Vintage Coach Photos & Chat

[Aku_no_Hana]

I'm like that when I have a specific amount to spend or a specific occasion to buy for. I build it up in my mind as a very important decision, and then I can't make up my mind. Part of it that once the decision is made, I can't choose anything else. It's too much pressure. When I'm grocery shopping and trying to pick out something like a salad dressing, I absolutely can't decide on one and end up getting two or three.

I'm the same way!!

 

[Lake Effect]

I actually got it on eBay. It’s pretty dirty, but I think will rehab nicely. I snatched it quickly for $86. Almost the maximum I’ll pay for a bag but since it’s been on my wishlist I’ll took the plunge. Definitely a keeper!!

Glad to see someone here scored that Post Pouch that will appreciate it! I saw it about an hour before you did and thought if I want this, now or never. I decided to pass. Now if it was BT . . .

 

[Aku_no_Hana]

I paid $260 for my orange Courier and $200 for my red Courier and I don't regret it. The red one is in pristine condition with buttery soft leather and the orange one has a story behind it. It's 2am and I'm awake worrying about work again so I'll go ahead and tell you that story while I try to keep my anxiety quiet, lol.

I watched that orange Courier on eBay for a very long time, maybe a year. It was priced at $175. This bag was a Holy Grail for me but I wasn't comfortable paying that much for a bag at the time. It got to the point where every time I bought a different bag I thought that the money I spent on each different bag was money that could have gone toward that orange Courier. Well, one weekend I was scheduled to work overtime on Saturday and Sunday, so I decided I was going to go ahead and use my OT money to buy the bag. On Sunday (maybe Saturday? I can't remember) I was taking my lunch break at work and I was in the process of completing the purchase for the orange Courier but I stopped myself, thinking what happens if I have to go home early and don't get my full 2 days of OT pay? So I backed out of the purchase and decided I would wait until Sunday afternoon, after I had worked both days.

When I got home on Sunday, I went to purchase the Courier but the seller had ended the listing! I wanted to cry!! At some point I got on TPF and started whining about how I missed out on it. Then it was re-listed but it was an auction this time, not a BIN, so I had to place a bid. I don't believe in bidding wars so I always bid at the last minute. Even if I have to go hide in the bathroom at work or set an alarm for the middle of the night. The day this auction ended was also the day I bought those 19 vintage bags from the estate sale for $150. I remember that as I was driving out to buy those bags I was thinking that I don't really want them, I want the Courier, and I shouldn't be spending $150 on bags I don't want. But then I thought that I could practice my rehabbing techniques on them and sell them for enough to pay for the Courier. When I got home from buying those bags, I bid on the orange Courier even though there was still an hour or so left of the auction. I then spent time sorting out the estate sale bags and when I knew that enough time had passed that the Courier auction was over, I sat down to pay for it but saw that I had been outbid!! That bag sat on ebay for a year and no one bought it, so it never occurred to me that I would get outbid! What a nasty surprise. So now I was sad and angry because I missed out on it again and now I was stuck with 19 bags I never wanted, which I mostly bought to sell to earn enough money to buy the Courier. (Flawed logic, I know. The courier was only $25 more than the estate sale bags, so I was nearly doubling what I was spending instead of just buying the Courier.)

As time went by, I missed out on 2 or 3 more orange Couriers because I got outbid again or I was worried about the condition of the bag. I think one had evidence of mold, so I passed on it. Then one day, (insert dramatic music here) lo and behold, my rust orange Courier pops up on eBay again! Not just any rust Courier, THE rust Courier. The original rust Courier that had started my obsession. By this time I had learned who the original seller was so I contacted them and asked if it was really the same bag. It was! So I negotiated with the current seller but I could only get her down to $260 from her posted price of $289. This irritated me because I knew what she paid for the bag, she had outbid me months before! In the end, I decided to go for it. I bought it. I love it. I don't regret it. But I learned something. From now on, when a HG bag comes along and the price is within reach and somewhat reasonable, I will go for it! And, if you ever find a bunch of authentic vintage bags at an estate sale, buy them too! Because rehabbing is fun and I ended up getting my money back for those bags plus enough to cover the cost of the Courier. It all worked out in the end.

