Quote:
Originally Posted by Joanne_Tay
Hi i am just wondering.. by looking at the bag.. how do you know if the bag is real or fake? there must be some pointers where we look at right? can any care to share to tell me more about its? thanks..
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I want to emphasize that there are NO one or two or even ten "pointers" that prove a bag is genuine, but there are dozens that prove it's fake. Every feature or detail that Coach or any other manufacturer can put on their bags or wallets can be put on fakes by professional counterfeiters just as easily, even the "bulls-eye" outlet stamps.
What a maker can make, a faker can fake.
We look for MISTAKES, not "authenticity proofs". The strongest pointer that a bag is genuine is usually the seller of the bag - there are some on
eBay who are so well-trusted that some of us would buy a bag from them with one photograph - or even none. But even experienced pros can sometimes be fooled, so we're still careful when we're looking at their items for someone else. And there are some things like wallets, keychains, or commonly faked bags like Carlys, Signature Stripes, Gallery Totes, etc, where we assume that if just one of a certain seller's items shows signs of a fake, everything they're selling is probably fake too.
We usually don't go into too many details about why we know something's fake unless it's obvious, like the C pattern not being aligned or a bag having the wrong serial number. These boards are public, and anyone including the sellers, distributors and makers of counterfeits can and
do read them. Just a year or two ago Coach bags with messed-up C patterns and plastic wrap on the straps were all over
eBay and ridiculously easy to spot, but as the fakes industry found out why their junk was being spotted so easily they changed their methods. C's now usually line up correctly, and how many sellers are still dumb enough to leave the plastic on the handles? I think the one we looked at a few days ago is the first I've seen in weeks.
The fakes-selling industry also has their own forums - VERY private and well-hidden - where any information we let slip is circulated and passed up in the chain to distributors and manufacturers, so the less we say, the better. There have been quite a few fakes sellers "outed" right here at tPF and they try to infiltrate the more private forums too, in order to learn what mistakes we're spotting so they can either correct them or be sure that when they take their auction photos they make sure NOT to photograph areas on a bag, wallet or keychain that would show it to be fake. That's why a lot of fakes sellers avoid showing pics of things like the hardware, the creed patch, the hangtag, etc. and why we won't recommend anyone bid on an item with bad or incomplete photos.
There are no simple "guides" and very few "rules" - the only way to learn how to tell fake from real is by first
learning the product - learn everything you can about what makes a Coach item, and not just the current line in the stores. You can't spot fakes until you know what the genuine items look like unless the fakes have really obvious mistakes. And
don't depend on the Drilldown! It's easy to make a fake, especially a wallet, that will look exactly like Coach's photograph. Drilldown photos sometimes have incorrect details too.
Never depend on one or two
eBay guides or some e-guide that you downloaded from an Ebay seller (most people selling those downloadable guides are also known to have sold fakes, BTW). There are a few very good Ebay guides but even those have to be updated regularly as Coach makes changes in the details of things like hardware and serial numbers. Way too many Ebay "guides" are worse than useless, especially any that claim that if a bag has such-and-such a feature, like YKK zippers, that proves it's genuine - BULLPOOP! There are no "proofs" or "authenticity Rules" that prove anything is genuine. Something is
probably genuine only
if and
when no one can find anything in the auction photos, seller history or their own personal experience that shows it to be fake, and even then that's not
proof.
Sorry to be so long-winded, but it's a complicated subject and there aren't any simple answers.
Re: Authenticate This Coach
