As far as I understand it, members who are loyal to the brand and are known to others on the forum to be very familiar with the brand are the authenticators. Within each sub-forum, there are those who are very familiar with certain bags of each brand, and of those regular authenticators, those people will ask for help from other members if they are unable to authenticate an item because it isn't something they regularly see or are familiar with. I know, in the BV forum, we regularly assist each other in making sure we've provided a good authentication. And we do ask, if you want something more, that you pay for an authentication service, as we certainly can't get payment for something we freely provide out of love for the design house. I feel that the authentications provided here are for peace of mind and for the knowledge that you've just purchased or are going to purchase something that's real.
But obviously - you'll want to get "professional" authentication done if you want paperwork for your insurance company or something.
There are members who specialize in vintage, those who specialize in extremely expensive, those who specialize in one type of bag or the other. You can trust that whoever you see the most in each 'authenticate this' thread are the most knowledgeable, but sometimes we'll post that we'd like to wait for something until someone more experienced can voice their opinion, and sure enough - a longtime member will stop by and give us their opinion and we're good as gold.
As I've fallen hard for one design house or brand, I've gotten to know the bags on my own, so then when I ask for authentication, I feel it adds to my knowledge.
There's always the first horrible time you get a bag that's not authentic, and from then on, if you are a tPF member, you know where to go to get help.
A service that's provide for free out of the love of the members for their favorite design house or brand.
Nothing more could be asked, and I think it's wonderful!
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