I would have bought that Sherbourne too if I hadn't been told that I will either be laid off or begin working reduced hours soon. That bag is a unicorn IMO, especially in British tan. We're not likely to see another one any time soon.

Sorry for the long story! It's now 3am and I have 30 more minutes until my alarm goes off for work but I feel better having spent the last hour watching Harry Potter while I type out this story and then re-read it a thousand times to find all the stupid auto-corrections and spelling mistakes my tablet makes. It kept my mind off of worrying about work anyway.

I'm keeping you in my thoughts! Harry Potter always helps.

 

[Aku_no_Hana]

I have two bags on the way yay! A black Prairie and a sad looking tan Station Bag.

 

[VintageIsBest]

Glad to see someone here scored that Post Pouch that will appreciate it! I saw it about an hour before you did and thought if I want this, now or never. I decided to pass. Now if it was BT . . .

I always feel better if I know that one of us purchased a bag that I was wavering on...knowing that it will be loved or at least nicely rehabbed for their future owner if it doesn’t work out for them. It’s also nice to celebrate with each other when we find a HG bag. I’ll post before and after pics—going to dunk it this mid morning.

 

[valv54]

Not the purple sling I hope!

Yep.

 

[MrsGAM]

So a tale of seller woe. I sell occasionally on eBay and usually 99% of my bags go at a loss. Finally I sold a bag and made a nice profit. The buyer buys it on Sunday, pack it up, puts it out for mailman on Monday, mailman picks it up, great! Well buyer sends me a message yesterday, the label was printed but thats it. I look at tracking and it hasn't been scanned at all, its like its still sitting at my house! Since Monday! Its now Thursday! So now I have to try and find out where it is. That is all. Yay selling.

That happened to an item I bought on Mercari! It didn't get scanned until a week later, when it was a state away from my home. Actually, a lot of my packages have been taking a couple of days to get scanned, and usually don't get scanned when they depart the first USPS location. Also had a package get sent to Hawaii from the origin location of California. I live in Indiana.

 

[MrsGAM]

That is exactly what I paid too. $86 with shipping, the highest I've paid for a vintage Coach, and the only vintage bag I would have paid that much for!

I felt that way when I started! I paid around $70 for my currant Gramercy Small Top Handle and thought that was the most I would ever pay for a bag. But I recently paid over $200 each for 2 bags: my small Courier and blue Winnie. I do stay under $20 (not including shipping) for the majority of my purses, but found I will go higher for anything made in Italy or Costa Rica and even higher for my HG bags.

 

[CPSE]

I always feel better if I know that one of us purchased a bag that I was wavering on...knowing that it will be loved or at least nicely rehabbed for their future owner if it doesn’t work out for them. It’s also nice to celebrate with each other when we find a HG bag. I’ll post before and after pics—going to dunk it this mid morning.

I’m always glad to see people find their HG bags too! I’m about to dunk a green derby later today that is not really an HG bag but can I call it a secondary HG bag? Haha. I was happy to find this one because I missed like 4 Winnies in the last couple of weeks (though a few didn’t have creeds posted and one had a huge ink spot). I’m still salty about missing them. The derby is such a cute bag though (makes me want to get the yellow remake one that coach put out this spring even more though it’s sold out) but it sure is small like many have said here. And I’m a small bag girl

I think I have too many HG bags actually. So can I really call them HG???

 

[artax two]

I'm like that when I have a specific amount to spend or a specific occasion to buy for. I build it up in my mind as a very important decision, and then I can't make up my mind. Part of it that once the decision is made, I can't choose anything else. It's too much pressure. When I'm grocery shopping and trying to pick out something like a salad dressing, I absolutely can't decide on one and end up getting two or three.

Sounds like analysis paralysis which I suffer from a lot. I have to get my husband to make decisions for me most of the time regardless of what the thing is. I can narrow the choices down, but most of the time there is a price factor to consider and the scenario is usually something like this: the nicer thing is exactly what I wanted and in great condition with high price, while the thing in my price range is not quite exactly what I want but close, and maybe not so great condition. Or maybe is exactly what I want but still just OK condition, but cheaper. Or something similar to that scenario. He usually tells me to go for the higher price and get the nicer thing, whereas I want to get the nice thing for less money so I get frustrated a lot haha. Salad dressings, oh I could buy three of those. $80 leather bags? No I can't justify buying three for $80 each when I could hold out and find three for $80. But yes, even on the items that are not expensive, when faced with too much choice, it is still hard to choose, because to me, it is about getting the highest value out of each dollar and still satisfy the desire for what it is I am wanting.

