Some of them use authentic stock photos, others are definitely fake. Feel free to report and post in the Hall of Shame.
AUTHENTICATE this COACH
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Thanks for responding! I thought only bags with all number serial numbers before 1994 can have the "made in the united states" in the bottom. I think I saw it in this article:
http://www.bagtabulous.com/coach-collections/the-history-of-the-coach-creed/
I also read a willis creed article that said:
Another giveaway is found in the Coach creed. Look at the “Made in the United States” under the “COACH” in the fake bag.
http://www.ebay.com/gds/Comparison-of-a-fake-v-authentic-COACH-bag-PART-1/10000000010420600/g.html
Those articles are variations of the same incomplete, and generally totally incorrect, "authenticity guides" that we keep warning people about, starting with my Signature under every one of my posts here.
Just for starters:
"Coach introduced the creed without any serial number sometime in the late 60′s/early70s."
OLD INFORMATION. It's become more apparent that the creed and serial may have been introduced for some styles as late as 1980. We've dated a number of bags where the first production dates were known to around 1980
"It is also around this time (mid 70s) that Coach started to manufacture bags in multiple location in U.S.A outside of just NYC. As you can imagine NYC bags are vintage and rare. The wording of the creed is the same, except on the bottom it will say ‘MADE IN THE UNITED STATES” OR “MADE IN U.S.A.”
WRONG. Coach didn't start making bags outside NYC until 1988 - every single Guide that claims other wise is wrong and should be tossed.
"In the late 80s, Coach changed the format of the serial number to xxxx-xxx, 4 digits followed by 3 digits, e.g. 1340-879. The serial numbers remain unique."
HALF-TRUTH. Coach STARTED to change to the xxxx-xxx format in 1988 BUT didn't complete the change-over until the early 1990s. I've found genuine bags from as late as 1992 with the old format.
"In 1994, the serial number became alphanumeric in the format LYL-xxxx, where L are letters representing the Factory codes, Y is a digit representing the year of manufacture and xxxx for the style number."
NOT QUITE. The third digit in the prefix of bags made before 2004 COULD BE A NUMBER OR A LETTER. And the Olympic items for 1996 often didn't follow any of those "rules"
No mention of bags without serial numbers such as the Dakotas or Sheridans, which are often reported as fakes for just that reason. And while I usually appreciate references to my posts, it doesn't make me happy to be even indirectly connected to incorrect information especially when I've already posted about those incorrect Guides and posted the correct dates in the Coach Guides I wrote for Salearea that are posted at Ebay. Those are a result of my own actual research and aren't Copied & Pasted from some anonymous persons' guides like 95 percent of the ones at Ebay and other places of the internet.
Bagtabulous mentioned "Margo's post at (another forum)" - I strongly suggest that she and anyone else reading her postings go back to that site and read the LAST post in that thread where I dissected the misinformation in "Margo's" post and posted the correct dates. Please do NOT use anything from "Margo" (or from Bagtabulous and anyone else who copies or references her) which is just another C&P from another inaccurate guide whose author has disappeared and which half a dozen other would-be authors have been claiming as theirs for years, including at least one Ebay member. Almost every single date in that bogus "guide" is JUST PLAIN WRONG, often by as much as ten years. And NEVER report ANYTHING as fake based on ANY information found in those blasted Guides, they've caused hundreds if not thousands of honest sellers to be reported for selling fakes!
NOW LET'S LOOK AT THE EBAY GUIDE, WHICH IS AN EVEN BIGGER PILE OF HORSE DUNG THAN THE FIRST ONE:
"The first thing that stood out was the COACH hangtag fob. The fake one is smaller and the back of it is unfinished suede leather. The first thought in my mind was, why would anyone put a fake COACH tag on an authentic bag? That is when I was led to investigate further and with a microscopic eye examine the entire bag very carefully.
The fake COACH fob was unlike any I have encountered. Also, it has “Leatherware” embossed underneath the “COACH” (hard to see in these pics) while the authentic bag is embossed on both sides with just “COACH."
