answers to AUTHENTICITY questions!!!
- Thread starter kallison
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Hi. I hope I am posting this in the right section. I have a fllap handbag with a turnlock on the front, it is whiskey or brittish tan color and the serial no. is 03S9718. I bought this at the Coach outlet and am sure it is authentic, however I do not know the name of the bag. Looks like it could be the older legacy (no legacy lining though, just the canvas lining. I cannot post a picture at this time. All my other handbags, I know their names, but this purchase was before I got so into Coach. So I was wondering if anyone could help me with the name of this one. Thans.
Does every Coach bag come with YKK on zipper?
I have bought 1 Coach bag from Ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=350151038466) and I just got the bag yesterday.
The bag is don't have YKK stamp on zip. Everything else looks fine ( to me), but the missing YKK has me worry.
Someone can advise me that is it authentic? Thank you very much
I have bought 1 Coach bag from Ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=350151038466) and I just got the bag yesterday.
The bag is don't have YKK stamp on zip. Everything else looks fine ( to me), but the missing YKK has me worry.
Someone can advise me that is it authentic? Thank you very much
I responded to this in Authenticate This, but will repeat it here. Coach does not always use YKK zippers. Many of the newer bags don't have YKK on the outer zipper but may on the inside zipper. Just because a bag doesn't have YKK on the zipper does NOT mean it's fake. Fake bags can have YKK imprinted on the zipper, so don't rely on this as a measure of authenticity. If you read in an online guide that Coach ALWAYS uses YKK zippers, this is incorrect. Many of those online guides to authenticating Coach are out of date or have misinformation.
Your bag is authentic, BTW.
Is there a resource that tells what colors bags were/are made in?
This is an EXAMPLE only:
Say I see a bright Orange Sabrina with a style number 12937. Is there someplace I could look to see if this color is authentic? This would be helpful not only for authentication, but also if you see an older bag not on the Coach website that you like and wonder what other colors were available.
Sorry if this isn't exactly the right thread to post in.
This is an EXAMPLE only:
Say I see a bright Orange Sabrina with a style number 12937. Is there someplace I could look to see if this color is authentic? This would be helpful not only for authentication, but also if you see an older bag not on the Coach website that you like and wonder what other colors were available.
Sorry if this isn't exactly the right thread to post in.
You can call Coach's Customer Service number and tell them the style number and ask if they can tell you what the color was called. There's no place online that Coach gives out that information since it would also help counterfeiters.
Hello, I am fairly new to Coach and I am trying to learn how to authenticate newer bags so I don't have to post EVERY auction on the Authenticate This thread. Here are the steps I go through, please let me know if you think this is a good approach or if there is something else I should add.
1) Look at all pictures for quality, good stitching, and c's lining up in signature pieces.
2) Read creed to make sure it is consistent with material used and year. (i.e. if it is a newer style, the year should match.) Make sure the A in Coach on the creed is pointy, the creed is evenly stamped, and the creed is embossed, not just printed on.
3) Get item number from creed and look it up on drill down. If it is not on drill down, search ebay and google to compare if many items of the same style show up for that item number.
4) Verify details from drill down pictures (like for same style details, attached tags/scarves).
5) Check seller feedback to make sure they are legitimate before purchasing.
Does that sound like a good process, or could I be missing something?
Thanks!
1) Look at all pictures for quality, good stitching, and c's lining up in signature pieces.
2) Read creed to make sure it is consistent with material used and year. (i.e. if it is a newer style, the year should match.) Make sure the A in Coach on the creed is pointy, the creed is evenly stamped, and the creed is embossed, not just printed on.
3) Get item number from creed and look it up on drill down. If it is not on drill down, search ebay and google to compare if many items of the same style show up for that item number.
4) Verify details from drill down pictures (like for same style details, attached tags/scarves).
5) Check seller feedback to make sure they are legitimate before purchasing.
Does that sound like a good process, or could I be missing something?
Thanks!
