My first Balenciaga City bag meant the world to me. I bought it used in late 2016 at a difficult moment in my life, and it was my first foray into the high end luxury bag market after getting my feet wet with bags by Coach, Michael Kors, and Furla. Carrying the slouchy, cardinal red bag with giant studs lent all of my outfits an aura of effortless cool. My City Bag was truly the bag that kickstarted my handbag obsession.
However, a year and a half later, a new City Bag caught my eye. At $900 (compared to $1,500 for my red City), the new object of my obsession was bubblegum pink, more structured, and a lot smaller. Since I’m not exactly rich, I thought, no big deal—I’ll just sell my red City and get this one. Certainly that would more than cover the cost, and I might end up turning a profit at that.
I’m sure you can see where this is going, Dear Reader, but in case you can’t: I was very wrong. I put my red City up for consignment on the same website I had purchased it from, at a little over 2/3 of the price I had paid for it. After it sat there for a good six months, the consignment site gave me a choice: reduce the price, or take the bag back. I took the bag back, and I now regret ever putting it up for sale, as it was my first major luxury purchase, so rest assured that this is not a tragic story—though my bank account may disagree.