Caption: Street vendors will often have many counterfeit bags of various “designers” stacked up next to each other with some kind of protective packaging over the handles or hardware. You might come across bags inside of a plastic protective film or with strange brand/logo appearance or price tags. Besides the actual designer boutiques themselves, the only stores where you will find authentic handbags are designer resale stores.  

You don’t have to be an expert luxury handbag authenticator to spot a Canal Street fake. Most fake bags will sacrifice quality of materials, attention to details, or elements of craftsmanship like stitching, hardware fixtures and logos. However, there’s plenty of mid-grade fakes out there too, that look very close to the real deal and can be convincing to the average consumer. For these, some authentication background is required; they will typically be fake Chanel flap or Boy bags, fake Louis Vuitton or knockoff Gucci handbags, since these are some of the most popular brands in luxury fashion, thus are most frequently counterfeited. If you want to learn how to authenticate these yourself, be sure to check out our Authentication Guides for each designer: 

Chanel Authentication Guide

Hermes Authentication Guide

Louis Vuitton Authentication Guide

Gucci Authentication Guide

Tech-savvy scammers have figured out ways to bring these mid-grade fakes to the online marketplaces. You can find ads on social media, offering top designer brand handbags for unbelievable prices like $500 for a Chanel 2.55 Flap Bag. According to a research report published by the Washington Post, over 20,000 Instagram accounts are actively selling fake handbags, and up to one-fifth of handbag posts feature counterfeits. Some shady sellers will use black-hat search engine tricks to promote their online sites where they sell their fakes. Beware of any search engine results that say “Cheap Chanel Bag” or “Wholesale Louis Vuitton” etc. There is no such thing as wholesale, or cheap luxury designer handbags. Still, trusting your gut instinct and having some authentication knowledge can steer you clear of these counterfeits and replicas. 

Caption: Can you spot the fake? It is the bag on the right, imitating a Chanel Classic Flap. Upon first glance, it might be hard to tell since the CCs are overlapping correctly, centered in the leather tag, and the diamond stitching is convincing. However, there are areas where the stitches do not overlap perfectly, as on the authentic Reissue Flap on the left. Some fakes are pretty realistic, so always be aware and diligent! 

Super fakes are counterfeit handbags with a high degree of attention to detail, effectively replicating the original designer’s craftsmanship process and creating a near-undetectable fake. These identity thieves are so convincing that there have been instances of customers bringing super fakes in for servicing at real luxury designer boutiques, where some employees were unable to detect the fake. Luckily, the sheer amount of attention to detail to effectively recreate a designer bag to the point of identicalness is costly both in time and money to manufacture, as the knockoff would have to mimic the original meticulous production process and treatments - not many counterfeiters would bother with this endeavor. It is not likely you will come across one, but it is important to know they do exist and are in circulation. If you suspect a bag of being a super fake, the best thing to do would be to leave it to the professionals. The makers of these super fakes often replicate serial numbers, date codes, even holograms, making their counterfeiting near undetectable to the untrained eye. 

• If the price is too good to be true, the bag is likely fake. Authentic luxury handbags, even pre-owned or vintage examples, will retain their value well and rarely drop to prices considered “cheap”.
• Buy your designer handbags from reputable sellers. You can and should buy pre-owned luxury handbags for the value and savings over retail, but only do so from resellers that have good third party reviews (i.e. Google reviews) and a money-back authenticity guarantee. Reputable resellers will have detailed listings and quality pictures showing every angle of the handbag - if they are the real deal, they will have nothing to hide!
• Do your homework! Before buying a handbag either in person or online, look for authentication pointers, compare to pictures of authentic examples, or check out authentication guides.
  
  

• You will be putting money into the pockets of nefarious people: drug traffickers, human traffickers, terrorists and other criminal organizations that engage in and profit from counterfeiting designer goods - handbags included! 
• Fake bags carry no status and won’t impress anyone. In fact, because the vast majority of fakes are relatively easy to spot by anyone who owns the real thing, many people will know you are carrying a fake. Besides the embarrassment, anyone carrying a fake bag will appear to have no ethics, because fake bags are both stealing intellectual property and are manufactured by criminals.
• A fake bag has no value. You can spend $500 on a fake but won’t ever be able to sell it again for any value. It is always better to spend more money on the real bag and be able to sell it later. You don’t have to spend $5,000 on a brand new bag - if you want to save your money, consider buying an authenticated pre-owned designer handbag. The value return on them is considerable.
• Designer fashion houses lose billions of dollars per year due to fakes. If you really love Chanel so much, do not knowingly purchase a fake!