Please note, your Vintage Dream IT BAG may be a false luxury bag! Stamped Chanel, Hermès or Louis Vuitton, thanks to the second hand, the ideal handbag is finally within the reach of your wallet. But how can we be sure that this golden opportunity does not turn out to be a real false? Counterfeit detection: user manual.
Whether it represents a sweet dream or the satisfaction of a fashion drive, the luxury bag is the object of desire par excellence. Sexy, but also precious and expensive, it is often through the occasion that it is possible to acquire it when you do not have the bank account of a superstar. Sale deposits, ads on generic or specialized sites, the means to get their hands on a used luxury bag There is no shortage of. Those of being ripped off either. Before wondering if investing in an IT bag is a good idea, it is still necessary to thwart the traps of the counterfeit.
What does the counterfeit market look like?
According to the OECD, the trade of false represents 3.3 % of world trade. In France, in 2020 alone, customs entered 5.64 million counterfeit products including 800,000 accessories and clothing. “”There is an increase in the presence of counterfeits on digital in recent years“, Develop Maître Vanessa Bouchara and Maître Adèle Maier, the two partners of the Bouchara cabinet specializing in intellectual property and fight against counterfeiting.”Internet counterfeiting has very diverse aspects. There are, for example, false sites that take exactly the codes of luxury claws or multi -brand platforms to deceive the customer“They continue. Buying counterfeit luxury pieces can also arrive on certain second-hand sites, on social networks, in certain unscrupulous vintage shops …. In short, vigilance is required.
Among the champions of counterfeits, China where practice is very widespread. But also Turkey or Italy, countries where the fashion industry is particularly substantial. So much so that it sometimes happens that the brand and its counterfeit are produced in the same place. Which makes the false even more difficult to spot: “Customs, which is however well trained to recognize counterfeits, sometimes asks the brand the criteria to determine whether it is a real or a false and understand the subtleties of its product.“, Underline Master Bouchara and Maître Maier.
The best thing is to buy your handbag on platforms specializing in the resale of luxury products, such as collective collective cloakroom or monogram. These sites systematize the expertise of the parts they put up for sale to detect counterfeits.
Using extremely detailed grids and a sharp eye by the years of experience, a handful of experts guarantees the authenticity of the bags. So before you embark on a risky purchase outside of these trust platforms, Sara Bennani, head of the Collector Square bags and luggage department, guides you in the stages of an inspection in order.
Scrutinize the silhouette of the bag
If there is one area where the Body Shaming has a city right, it is the handbag. From the first glance, a false can be detected by its non -compliant silhouette: errors of proportions or not correspondence to the sizes marketed by the brand can put the chip in the ear. This is also the case for poor positioning of the handles. Each centimeter counts and the difference between the different elements of the bag are standardized: not roughly, the bag must keep the line!
Be attentive to the indices of luxury houses
Aware of the vulnerability of their leather goods jewelry, large houses have set up systems to protect themselves from counterfeiting. Thus, we can find on a large number of them signs that do not deceive: a serial number, solidly glued to a label at the bottom of the bag, a stamp that indicates the production date by a coded system. If certain labels may be missing from the call without qualifying the imitation piece, on the most recent models it is impossible that the sticker can fall.
Tracking the inconsistencies of the counterfeit bag
After the first evidences, it is time for the gadget inspector that lies dormant in you to take out your most beautiful magnifying glass. The purpose of hunting for clues? Detect small errors that have slipped into this Imitation of luxury bag. These can in particular be anachronisms. For example, the Hermès bags are dated precisely by a system of stamp (stamp) which unroll the letters of the alphabet surrounded by a round or a square. If the stamp Announces a date prior to 2004 but that the bag has a D ring which allows you to hang a strap strap, there is, for example, an inconsistency. Likewise for zips of Chanel bags which are only signed with double C from the last collections. If the first figures in the serial number (which correspond to a date) are too old, it is a disturbing anomaly.
Know how to note the manufacturing defects
Little luck that a counterfeit reaches the perfection of a play carried out by expert craftsmen and scrutinized by demanding quality control. Thus, irregular seams, imprecise markings or even lighter lettering are all ugly faults to track with attention. The same goes for the quality of the materials used for making the bag. No need to be very experienced to notice a too shiny leather or metal, at least at first.
Stay sensitive to the side
It is not because you are not going to acquire a luxury bag in its natural environment in store that you are not entitled to the full ceremonial. It is even he who can reassure you on the authenticity of said bag. An invoice, an authenticity card (at Chanel), but also a Dust Bag (case), a box … the more complete the panoply, the more you are sure you are in the real. To your checklists!
What are the appeals when you buy an infringement by accident?
Have you bought your counterfeit handbag on a second -hand platform? Some of them are readily involved and ask the seller to explain himself, or even block him. You can also contact the brand, which, if it cannot necessarily provide you with help, will inform its legal team to try to dismantle the counterfeit sector.
In addition to calling on firms like that of Maître Bouchara, some luxury companies organize themselves. This is the case with the LVMH, Richemont and Prada groups which created a blockchain platform called aura. It allows you to follow the product life cycle and establishes an identity card which gives all the information on the product, its serial number, etc. to the customer. A system that should quickly seduce other brands.
