As you can probably tell by my feedback, I am a handbag addict! Recently, I purchased my very first Balenciaga handbag. I loved it so much, I just had to buy another. While searching for the "perfect" bag, I was appalled by the number of fake bags currently listed (and being sold) on ebay. During my search, I learned several ways to tell a fake bag from a real one, and I've decided to share some of that information with other ebay users. I'm not an "expert", and I'm sure I don't know everything there is to know, but if you pay attention to some of the details I mention here, it just might end up saving you hundreds, even thousands of dollars!.
One of the reasons Balenciaga handbags are so popular is because they are made from some of the softest, thinnest, and most lightweight leather available. Once you've touched a Balenciaga handbag, you will be instantly "hooked"! The leather is very thin, but extremely durable. The type of leather used by Balenciaga is a very distressed looking type of leather. Every bag has a unique appearance. You'll find lines, wrinkles, folds and smooth spots all over the bag's body. No two Balenciaga bags look identical.
Most of the fake bags are made from a very inexpensive leather which has a shiny and stiff appearance to it. The leather on the fake bags looks more "cracked" than distressed. The tassels that are connected to all of the zippers should be just as soft as the bag's leather. They should hang loosely, and feel like velvet in your hands. The tassels on most fake bags are stiff and hard, and do not hang loosely. Below are a couple of pics of a fake Twiggy bag. Look closely at the bag's appearance. See how shiny it is? An authentic Balenciaga bag doesn't have this much shine to the bag. You'll also notice that the bag's material appears more "cracked" rather than distressed. Almost as if those lines were intentionally put there:
Now here is that same fake Twiggy bag compared side by side with an authentic Classique. If you look closely, you will see some of the differences. The hardware on the fake bag is too silver & shiny. The hardware on an authentic bag is either brass or "dirty" silver. See the tonal differences in the authentic bag? The folds of the leather and the changes in color? The leather on the fake bag is too even and structured. It looks the same all over the bag. An authentic Balenciaga will usually "collapse" when empty. This is because the leather is so thin and soft, whereas the fake bags tend to hold their shape even when they're not stuffed.
Here is a close up comparing the leather of an authentic bag to the "leather" of a fake bag. When you look at it this way, the differences in the apearance & texture of the leather, become much more apparent. You can actually see the stiffness & cracked appearance in the fake bag versus the soft and distressed look of the authentic:
Here are a few more comparisons. The first is a photo of an authentic Twiggy Bag above a fake Twiggy. Once you compare the bags side by side like this, the differences become much more obvious. The fake bag isn't even the right size - see how it's shorter than the authentic one? There's also a difference in the placement of the hardware. But the most obvious difference - between all the fake bags - is the leather. It's so soft that there's no way the bag will stand upright unless it is very tightly stuffed. As I mentioned above, the bags tend to collapse when you set them down, even when the bags have many things inside. It doesn't take much inside of a fake bag in order for it to retain its shape. The second photo is a comparison of the backside of an authentic Black City Classique and a fake Black Twiggy Bag. Again, note the difference in the appearance of the leather - see how the authentic appears to be distressed, while the fake looks more "cracked". There are other differences also, if you look closely. See the hardware that connects the handles to the bag? On an authentic bag this hardware is rounder and wider, while the hardware on the fake bag is much more narrow and longer. Also, the studs on the bag. The studs on the fake bag have a very flat appearance to them and look as if they pertrude from the bag. On an authentic bag, the hardware is three-dimensional and appears to "blend" with the bag. Also, the hardware on a fake bag is single-toned, meaning that it is only a single shade of silver (or brass). The hardware on an authentic bag is multi-tonal, and looks like different colors in different light.
As I'm sure most of you know, authentic Balenciaga bags are made with Lampo zippers. The thing that most people don't know is that Lampo makes two different types of zippers. An authentic Balenciaga should have the type of Lampo zipper that is written in italics with a line underneath which extends from the bottom of the "L" and the TM symbol in the upper right corner. The other type of Lampo zipper, which is printed in uneven, capital letters is NOT the type of the zipper that should be found on an authentic Balenciaga bag. The word "Lampo" should be embossed on the zipper (printed in raised letters), whereas most of the fake bags have the word "Lampo" engraved into the zipper. Please be aware, however, that there are many fake bags with authentic Lampo zippers. YOU CANNOT TELL IF A BAG IS AUTHENTIC BY LOOKING AT THE ZIPPER ALONE!!