You also need to compare the seller's photos to each other to make sure they were all actually taken by the same seller. Different backgrounds or photo styles could mean the pics were stolen from another source, as can pics with someone else's name Photoshopped out or odd margins where someone's ID has been cut off. Very small photos and "Collage-type" pics where several views are all combined in a single photo can often mean the photos were stolen.
Also beware of new sellers with low Feedback who often build up FB numbers through shill bidding from different IDs or other members of their fakes-selling ring, or from bidding & winning super-cheap auctions or BINs for things like 99-cent items like downloadable e-books or guides.
Use Toolhaus.org to check a seller's feedback rather than Ebay.
Don't depend on "Buying guides" you find on the Net or on Ebay or even in other purse forums, many of them have old, incomplete and often just plain WRONG information.
Thank you for the advice! I tried Toolhaus.org a few days ago and it wasn't working - it said ebay was blocking them. I hope this doesn't happen often because it seems like a very useful tool. I will start using that more. Thank You!
I'm planning to sell some of my Coach handbags on ebay and while I have sold stuff on ebay before, I've never sold my Coaches before. What should I absolutely make sure I have pictured in my auction photos so that potential buyers can verify that it is authentic?
Thank you
Thank you
I'm planning to sell some of my Coach handbags on ebay and while I have sold stuff on ebay before, I've never sold my Coaches before. What should I absolutely make sure I have pictured in my auction photos so that potential buyers can verify that it is authentic?
Thank you
Clear pics of the front, back and bottom of the bags, close-up Macro-setting photos of anyplace where the Coach logo is stamped especially on the hardware, clear shots of the entire creed patch and the inside bottom of the bag, and a pic of the hangtag. If any still have their price tags, show those too with all the item codes.
And don't forget measurements, and the strap length or drop or both.
What makes something Fake instead of "designer-inspired"?
There's a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation about this so hopefully this will clear some of that up.
How a bag is described or listed means nothing - calling a counterfeit "designer-inspired" doesn't make it so, and calling a cow a pig doesn't make it one. It depends on whether or not a manufacturer's registered trademark is being infringed. Coach's LEGAL trademarks are defined by Coach and the courts as follows:
"The four trademarks that have been registered by Coach, Inc. are the name "Coach," the "Coach Tag," the "Coach Lozenge," and the "Coach Signature C Design." The Coach web-site prominently depicts each of its trademarks..."
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/REPORT...2003_51738.htm
(And I'm sure the Op-Art-style Cs will be added to that list as soon as legal action is taken against someone who's copied them illegally.)
Using Os or Gs instead of Cs or calling a similar bag a Carly isn't illegal, nor is copying the style of a genuine bag.
If a manufacturer duplicates any of the above Coach trademarks, then the item immediately becomes a counterfeit. Anything else is "designer-inspired" or a "knock-off".
The term "replica" is generally seen as meaning the same as counterfeit. Both are illegal in the US and most countries where trademark and copyright laws are in place.
US Federal Law, "Title 18 > Part I > Chapter 113 > Section 2320§ 2320. Trafficking in counterfeit goods or services" defines "Counterfeit":
(1) the term “counterfeit mark” means—
(A) a spurious mark—
(i) that is used in connection with trafficking in any goods, services, labels, patches, stickers, wrappers, badges, emblems, medallions, charms, boxes, containers, cans, cases, hangtags, documentation, or packaging of any type or nature;
(ii) that is identical with, or substantially indistinguishable from, a mark registered on the principal register in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in use, whether or not the defendant knew such mark was so registered;
(iii) that is applied to or used in connection with the goods or services for which the mark is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or is applied to or consists of a label, patch, sticker, wrapper, badge, emblem, medallion, charm, box, container, can, case, hangtag, documentation, or packaging of any type or nature that is designed, marketed, or otherwise intended to be used on or in connection with the goods or services for which the mark is registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office; and
(iv) the use of which is likely to cause confusion, to cause mistake, or to deceive; or
(B) a spurious designation that is identical with, or substantially indistinguishable from, a designation as to which the remedies of the Lanham Act are made available by reason of section 220506 of title 36;
but such term does not include any mark or designation used in connection with goods or services, or a mark or designation applied to labels, patches, stickers, wrappers, badges, emblems, medallions, charms, boxes, containers, cans, cases, hangtags, documentation, or packaging of any type or nature used in connection with such goods or services, of which the manufacturer or producer was, at the time of the manufacture or production in question, authorized to use the mark or designation for the type of goods or services so manufactured or produced, by the holder of the right to use such mark or designation.[1]
Or as Ebay says in its Rules:
"If the product you are selling bears the name or logo of a company, but it wasn't made or endorsed by that company, don't list it on eBay."
