Pay attention to the response to your question. If they say “yes, and it was a gift” BEWARE! The gift line is an often-used excuse so that they don’t have to admit that the pre-loved bags they’re selling you are counterfeit. Walk away.

Google the seller on any platform where items are sold by individual sellers.

People are lazy, scammers are thankfully no different. In an effort to make a quick buck, they often cut corners. Often they don’t take the time to think of new usernames for eBay, Tradesy, Poshmark, etc.

Check out their other listings, if they have any. You’re looking to see if the pre-owned designer bags in their other listings raise red flags. Do they include pictures that were different from platform to platform? Are they relisting the same item (with the same pictures) after saying it was previously sold?

Google the images themselves.

Use Google Image Search to research the images of the Preowned designer bags the seller uploads. If you see the same pictures on websites that sell counterfeit goods, then you probably shouldn’t purchase them.

Sometimes, the images aren’t from counterfeit websites but from OTHER authentic listings which means, they stole the pictures. I wouldn’t purchase Pre-owned designer bags from these designers either.

Google the numbers on the authenticity card.

The numbers on the tags of pre-owned luxury bags always have a meaning.

The numbers on a Chanel authenticity card are unique to each and every one of their bags pre-loved or not. No two bags will have the same numbers.

Scammers often repeat numbers. Search the numbers themselves to see if they pop up anywhere else on the web, this will save you many steps down the road.

If you’re buying from e-Bay you should look at several things:

a. Buyer feedback| You should be skeptical of zero feedback sellers, especially if they’re based abroad. Although everyone has to start somewhere, you don’t need to be the test case.

b. Consistency| Does this seller typically sell higher-end items? If not, I’d be wary about purchasing Pre-owned designer bags from them

c. Too Good to be True | I love a good deal and have gotten many great ones on eBay, Tradesy, and other websites throughout the years. But a super-low price means you should increase your skepticism and do even more due diligence.

d. Use Paypal | as they offer unmatched buyer protection. Walk away from any seller who tries to get you to pay off the platform where you first viewed their pre-owned designer bags

Consider websites that authenticate on the back-end

Some websites like Fashionphile, Tradesy and The Real Real provide 100% authentication guarantees. Some sites (like Poshark) need your purchase to meet a certain price threshold before they will provide backend authentication. I still recommend authenticating Pre-owned designer bags once you receive them if you’re unsure, this guarantee relieves a lot of stress.

Platforms to buy Preowned designer bags on:

EBay | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

EBay is easy for beginners: search, bid, win but you must be comfortable self-authenticating or using third-party authenticators. It’s the original resale website with a large inventory from seasoned pre-owned designer bag resellers.

I also like the reliability of eBay, their dispute process gives the buyer an extremely high level of security. For the most part, the presumption is always in your favor.

If you receive a fake, I recommend opening a claim and then calling eBay immediately to explain your case. It’s rare to have a transaction closed against you if you are returning something that is not authentic.

Fashionphile/Ann’s Closet/Yoogi’s Closet ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

I categorized these three together because they’re interchangeable to me. I believe they all started as eBay stores but they now have physical locations as well. Fashionphile now has a partnership with Neiman Marcus!

Their prices can be a bit higher than eBay, especially if the item is rare, but you can be assured that your item is authentic. They package items beautifully and have great customer service. Occasionally they have sales as well. Fashionphile also offers a layaway option.

Generally, returning items to these three stores is generally not financially beneficial so make sure you like what you purchase and that you really want it. Recently, however, Fashionphile has introduced a price back guarantee which allows for returns after a few months

Rebag |★ ★ ★ ★

I live in New York City so there are a bunch of physical rebag stores where you can go in and actually see and feel the pre-owned designer bags on their website in person.

Tradesy | ★ ★ ★ ★

Tradesy is becoming one of my go-to platforms. Sellers typically use the shipping label provided by Tradesy, and then ship your item to you, which means shipping is typically slower than eBay.

Tradesy now authenticates items before they’re shipped, so if they think an item is fake, they will cancel the transaction. This will reassure a novice buyer but they are sometimes wrong. If you’re still skeptical, I recommend a third party authentication service.

I have seen fake items on the platform so you still need to do your due diligence.

Vestaire Collection ★ ★ ★

This website like eBay has individual sellers and that means there are opportunities for good deals. Their items tend to be authentic.

The Real Real ★ ★ ★

It’s ok. I have nothing negative to report.

LetGo/Craiglist/OfferUp/Instagram: ★

Everybody has a friend who purchased an authentic Chanel bag from Craigslist for a great price! You are probably not that friend. If you do your research on one particular bag and know what to look for maybe you could be.

In general, these platforms are for people who are very very comfortable authenticating items themselves. Make sure to use PayPal to make sure your purchase is protected. It’s hit or miss and not really made for Chanel, or pre-owned designer bags in general.

Poshmark: ★ ★

You can purchase high-end items from Poshmark you just have to express more caution, particularly if the sale price is below $500. Poshmark will authenticate preowned designer bags on the back end sold for more than $500.

The platform is better suited to low-cost items like clothing than pre-owned designer bags, so there is an extremely high amount of counterfeit items on Poshmark.