Another thing to look at are the small rings on the zippers where the tassels are tied. There should be small rings on each of the zippers (the top zipper, the front zipper and the inner zipper pocket). All of these rings should be sealed or welded closed so that there are no gaps and/or spaces. Most of the fake bags (that I've seen) have small gaps where the ends of the ring meet. These rings are also made from a type of metal that cannot be easily bent and/or "pinched", whereas the rings on the fake bags tend to be much to thin and can be easily bent or pinched together, or in some cases, easily fall off. Also, the detachable shoulder strap. Look closely at the ends. The shoulder strap of an authentic bag should should be one solid piece with small openings at the ends where the hardware fits into. The leather on the shoulder strap of most fake bags are folded over the hardware and wrapped around it, creating a double layer of leather. The hardware at the ends should have a rounded, curved appearance to it, while most of the fake bags have more of a squared appearance to this hardware. There should also be a small eye hook that connects the hardware together. The tip of the eye hook should have a flat head and should be pushed up through the corkscrew shaped hardware. It should not stop just below it, as it does on most of the fake bags:
You should also take a look at the handles of the bag. The handles are weaved, or braided with leather. Balenciaga calls it "sueded leather", which has a raw appearance to it and looks more like rope or a shoelace. It shouldn't be finished leather, coated or protected. The following picture shows the difference in the braiding on an authentic bag and a fake one. See how the braiding on the fake bag looks like it has a protective coating over it:
Very close attention should be paid to the tags inside of the bag. The Classique (small), the City Classique (medium) and the Voyage (weekender) should all have a leather tag with a silver plate on the frontside. The Office Bag (large) and Boston Twiggy should just have leather tags with no silver plate (some older Twiggy bags had silver plates, but this was changed in 2004). Most of the numbers should be the SAME on every bag in one style. The only number that is different is the first number on the top of the silver plate (the one that starts with "No."). The number 103208 is the model number of the Classique (small) and should appear on the bottom of the silver plate and should be the first set of numbers on the back of the leather tag, followed by the numbers 213048. The model number of the City Classique (medium) is 115748 and should be found on the bottom of the silver plate and should be the first set of numbers on the backside of the leather tag, followed by the numbers 3444. The model number of the Voyage (weekender) is 110506 and should be found on the bottom of the silver plate and should be the first set of numbers on the backside of the leather tag, followed by the numbers 213048. The model number of the Twiggy bag is 128523 and should be the first set of numbers on the backside of the leather tag, followed by the numbers 3444. The model number of the Office Bag is 132110, followed by the numbers 1669. All of these numbers should be found on all authentic bags for the current season. Many fake bags have one set of numbers on the silver plate, with another bag's model number on the backside of the leather tag. The numbers and "made in italy" should be evenly centered on the backside of the tag. On many of the fake bags, these numbers are printed too high on the tag, or sometimes printed unevenly. The pics below show the tags from an authentic Classique and a fake Classique. You'll notice that numbers on the backside of the tag inside the fake bag are the numbers that should appear on the tag of a Twiggy bag!
Another important fact you should know is that all black bags that are currently produced are made with BRASS HARDWARE, not silver. In fact, all of the current (all leather) bags have brass hardware. Black bags have not been made with silver hardware for approx 2 years, and when they were made with silver hardware, they did NOT have a silver plate inside (they only had the leather tag with BALENCIAGA on the front and the style number on the back). If you see a brand new black bag with silver hardware, you need to confirm when this bag was originally purchased. If you are told that it was purchased within the last 6-9 months, or if it has a silver plate inside, chances are that bag will be fake. The brass hardware includes the zipper on the inner wall pocket - a current colored bag should not have brass hardware on the outside and a silver zipper on the inside.
