I second HK's advice. The other thing to note is that you really should be doing a LOT of due diligence on the seller themselves. Check out what type of items they have sold in the past, or are currently selling. If they have sold a ton of car parts or comic books or something, and are now selling a Birkin, well...either it's fake, or they don't know anything about the bag and won't have any idea of how to handle the transaction.
Another great way to check out a seller is to try to communicate with them. If they don't answer--move on. If they're rude--I move on (why bother with someone rude for such an expensive item?). If they seem evasive about ANYTHING--move on.
Once you are relatively comfortable that a seller isn't a scam artist or completley ignorant about Hermes, then start checking out the bag in great detail.
I find that doing it this way saves me a lot of time and energy, because as we all know, pictures can be stolen and if a seller is dishonest they might well be showing pics of a bag they do NOT have.
The last hint I would give you is to spend time at Hermes, seeing and feeling the bags if at all possible. Honestly, seeing and touching the real thing will help hone your "fake radar" much more clearly than any amount of reading or looking at pics.
Good luck! And don't forget, we're here to help!
Buy plenty of it, that's what!
