Will SA's in Hermes stores authenticate a Birkin for you?

[eye candy]

^Actually that is a good point on the receipts. Thank you! I couldn't have said it better myself.

Just trying to help people from buying a fake Hermes... xx

You can remove my posts as you have done with the previous threads mistikat here in Hermes. Thanks!

 

[CobaltBlu]

Strange. I just posted an ebay item on the authentication thread because it was fake ...to spare fellow tPFs of headaches, and I received a warning from the moderators.

xx

actually, you posted it in the sellers thread. If you would like an item authenticated, please post in one of the Authenticate This threads.

thanks.

 

[Perigord]

It doesn't matter how long your SA worked. There are superfakes out there. Your SA / manager are only trained in sales and product knowledge not pertaining to manufacture. They are not craftsmen. Only the craftsmen can authenticate for sure, there is still a chance that SAs can still make a misdiagnosis.

Asking the SA to authenticate a bag is akin to asking a car sales man to authenticate if some car engine parts are genuine. You would want the mechanic to do that, right?

Thank you for the comments. I have had the wonderful chance to spend days with someone who had spent a decade making bags for Hermes. According to the experts, ome of the fakes are so good that at times a bag needs to be opened up by a craftsman to be absolutely sure. This level of inspection is far beyond the ability of a salesperson.

Only a craftsman can make the determination. Period. SAs have varying degrees of knowledge and experience and I have seen a few errors when they do venture to make an assessment. Most important...they are not allowed to tell any customer a bag is good or not.

While a SA may make a compliment about a bag, it is not authentication and should not be taken as such.

BTW, I have seen sites selling extraordinarily professional looking fake receipts. Customers pay a few hundred dollars and specify country of sale, item, price, and more. They get a receipt that precisely matches the item.

Ever wonder why the most reliable resellers never promote receipts? They are meaningless. Buyers toss them...so the absence of a receipt means nothing. Receipts are more easily faked than a bag. IMHO, they offer no assurance at all of authenticity.

 

[Shinning_Star]

Hmmm..... I am wondering if experience SA can't really tel the bag is real or fake then how the forum can authenticate base on pictures??

 

[Perigord]

Hmmm..... I am wondering if experience SA can't really tel the bag is real or fake then how the forum can authenticate base on pictures??

Fair question. I will just give you some "unofficial" thoughts.

First, every sales associate has a different level of experience. Some probably could make accurate assessments. Some, no. The important point is that Hermes would rather not be in the business of authentication.

Next point--all opinions given by the authenticators here are just that--opinions. If you read the first post in the authentication threads, it emphasizes the point that we are a community offering opinions. An important distinction.

When clear and adequate images are provided along with the full and pertinent history of the seller, it is possible to make well formed opinions. The members here often have decades of collecting experience and are able to know fairly quickly if something is wrong. Perhaps it is as simple as an example of wretched leather, incorrect color or details, or something else. But it is possible for members here to see details that raise red flags.

When making decisions about authenticity, one important point to remember is that we are a community of collectors. Can one authenticator make a mistake when offering an opinion? It is possible--but in that case there are many good sets of eyes and opinions can be changed as debate and discussion and further examination of an object take place. Part of the opinion-building process can involve discussion and self-correction, all in the public eye of the forum.

There are three possible answers to authentication questions here--fake, good, or "cannot say based on the information provided." When the authenticators are unable to make a pronouncement or uncomfortable with an ambiguous listing, they simply say that they do not know with certainty.

No matter the answer, though, everything in the AT should be considered opinion.

 

[Charm]

Thank you for the comments. I have had the wonderful chance to spend days with someone who had spent a decade making bags for Hermes. According to the experts, ome of the fakes are so good that at times a bag needs to be opened up by a craftsman to be absolutely sure. This level of inspection is far beyond the ability of a salesperson.

Only a craftsman can make the determination. Period. SAs have varying degrees of knowledge and experience and I have seen a few errors when they do venture to make an assessment. Most important...they are not allowed to tell any customer a bag is good or not.

While a SA may make a compliment about a bag, it is not authentication and should not be taken as such.

THIS!

 

[Shinning_Star]

yes agree. so i think the best is still the craftsman, not SA or forum

 

[Lyanna Stark]

Please listen to Perigord. It's all common sense.

Hmmm..... I am wondering if experience SA can't really tel the bag is real or fake then how the forum can authenticate base on pictures??

