Perform the “smell test” before you buy a designer label online.

What’s the “smell test”?

1. Go into an actual store where you are sure you are getting the “real deal” on genuine designer merchandise. Like a Coach store at your local mall. Do NOT go into an outlet mall or any other location where clearance, wholesale, or rock-bottom deals are being sold. You aren’t going there to buy your purse – You’re going there to TEST the merchandise.
2. Look for the purse that is the exact same model you are planning on buying – or if they don’t have it, one that is close in structure and style.
3. Now, let your fingers and senses guide you when examining the purse. Do your fingers glide across the leather or metal hardware smoothly? Does it feel heavy in your hands? Do you get a genuine sense of how much labor and attention to fine, minute details while this item was being made?
4. Examine the stitches and the seams. Can you see broken threads poking up through the holes? Can you see seams that might appear too weak to be stretched? Do you see exposed raw fabric edges anywhere? Does the leather appear real? And can you smell the leather at all?
5. Now for the price: What is the average price of the label and item you are examining? If the item is too low for the range your product is supposed to be priced at, then it is probably not the “real deal”. Louis Vuitton bags are in the thousands. Coach bags are in the hundreds. Usually, only authorized dealers are allowed to sell genuine designer labels. That’s why it’s important you go to a store where you can feel absolute certainty about handling genuine designer labels. This is important. An unauthorized retailer usually doesn’t want you to know this. So you’re going to get every line in the book about why THEY happen to have Louis Vuitton’s, Gucci’s or Prada’s.

No one can resist buying something genuine when it “fell off a truck”, so to speak. After all, when you’re in the face of a truly genuine item and you’re confronted with a “genuine” designer label bag for only a fraction of the real cost, then you are put into your weakest emotional state. You become a motivated buyer – confronted by a very motivated seller.

What to do, What to do….Oh, heaven on earth, what will you do??!

The very last thing you should do is take leave of your senses.

I say, resist the urge.

Only buy when you KNOW for sure that you are getting genuine Prada, Coach or Louis Vuitton. Do your homework. Find out what the genuine article costs and whether or not a certain store is in fact a genuine retailer of that brand or label.

I remember back in the old days, with regard to designer hair products. I could only buy the real item through my hair dresser. Yet, I could find reduced priced versions of them in every grocery store or pharmacy. In fact, that’s all you ever found there. Look-alikes. And everyone always insisted they had the genuine product. Yet, when I brought it home, it was awful on my hair.

Do the same when you are seeking to buy genuine label items. If the manufacturer says you can’t buy their product from anyone else except genuine authorized dealers. Then you can rest assured that your search is over and that you are only guaranteed a fake when you buy any other way.

Everyone’s broke and nothing can be more irresistible than a brand new “authentic” Coach handbag for $25. With the average price of a Coach handbag around $300, online shoppers are all looking for that incredibly deep-discount Coach handbag.

No one needs to remind you that too many online sites selling discount Coach handbags are actually offering fake bags. If a price on a Coach bag is too low, then don’t be fooled into thinking you are getting some kind of super deal. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. In addition to the fake bag being passed of a the real thing, you will also come across sites that sell replicas as a statement of fact – nothing is hidden about the fact that you are getting a REPLICA.

It’s one thing to buy a bag that says it’s a Coach on the label when in fact it’s not.

It is, however, a completely different matter when you are told plainly that the fake is in FACT a fake by the seller. In other words, it’s a high quality replica bag – designer inspired or look-alike. Designer inspired.

If the fake has the emblems and all the “bling” on it – it is the intention of the seller to sell you a fake. These are actually the one’s you DON’T want. There is literally no real re-sale value on it.

But if it doesn’t say it, then it is an “inspired” copy. These are bags that are of genuine quality – much like the real-deal’s – but they don’t cross any lines by putting Coach logos on the bag itself.

Some sites offer authentic-looking replica bags, and are designed to look authentic. They follow the rules by disclosing that the bags are not real, but the print is so small that you could easily miss it. If you are following the price value relationship, then you should always know when something is looking fishy.

But then again, sometimes, this is still not enough of. Some manufacturers or sellers of replicas have absolutely no intention of letting you know they are selling you a known fake – because then they’d lose out on the extra profit. So the price ends up being close to the same as a real Coach.

The only real way to protect yourself is to buy it from a store – in person – that you trust. You need to be able to feel and handle the product. You need to feel comfortable with the purchase. You need to be able to close your eyes and run your fingers over the leather and canvas, over the zippers and the metal hardware. Your fingers can’t lie to you the way your eyes can.

Let your senses be the real judge in picking out your best purse.

However — if you really need to buy online, buy from a mail-order online seller you trust.

Try a major outlet that has a strong, reputable return policy. For example, L.L.Bean has a lifetime warranty on most of their item and lets you return items – postage paid – long after the sale is over. However, L.L.Bean has been around a LONG time and can afford to make such extravagant types of offers to its loyal customers. On the downside, L.L. Bean only sells items made with the L.L. Bean label. You’re not going to find a designer label handbag there.

If you are going to go with a small outlet, please make sure you can contact someone from their operation by phone first. You want to be able to call someone when something goes wrong. A friendly sounding voice can go a long way in soothing your nerves more than a standard “we’ll get back to you in 48-hours” email can.

More later on this subject soon…