I wanted to share my story here so that others don't have to go through the same hassle/trouble. I have always put off getting the Céline/Celine Classic Box bag in Camel (all time classic color) but now that the old logo is getting harder to find being 2 years since the change, I finally decided to go for it. I happened upon *******, a luxury handbag store based in Australia. I trusted their reputation because they have several physical stores and one store is on "The Rocks" which is why they can price their handbags under retail. That plus they have a story about buying bags off season in Europe to resell but they are all authentic with Entrupy Certification. All of this put me at ease to purchase through them directly off their website and on top of that their pricing was really good at $4425 AUD.
The shipping was quick and when I opened the box, I noticed a strange smell on the leather of the bag. Everything looked "normal" -- tags attached, dust bags included, and the hardware still had plastic wrap. The bag did come in a generic box though. I inspected the bag and the biggest red flag was the stitching. I immediately contacted their customer service and initiated a refund because of the stitching defect (at the time I thought this bag was priced less because of its defect and that the shop sells bags that never made it through QA). Return was easy and my money was refunded without a problem.
The search continued for me and I contacted two different Celine boutiques and luckily one of them had the classic box in camel with the old Celine logo in stock. Even though I would be paying retail, the peace of mind is worth it. The bag just arrived today and I compared the authentic bag with the photos of the bag from ******* that I took. I had an inkling the ******* bag could be a super fake but now I am positive it was. I have attached photos of the major differences I noticed. I'm just really confused as to how a boutique that operates like a legitimate business could be selling a fake. I'm not sure if they are intentionally selling a fake bag or if the buyer for the shop didn't inspect their product well enough.
I just hope that my experience prevents some of you from paying the real price for a fake bag. I was never able to find any information about ******* on purseforum so maybe this could've been a one-off thing. I just know that I won't ever feel comfortable to purchase with them again.
*It looks like this store name is being asterisked out automatically when I preview my post. I'm not sure why but to be a bit clearer, it's 7 letters and the store name starts with a C and ends with ETTE.*
The shipping was quick and when I opened the box, I noticed a strange smell on the leather of the bag. Everything looked "normal" -- tags attached, dust bags included, and the hardware still had plastic wrap. The bag did come in a generic box though. I inspected the bag and the biggest red flag was the stitching. I immediately contacted their customer service and initiated a refund because of the stitching defect (at the time I thought this bag was priced less because of its defect and that the shop sells bags that never made it through QA). Return was easy and my money was refunded without a problem.
The search continued for me and I contacted two different Celine boutiques and luckily one of them had the classic box in camel with the old Celine logo in stock. Even though I would be paying retail, the peace of mind is worth it. The bag just arrived today and I compared the authentic bag with the photos of the bag from ******* that I took. I had an inkling the ******* bag could be a super fake but now I am positive it was. I have attached photos of the major differences I noticed. I'm just really confused as to how a boutique that operates like a legitimate business could be selling a fake. I'm not sure if they are intentionally selling a fake bag or if the buyer for the shop didn't inspect their product well enough.
I just hope that my experience prevents some of you from paying the real price for a fake bag. I was never able to find any information about ******* on purseforum so maybe this could've been a one-off thing. I just know that I won't ever feel comfortable to purchase with them again.
*It looks like this store name is being asterisked out automatically when I preview my post. I'm not sure why but to be a bit clearer, it's 7 letters and the store name starts with a C and ends with ETTE.*