The forum can only tell you what looks fake based on the pictures. If the bag in the photo looks real, it is still understood that you undergo any transaction at your own risk. It is more like a "fake bag elimination process". A buyer still has to do his own due diligence on other factors and make up his mind if he wants to go ahead with any transactions. The authenticate forum is just one line of defense, not the ultimate end of all things. I really salute these people standing on the line defending us against fakers day after day.

(And obviously no one can guarantee that the buyer will get the exact bag that is shown in any pictures that is provided by the seller.)

 

[LamborghiniGirl]

thank you everyone for all of these opinions and suggestions! this has been very informative for me. and just makes me more inclined to buy directly from hermes

 

[Pollypan]

Hi Can anyone give me some idea?

I have sent my birkin which was bought from a reseller to the local Hermes Spa a couple of weeks before. The bag is in a very good condition but I just want to get it authenticated by this way.

The SA took my bag and give me a receipt although she did not think my bag need a spa at all. By the meantime, Claire, the in-store Spa lady was on her holiday. The SA had not ask me to pay in advanced.

2 weeks later when I came to see if I can get my bag back earlier, I found that my bag has been sent to paris.

My concern is: as the bag is in kind of good condition and Claire at London bond street can do very good cleaning and some not very complicate spa treatments. Will it be possible that Claire thought the bag have authentication problem and need to be sent to paris to get it authenticated?

Does anyone know that if Claire at Bond street London can authentic a bag?

Do you think a in-store spa "therapist" like Claire will keep a fake bag and send it to paris? Or she can just refuse to accept the bag and return to me?

 

[purplebirkins]

Most likely scenario is that she sent it to Paris because she determined that she doesn't have all the necessary things needed to fully spa your bag. Most in store craftsmen are only equipped with very basic tools for cleaning, fixing stitches and engraving initials. They dont even have spare parts to change the hardware or zipper pull. Even their selection of cleaning agents are limited. I have had an alligator slg sent back to Paris for cleaning because the local craftsmen didn't have the cleaning agent and tool she needed (FYI, it wasn't stained or anything major, it was simply dirty as it was a light color gator).

 

[lovemyfamily]

I read on another thread that Claire on Bond street verbally authenticated another members bag.

Hi Can anyone give me some idea?

I have sent my birkin which was bought from a reseller to the local Hermes Spa a couple of weeks before. The bag is in a very good condition but I just want to get it authenticated by this way.

The SA took my bag and give me a receipt although she did not think my bag need a spa at all. By the meantime, Claire, the in-store Spa lady was on her holiday. The SA had not ask me to pay in advanced.

2 weeks later when I came to see if I can get my bag back earlier, I found that my bag has been sent to paris.

My concern is: as the bag is in kind of good condition and Claire at London bond street can do very good cleaning and some not very complicate spa treatments. Will it be possible that Claire thought the bag have authentication problem and need to be sent to paris to get it authenticated?

Does anyone know that if Claire at Bond street London can authentic a bag?

Do you think a in-store spa "therapist" like Claire will keep a fake bag and send it to paris? Or she can just refuse to accept the bag and return to me?

 

[Pollypan]

I read on another thread that Claire on Bond street verbally authenticated another members bag.

Dear Lovemyfamily:

Thank you very much for your reply. I tried to type "Claire" to search the thread you mentioned, cannot find anything do u think you can remember some other key words of the thread?

I would be much much more peace if someone told me that: yes, Claire can do the authentication.

My concern was started from another story about how a nice SA pointed out that a walk-in client was carrying a fake bag and kindly helped her to send her bag to Paris to get a "non-authentic" certification to help the lady get her money back from the reseller. (Sorry I cannot remember how I got know this story.)

I just wish I am not in this kind of case!

 

[Pollypan]

Most likely scenario is that she sent it to Paris because she determined that she doesn't have all the necessary things needed to fully spa your bag. Most in store craftsmen are only equipped with very basic tools for cleaning, fixing stitches and engraving initials. They dont even have spare parts to change the hardware or zipper pull. Even their selection of cleaning agents are limited. I have had an alligator slg sent back to Paris for cleaning because the local craftsmen didn't have the cleaning agent and tool she needed (FYI, it wasn't stained or anything major, it was simply dirty as it was a light color gator).

Thank you Purplebirkins

I hope my bag is in this case!!! I miss my little Birkin. Hopefully I will get it back to show you all soon

 

[birkinette]

thank you everyone for all of these opinions and suggestions! this has been very informative for me. and just makes me more inclined to buy directly from hermes

buying from Hermes stores don't guarantee authenticity (certain stores that is). My friend bought a birkin from Bangkok Hermes, and brought it to Singapore Hermes as she had a problem with it. They told her it was a fake ! They kept her bag as they wanted to investigate the case.