When purchasing a brand new Balenciaga bag from an authorized retailer, the cosmetic mirror that is included with the bag comes tied around the rear handle of the bag so that it hangs. It does NOT come wrapped in platic (or worse, bubble wrap!). The detachable shoulder strap is almost always connected to the bag, it is also never wrapped in plastic (or bubble wrap) and tucked inside the bag. You may notice that many of the bags that you find listed, will include all the "extras" wrapped in plastic. The only item that comes with an authentic Balenciaga bag that is wrapped in plastic are the extra tassels, that are included with every bag. While I'm sure it's always POSSIBLE that a seller might wrap the accessories for protection during shipping, this is not how brand new bags are normally sold and is another way that may help you determine if the bag is fake (but again, you should not rely on this alone).
A few other things you should do when considering placing a bid on one of the Balenciaga bags listed on ebay, (1) Contact the seller and ask them when and where they originally purchased the bag. This shouldn't be a big secret. There are only a handful of retail locations that are authorized to sell authentic Balenciaga handbags. Many of the online sites that are selling bags with the Balenciaga name, are actually selling fake bags. (The fake Black Twiggy bag pictured above was purchased for more than $1100 from one of these sites!) You can usually tell that these bags are not authentic because either the colors are wrong, or they have way too many available. There are waiting lists that are months long at most authorized retail locations. It's impossible for any retailer to have as many of these bags available for immediate shipment as some of these websites have. (2) Familarize yourself with the names of the styles, the colors and when they were released. Only a handful of colors are produced each season, and they are almost always "retired" at the end of each season. The only colors that are continuously produced are black and white. Red is an older color from approx 2 yrs ago, so if a seller has a brand new red bag which they claim they just bought, chances are it is not an authentic Balenciaga bag. You can get a list of the current colors from any authorized Balenciaga retailer. (3) Know your seller. Check their feedback. How many Balenciaga bags has this seller sold? Do they have a continuous inventory of these bags, as well as other HTF designer bags. Do they have more than 2 or 3 black bags currently available? Black is the most popular color and the hardest to find. It would be next to impossible for any ebay seller to have more than 2 or 3 black bags available for bidding. (4) Unless the bag has been previously used, it is IMPOSSIBLE to purchase an authentic Balenciaga bag for less than its retail price. At its current price, with sales tax, the lowest possible price to buy a brand new authentic Balenciaga handbag (in the US) is approx. $1000. If a seller has a brand new bag that they're selling for much less than this, chances are, the bag is not authentic. You know the saying, "If it sounds too good to be true, it's probably not."
I'm not an expert, and I'm sure there are other ways to tell a fake bag from an authentic one, but I believe this information is a good place to start, and if you pay attention to the things I've mentioned here, you will greatly reduce your chances of buying a fake Balenciaga bag. If you would like more information about buying an authentic Balenciaga handbag, I recommend you purchase the GUIDE TO BUYING AUTH BALENCIAGA MOTORCYCLE BAG ONLINE! currently available from the ebay seller, dudeiloveyou. In this guide you will:
"... learn how to spot fakes immediately! In this 73 page guide you will find detailed information about authentic Balenciaga, you will find many photos of fakes, many photos of authentics, detailed comparisons, information on where the fakers get their fakes, how to check if the bag you want to bid on is fake, how to spot a top of the line mirror image fake (your biggest enemy when buying online), how to spot an authentic bag, what Balenciaga's actual colors are, what authentic leather is really like, how to avoid shady sellers, how to get a deal, and basically how NOT to get ripped off! And much more!"
PLEASE NOTE: I am in no way affiliated with dudeiloveyou or their auctions and I do not profit or benefit in any way from the sale of their items. This referral is being made for informational purposes only. I make no warranties or guarantees on the items they sell. Any questions or concerns about any of their items should be directed to the dudeiloveyou.
I hope this information has been useful to some of you, and that you all have the opportunity to purchase your "dream" bag sometime in the near future. If you have any addiitional information that you would like me to add, please feel free to contact me. If I've made a mistake, please let me know. All I want to do is help save buyers hundreds of dollars and help prevent them from wasting their money on the tons of fake bags currently being sold on ebay. Thanks for visiting, and Happy Bidding!
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