It doesn't matter what you call it, how you describe it, whether or not you say it's authentic, or if you state right in the listing that it's not real - IF IT WASN'T MADE BY COACH BUT HAS COACH'S TRADEMARKED NAME OR LOGO, IT'S COUNTERFEIT AND ILLEGAL.
I hope that answers any questions.
There's a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation about this so hopefully this will clear some of that up.
How a bag is described or listed means nothing - calling a counterfeit "designer-inspired" doesn't make it so, and calling a cow a pig doesn't make it one. It depends on whether or not a manufacturer's registered trademark is being infringed. Coach's LEGAL trademarks are defined by Coach and the courts as follows:
"The four trademarks that have been registered by Coach, Inc. are the name "Coach," the "Coach Tag," the "Coach Lozenge," and the "Coach Signature C Design." The Coach web-site prominently depicts each of its trademarks..."
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/REPORT...2003_51738.htm
(And I'm sure the Op-Art-style Cs will be added to that list as soon as legal action is taken against someone who's copied them illegally.)
Using Os or Gs instead of Cs or calling a similar bag a Carly isn't illegal, nor is copying the style of a genuine bag.
If a manufacturer duplicates any of the above Coach trademarks, then the item immediately becomes a counterfeit. Anything else is "designer-inspired" or a "knock-off".
The term "replica" is generally seen as meaning the same as counterfeit. Both are illegal in the US and most countries where trademark and copyright laws are in place.
US Federal Law, "Title 18 > Part I > Chapter 113 > Section 2320§ 2320. Trafficking in counterfeit goods or services" defines "Counterfeit":
(1) the term “counterfeit mark” means—
(A) a spurious mark—
(i) that is used in connection with trafficking in any goods, services, labels, patches, stickers, wrappers, badges, emblems, medallions, charms, boxes, containers, cans, cases, hangtags, documentation, or packaging of any type or nature;
(ii) that is identical with, or substantially indistinguishable from, a mark registered on the principal register in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in use, whether or not the defendant knew such mark was so registered;
(iii) that is applied to or used in connection with the goods or services for which the mark is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or is applied to or consists of a label, patch, sticker, wrapper, badge, emblem, medallion, charm, box, container, can, case, hangtag, documentation, or packaging of any type or nature that is designed, marketed, or otherwise intended to be used on or in connection with the goods or services for which the mark is registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office; and
(iv) the use of which is likely to cause confusion, to cause mistake, or to deceive; or
(B) a spurious designation that is identical with, or substantially indistinguishable from, a designation as to which the remedies of the Lanham Act are made available by reason of section 220506 of title 36;
but such term does not include any mark or designation used in connection with goods or services, or a mark or designation applied to labels, patches, stickers, wrappers, badges, emblems, medallions, charms, boxes, containers, cans, cases, hangtags, documentation, or packaging of any type or nature used in connection with such goods or services, of which the manufacturer or producer was, at the time of the manufacture or production in question, authorized to use the mark or designation for the type of goods or services so manufactured or produced, by the holder of the right to use such mark or designation.[1]
Or as Ebay says in its Rules:
"If the product you are selling bears the name or logo of a company, but it wasn't made or endorsed by that company, don't list it on eBay."
It doesn't matter what you call it, how you describe it, whether or not you say it's authentic, or if you state right in the listing that it's not real - IF IT WASN'T MADE BY COACH BUT HAS COACH'S TRADEMARKED NAME OR LOGO, IT'S COUNTERFEIT AND ILLEGAL.
I hope that answers any questions.