Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

[SJAllison]

The complaint is about this bag? It looks gorgeous IMO. What is her complaint?

she first accused me of painting it which anyone here should and has my permission to shoot me if I did something so heinous . Once I told her I had custom mixed recoloring balm to best match the original color as possible she said it was “patchy”. I literally went over this bag with a magnifying glass to get the color as even as possible. As @Lake Effect commented a while ago when I first shared this bag “in progress” this leather from Costa Rica doesn’t take color as evenly. The same was true with recoloring so I had to almost sponge paint the balm to get it as even as I could. There is something hinky about this gal.

 

[SJAllison]

She probably didn't read the measurements and is making up an excuse to return. What site did you sell it on?

She bought this on Poshmark but there is something odd about her profile. She has no listings, has never sold anything. Her about statement says her favorite brand is coach and she told me she collects vintage coach bags. She asked for a partial refund which is not something that Poshmark does that I know of. I told her to request a refund because I know someone else would love and appreciate it.

 

[SJAllison]

A different view in natural light.

ETA The lightish spot is a reflection

 

[SJAllison]

Hi All--just browsing rehab videos and this forum while working on my first rehab project of a 1996 camel coach court.

I will never forget the first time I ever saw Coach bag --it was back in 1990 after landing at the Narita International Airport in Tokyo. I fell in love instantly while standing and looking up and down a 15 foot plus tall shrine (wall) of elegantly displayed Coach leather bags.

It's taken me over 30 years before I could afford one of these original beauties and it really breaks my heart to see so many of these beautiful bags treated so poorly over the years.

My mom always carried coach bags when I was a young girl in the 1970’s and every time I pick one of these bags up the smell of the leather and even the brass hardware takes me back to that time when I would dig through her bag looking for gum, candy or something. I’ve owned coach bags but never a leather one until now and I’m hooked! I sometimes wish the ones that have been so poorly treated could tell me what happened to them.

 

[whateve]

She bought this on Poshmark but there is something odd about her profile. She has no listings, has never sold anything. Her about statement says her favorite brand is coach and she told me she collects vintage coach bags. She asked for a partial refund which is not something that Poshmark does that I know of. I told her to request a refund because I know someone else would love and appreciate it.

I've had one return on PM. I was surprised they approved the return, as I thought I had described it perfectly. The buyer lied in that she said it looked dyed and faded. I don't think it could be dyed and faded at the same time. If I had dyed it, it would have looked new. The next buyer (on etsy) loved it. I think etsy buyers are usually more aware of what vintage bags are like.

A long time ago, I had color refreshed a bag and the buyer was really unhappy. I think it is important to mention that in your listing because some people want their bags to be untouched.

The great thing about PM returns is that they pay for everything. I've almost stopped selling on ebay completely because their policies favor buyers making up any reason to return and the seller is stuck paying shipping both ways. That happened to me recently with a $12 sale - I ended up giving a complete refund as I didn't want the additional expense of paying the shipping to get it back.

 

[SJAllison]

I've had one return on PM. I was surprised they approved the return, as I thought I had described it perfectly. The buyer lied in that she said it looked dyed and faded. I don't think it could be dyed and faded at the same time. If I had dyed it, it would have looked new. The next buyer (on etsy) loved it. I think etsy buyers are usually more aware of what vintage bags are like.

A long time ago, I had color refreshed a bag and the buyer was really unhappy. I think it is important to mention that in your listing because some people want their bags to be untouched.

The great thing about PM returns is that they pay for everything. I've almost stopped selling on ebay completely because their policies favor buyers making up any reason to return and the seller is stuck paying shipping both ways. That happened to me recently with a $12 sale - I ended up giving a complete refund as I didn't want the additional expense of paying the shipping to get it back.

I’m very new at the rehab thing and have a lot to learn but I do love it and like a few others here have said, I get attached to the bags.

I always try to be detailed with my posts and in this one I did say it has been recolored. I get that it’s possible an average buyer might not understand that and I could have elaborated but I think a “vintage collector“ should get it. I’ve been selling on Poshmark since 2014 and have had a few issues with people trying to pull a fast one but only one return and I approved it because it was a pair of shoes that didn’t fit. I find they tend to be more supportive of sellers and it is nice they handle the return process.

I quit ebay a couple years ago for exactly what you are talking about. Buyers making up all kinds of nonsense and eBay pretty much always sides with them even though it’s the seller that pays all their fees. I had thought about opening an Etsy shop but that’s as far as I’ve gotten.

I’ve only rehabbed and sold a handful of bags and this is the first one where they weren’t thrilled with it. In the end, you can‘t please everyone.

 

[Michelle1x]

She bought this on Poshmark but there is something odd about her profile. She has no listings, has never sold anything. Her about statement says her favorite brand is coach and she told me she collects vintage coach bags. She asked for a partial refund which is not something that Poshmark does that I know of. I told her to request a refund because I know someone else would love and appreciate it.

