Authentic Louis Vuitton

[bucutie02]

Okay I am wondering how you can determine a real authentic Louis Vuitton bag from a fake. My friend was bidding on a few bags on ebay, but someone would always outbid her because she didnt want to pay too much. Well a seller noticed her, so she emailed her and told her she would sell her an authentic louis vuitton bag for only 150- my friend negotiated with her and got her to sell it for 110. She told me the bag came in yesterday, and she LOVES it. She said the lady told her she had a small bucket purse as well, which is what I want. I am considering buying it from this lady after I see my friend's.

So, my question is.... How can you determine the difference between a fake and a real Louis Vuitton. I just think that this purse MUST be fake because the bucket is selling for 150 when it retails for like 680!!!

[ZTAngel]

I'm not sure how you can physically tell if a bag is real or not. One thing you can do is look at the seller's ebay ratings. Many of the handbag buyers can tell if the bag is fake. If the person has a lot of negative ratings because they sold fake Louis Vuitton bag under the pretenses that it was real, don't buy for them!
I'm not sure how these sellers get these bags for so cheap. I've heard varying stories. One of the most popular is that a department store (let's just say Bloomingdale's) was unable to sell the bag for some reason. They will sell it to the ebay person for a lower price which is how you can get these less expensive bags. It could be that a department store ordered too much inventory and sold off their extras to the ebay person. Or, it could be that it was taken off the back of the truck (five-finger merchandise ).

[TCV]

Hello,
I would check the inside of the purse for the label (Louis Vuitton) and also look at the material/fabric inside the purse which will sometimes have the signature name (at least Prada does). If you are still not sure take the purse to a Sak's Fifth Avenue or similiar store that sells the name brand purse so they can check it out and tell you if it's fake or not.
Good Luck!
~T~

[ZTAngel]

Originally posted by TCV
If you are still not sure take the purse to a Sak's Fifth Avenue or similiar store that sells the name brand purse so they can check it out and tell you if it's fake or not.

Heh-Heh. I use to work in handbags at Bloomingdale's and, to tell you the truth, there are some fakes that are done so well that we can't even tell the difference.
One of our vendors for Fendi was telling us about how she was at a wedding one time. A woman at her table appeared to have a Fendi bag. The vendor checked it out and then said to the woman, "I see you have a Fendi. I'm actually a vendor for the company." The woman with the 'Fendi' laughed and said, "Actually, this is a cheap knock off that I bought for $15 from some guy on the corner in New York." So, many of the times the people that work for these companies can't even tell. You have to be a real handbag afficianado (sp?) to be able to tell.

[AchtungBaby80]

Hey, bucutie02, are you getting one of the bags with the new rainbow-colored pattern?

[Aphigal]

If you like I say it doesn't matter. But keep in mind as Mom always said...if it looks too good to be true well then....

[chloe173]

Just a thought, but shouldn't this have gone under the chit chat forum and not rush? Let's keep our threads in the right places!

But just so you know, if it happens to be one of the multicolored Louis's that you are ordering on ebay, then its fake. Every Louis Vuitton store across the world has these bags on severe back order with the waiting lists in the thousands. No department store has even been franchised to sell these bags yet, so I would say that 99.9% of those bags on ebay are fake. If you are referring to the older brown version though, you are looking at a much better chance of a real bag. Here are a few ways to tell a real from a fake in the brown monogram bags:
1. The leather should be very soft, and (obviously) real leather.
2. The inner lining should be a very soft almost velvety cream colored material with a louis vuitton label in it.
3. Look carefully at the strap. Between the two pieces of brown leather should be a small strip of red.
4. THe larger bags have small metal base stands that are gold and about a quarter of an inch in the corners.
5. It should come in a louis vuitton dustbag.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

I bought a bag off the street in NY and everyone compliments me on it. They think it's a designer bag. I have no idea how to determine if a Louis Vuitton bag is fake or real.

[amandamarie]

I ran into the same predicament with Tiffany's jewelry. Some of the fakes out there are so exact, it's almost impossible to tell the difference. I've looked at Louis' on Ebay too, and I would guarantee almost all of them are fake. I say, if the price is too good to pass up, and no one will be able to tell, go for it!

[sigma3]

I've got a knock-off Kate Spade handbag. I absolutely love it. While I know it's a knock-off, most people don't and you have to look closely to tell it's not the real thing. I say, if you like the bag, get it.
You're right, if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't. But at the same time, you aren't going to get a Louis Vuitton purse cheap, and if you like the look or style of the bag, you should get it, no one else will probably know it's not real.

Courtney

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by chloe173
Just a thought, but shouldn't this have gone under the chit chat forum and not rush? Let's keep our threads in the right places!

But just so you know, if it happens to be one of the multicolored Louis's that you are ordering on ebay, then its fake. Every Louis Vuitton store across the world has these bags on severe back order with the waiting lists in the thousands. No department store has even been franchised to sell these bags yet, so I would say that 99.9% of those bags on ebay are fake. If you are referring to the older brown version though, you are looking at a much better chance of a real bag. Here are a few ways to tell a real from a fake in the brown monogram bags:
1. The leather should be very soft, and (obviously) real leather.
2. The inner lining should be a very soft almost velvety cream colored material with a louis vuitton label in it.
3. Look carefully at the strap. Between the two pieces of brown leather should be a small strip of red.
4. THe larger bags have small metal base stands that are gold and about a quarter of an inch in the corners.
5. It should come in a louis vuitton dustbag.

You don't think the fake bag manufacturers aren't savvy enough to make the fake look enough like a real one? Especially with a classic design like the Louis Monogram Canvas...they've had decades to perfect that one! When I lived in Rome, there was very little way to distinguish between what you could buy in the Gucci shop and what the Senegalese peddlers at the Pantheon were selling. Why, just yesterday I passed by a counterfeit bag seller with the Louis--and they were all in dustbags. I can't imagine that all of those bags were hot...

[juniorgrrl]

I saw a girl carrying a LV "Murakami" (the multicolored ones) the other day. I had to laugh because I'm 99.9999% sure its a fake. Even Oprah can't get one of those bags!

[GeekyPenguin]

There is a great website that Steeltrap posted a while ago that helps to determine fakes...I cannot for the life of me find it. Anybody have the link?

[ShaedyKD]

I'm not an expert by any means, but my best friend who is a big fan has told me that on the brown monogram bags, the LV monogram will never be cut. Like it will never be on the corner of the bag so they have to cut the monogram in order to sew it together. Of course, she doesn't have a real one either so she may not know what she's talking about!

[Rudey]

Honestly why pretend you're something you're not?

I respect girls who don't wear fake purses, cheap items from tiffany with the tags, and don't call their 3 class BMW the "Bimmer".

-Rudey