Price and quality

[lavenderjunkie]

I've been collecting Dooney handbags for over 20 years. I've always thought
the quality was excellent and the pricing was 'reasonable' (for the quality) compared
to other mid-priced handbag brands (on a like for like basis).
Even with the price increases, which of course I don't like, I still thought the
quality was worth the price.

But lately, I've had a run of quality issues with bags I've bought.
Maybe my luck just ran out. Or maybe it was because all the
bags were from ILD and their stock/policies have changed.
I don't know. But I've gotten a bag with missing stitches on
the drawstring slide, and an Alto with a wavy back outside pocket,
and a Flo satchel with a nick in the leather. 2 of these bags were
repackaged before shipment, so someone had inspected them
and missed the issues and/or just decided the bags were good enough for sale.
I can understand mass production issues and how a bag or
2 can slip thru whatever random quality checks are done.
But if the bags are actually inspected and deemed acceptable...
what does that say about the quality level of the brand?

What have been your experiences? What do you think about
the current quality and pricing?

 

[mushroomNgrass]

I’ve been seeing complaints about quality control everywhere and issues with even the luxury brands, LV, Chanel, etc. I Am on Reddit and quality and price increases are really HOT topics. Almost daily someone is complaining of issues with recent purchases. I get no bag is gonna be perfect. But is it to much to ask the the bag be inspected thoroughly, like in the old days there was a note inside saying inspected by inspector #5? I’m willing to over look some things, but missing stitches that can turn into a rip or hole, gouges in the leather, receiving a supposed new bag that’s obviously used and returned by someone else, and uneven leather or not acceptable. Dooney handbags are NOT cheap.

it’s seems to me handbags that were made back in the day, vintage dooney and coach, were made differently than today. I don’t know if the artisans or leather crafters today don’t have the experience, knowledge, or training. Are they using different techniques? Or are they made overseas and not as meticulous when making the bags. I don’t know what it is, but something is different…


Ive just started collecting Dooney early this year. Even being new to the brand I can tell the difference between older Florentine leather and the newer bags. There is a difference. I have purchased new bags from dooney.com, ILD, and ILD eBay and the Dooney outlet in Aurora, Illinois . At this point I would rather buy and older discontinued Florentine bag in great condition, than a new one off dooney.com. My collection is small and growing, but the quality of the older bags is noticeable to me.

 

[lavenderjunkie]

Yes, you are right. I've been hearing about quality issues in many very high end brands.
One of the handbags with an issue was an Alto.... those are manufactured in Italy!
And that bag came to me from ILD obviously repackaged, as it was not in the
normal Alto dust bag, etc. So the issue was missed by quality control twice...
once in Italy and once at ILD where the bag was re-examined for some reason....
And still sent out to a customer!