Have you heard from Poshmark yet? They might side in your favor.
Years ago Posh treated every dispute in favor of the buyer - I'm not sure when this changed but I have had 3 disputes on Posh this year and *all* of them were resolved in my favor. 2 were obvious scams by the buyer but the third could have gone either way and they sided with me.
Same could happen here.

I agree with the prior posters... my *guess* is the size of this bag was smaller than she expected. Is this a "Wendie"? I know this particular bag is quite small.

 

[SJAllison]

Have you heard from Poshmark yet? They might side in your favor.
Years ago Posh treated every dispute in favor of the buyer - I'm not sure when this changed but I have had 3 disputes on Posh this year and *all* of them were resolved in my favor. 2 were obvious scams by the buyer but the third could have gone either way and they sided with me.
Same could happen here.

I agree with the prior posters... my *guess* is the size of this bag was smaller than she expected. Is this a "Wendie"? I know this particular bag is quite small.

It is a Wendie bag. I haven’t heard from Poshmark so as of yet she is not asking for a refund. I’m not concerned either way because the bag had lots of interest s I know I can sell it. I always include the measurements in my postings but I know not everyone pays attention to that. In this case, she said specifically that she was looking for this bag. Her issue is with the color. If I may say so, I think I did a pretty darn good job breathing life back into this darling and I am my own worst critic.

 

[SJAllison]

Question for my fellow rehabbers, I recently saw a post on Instagram by Deb the rehabber about dunking or not dunking and she said that in some cases dunking could ruin a bag but she didn’t go into how to know when not to dunk. I‘ve been naively dunking every bag. Are there tell tell signs that you should not dunk?

 

[whateve]

Question for my fellow rehabbers, I recently saw a post on Instagram by Deb the rehabber about dunking or not dunking and she said that in some cases dunking could ruin a bag but she didn’t go into how to know when not to dunk. I‘ve been naively dunking every bag. Are there tell tell signs that you should not dunk?

Bags that are really dry and seem to be falling apart. Some of them disintegrate in the bath. It has never happened to me. Also if there are any holes, they could cause a problem. I had a briefcase with those stiff handles. There was a tiny hole that let water inside when I dunked and the handles ended up getting mushy. I was able to fix it by injecting superglue into the handles to stiffen them.

I would be careful about dunking a newer bag or some lined bags, but generally anything unlined with a creed and made before 2003 I haven't had problems with.

 

[ConnieinSeattle]

Question for my fellow rehabbers, I recently saw a post on Instagram by Deb the rehabber about dunking or not dunking and she said that in some cases dunking could ruin a bag but she didn’t go into how to know when not to dunk. I‘ve been naively dunking every bag. Are there tell tell signs that you should not dunk?

Coach quality is very different from other bags. I obtained a beautiful hand-tooled leather purse from mexico. When I tried to dunk it, it disintegrated. And my bathroom smelled like dead animal for days.

 

[SJAllison]

Bags that are really dry and seem to be falling apart. Some of them disintegrate in the bath. It has never happened to me. Also if there are any holes, they could cause a problem. I had a briefcase with those stiff handles. There was a tiny hole that let water inside when I dunked and the handles ended up getting mushy. I was able to fix it by injecting superglue into the handles to stiffen them.

I would be careful about dunking a newer bag or some lined bags, but generally anything unlined with a creed and made before 2003 I haven't had problems with.

Thank you. I typically am looking for those bargain thrift vintage, unlined bags and am not spending a lot of money on them but would still hate to ruin one. I have only dunked one lined bag and it is a Madewell bag that I think came out really well. I found the bag on the floor at Goodwill filled with a pringles can and moldy mini doughnuts (I didn’t look to see what else was in there). It had a price tag on it so it wasn’t someone’s lost bag. No way I wasn’t giving that bag a good cleaning! I’m planning on keeping it for now but wonder if it’s like selling a house where there’s been a murder, do you have to disclose things like moldy doughnuts when you resell?

 

[SJAllison]

Coach quality is very different from other bags. I obtained a beautiful hand-tooled leather purse from mexico. When I tried to dunk it, it disintegrated. And my bathroom smelled like dead animal for days.

Oh my gosh. As if having the bag disintegrate wasn’t bad enough! I dunk all my bags in the utility sink in the garage so I can make a big mess but I still wouldn’t want to have that smell to deal with!

 

[SJAllison]

My cute little Wendie bag saga has ended with the buyer choosing to keep the bag but leave a negative review saying I was hostile and unhelpful. I wasn‘t at all trying to be but maybe I have the texting equivalent of “resting b*t@h face”

 

[slammerkin]

I couldn't find any pictures of the bottom reinforcement parts in Sonoma bags, so sharing mine for the curious. This piece is from a 1995 elderberry nubuc flap 4935. The Hub & I think it is some kind of vinyl fabric composite. If you look closely at the second picture, you can see the threads. I have dunked several Sonoma natural grain and one nubuc. Didn't dunk this bag, but it arrived with the reinforcement curled up like a tube. I picked open the lining, pulled it out and began a 2 month fight to flatten it. Trust me, these things are sturdy.