WRONG WRONG WRONG! Coach hangtags in the 70s through around the early 90s COULD have "Leatherware" stamped on it, and COULD have a plain suede back if the two halves of the tag separated! THE "FAKE" TAG IN THAT FOOL'S JOKE OF A GUIDE IS COMPLETELY GENUINE. Like at least one of MY Coach Guides for Salearea says, HANGTAG DESINGS AND STYLES HAVE CHANGED DOZENS OF TIMES OVER THE LAST 30 OR 40 YEARS. There is NO "one correct style of hangtag"!
EDITED TO ADD - see the photo below for the actual photos of genuine hangtags used as color swatches in the 1983 Coach catalog - sure looks like they say "Leatherware" to me!
"Another giveaway is found in the Coach creed. Look at the “Made in the United States” under the “COACH” in the fake bag."
THE PHOTOS OF THE "FAKE" CREED SHE SHOWS THAT Says "made in the united states " IS COMPLETELY GENUINE!!!
and even MORE BS...
"Authentic COACH bags use quality YKK zippers and you can read “YKK” on the side of the zipper head."
READ MY SIGNATURE AND THE SALEAREA GUIDE ON THE YKK ZIPPER MYTH
http://search.reviews.ebay.com/members/salearea_W0QQcpnameZmembersQQprZsaleareaQQuqtZg
That second so-called guide has to be one of the WORST Coach guides I've ever read! There is absolutely NOTHING right about it, and I hope to high heaven that no one including you has EVER reported anyone to Ebay for selling fakes based on that steaming pile of horse dung!
And people wonder why I get so furious about this kind of BS being fed to trusting ebayers as fact! If I could report that guide for being a pack of useless and dangerous lies, I would.
padsew, don't EVER report a Coach as fake without checking here first. And for the sake of the honest sellers on Ebay and everywhere else, DELETE the link to those guides, ESPECIALLY the second one, from your computer.
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The seller also needs to be reported for Outside links in their listing directing buyers to their own website and for Fee Avoidance. they need to be NARU'd.
Thanks for responding! I thought only bags with all number serial numbers before 1994 can have the "made in the united states" in the bottom. I think I saw it in this article:
http://www.bagtabulous.com/coach-collections/the-history-of-the-coach-creed/
I also read a willis creed article that said:
Another giveaway is found in the Coach creed. Look at the “Made in the United States” under the “COACH” in the fake bag.
http://www.ebay.com/gds/Comparison-of-a-fake-v-authentic-COACH-bag-PART-1/10000000010420600/g.html
Please read my reply above - NEITHER OF THOSE TWO "GUIDES" SHOULD EVER BE USED TO FIGURE OUT IF A COACH IS AUTHENTIC!
padsew, I'm not angry at you, I'm angry at the irresponsible people who post that kind of unresearched, unverified and just plain wrong information, and make no effort to correct it when better information is available - or better yet, to remove it before it causes any more trouble for legitimate sellers.
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I've been reading these forum posts and it got me inspired to hit the thrifts! This was a bit of a risk but it was only $8. It only has the Coach imprint, and looks like someone tried to clean it, unsuccessfully! Thanks for your input.
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It seems genuine to me but I don't have any idea what style it is. Wait for more opinions.
You're welome.
Although the seller is aware of and recommends buyers post here on TPF for authentication, her listings lack pictures necessary to authenticate the items.
I don't see any red flags but we need to see a picture of the creed.
Do not buy from tullcr07!! Everything is fake! Please report!
http://www.ebay.com/sch/tullcr07/m.html?item=231009989474&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562
Hi there,
Can someone authentic these items? They seem to be made of plastic, but the seller states they purchased at Macy's. Thanks for your help this is my first time using this service.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Coach-Purse-...vip=true&rt=nc
http://www.ebay.com/itm/230999955837...84.m1439.l2649
Can someone authentic these items? They seem to be made of plastic, but the seller states they purchased at Macy's. Thanks for your help this is my first time using this service.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Coach-Purse-...vip=true&rt=nc
http://www.ebay.com/itm/230999955837...84.m1439.l2649
Can someone please auth these Coach's? The links I submitted before did not work:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=230999955837&view=all&tid=882754812013
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=190845925290&view=all&tid=0
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=230999955837&view=all&tid=882754812013
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=190845925290&view=all&tid=0
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