 

[valv54]

That happened to an item I bought on Mercari! It didn't get scanned until a week later, when it was a state away from my home. Actually, a lot of my packages have been taking a couple of days to get scanned, and usually don't get scanned when they depart the first USPS location. Also had a package get sent to Hawaii from the origin location of California. I live in Indiana.

Oh gosh! Lol. Thats alot of "all around the mulberry bush".

 

[MrsGAM]

I’m always glad to see people find their HG bags too! I’m about to dunk a green derby later today that is not really an HG bag but can I call it a secondary HG bag? Haha. I was happy to find this one because I missed like 4 Winnies in the last couple of weeks (though a few didn’t have creeds posted and one had a huge ink spot). I’m still salty about missing them. The derby is such a cute bag though (makes me want to get the yellow remake one that coach put out this spring even more though it’s sold out) but it sure is small like many have said here. And I’m a small bag girl

I think I have too many HG bags actually. So can I really call them HG???

Can't wait to see the Derby! I've been curious about that bag. And also the Bella. Love those small bags with top handles!

 

[LunaSilver]

So a tale of seller woe. I sell occasionally on eBay and usually 99% of my bags go at a loss. Finally I sold a bag and made a nice profit. The buyer buys it on Sunday, pack it up, puts it out for mailman on Monday, mailman picks it up, great! Well buyer sends me a message yesterday, the label was printed but thats it. I look at tracking and it hasn't been scanned at all, its like its still sitting at my house! Since Monday! Its now Thursday! So now I have to try and find out where it is. That is all. Yay selling.

Check it directly at USPS again to see if it is different. I recently sold my NWT Whipstitched Rogue 31(at a loss but still over CAD 500), it was mailed on a Friday evening, by next Thursday the eBay tracking info shows nothing other than "Acceptance". So I went on to canada post website, it already went from my city to Vancouver then to San Francisco, went back to eBay to have another look, still just acceptance.

 

[MrsGAM]

Oh gosh! Lol. Thats alot of "all around the mulberry bush".

I was so worried I wasn't going to get it! But it actually arrive in my state 2 days after it departed from Hawaii. Lol, I've learned to be patient and expect to wait longer for my items.

 

[artax two]

I paid $260 for my orange Courier and $200 for my red Courier and I don't regret it. The red one is in pristine condition with buttery soft leather and the orange one has a story behind it. It's 2am and I'm awake worrying about work again so I'll go ahead and tell you that story while I try to keep my anxiety quiet, lol.

I watched that orange Courier on eBay for a very long time, maybe a year. It was priced at $175. This bag was a Holy Grail for me but I wasn't comfortable paying that much for a bag at the time. It got to the point where every time I bought a different bag I thought that the money I spent on each different bag was money that could have gone toward that orange Courier. Well, one weekend I was scheduled to work overtime on Saturday and Sunday, so I decided I was going to go ahead and use my OT money to buy the bag. On Sunday (maybe Saturday? I can't remember) I was taking my lunch break at work and I was in the process of completing the purchase for the orange Courier but I stopped myself, thinking what happens if I have to go home early and don't get my full 2 days of OT pay? So I backed out of the purchase and decided I would wait until Sunday afternoon, after I had worked both days.

When I got home on Sunday, I went to purchase the Courier but the seller had ended the listing! I wanted to cry!! At some point I got on TPF and started whining about how I missed out on it. Then it was re-listed but it was an auction this time, not a BIN, so I had to place a bid. I don't believe in bidding wars so I always bid at the last minute. Even if I have to go hide in the bathroom at work or set an alarm for the middle of the night. The day this auction ended was also the day I bought those 19 vintage bags from the estate sale for $150. I remember that as I was driving out to buy those bags I was thinking that I don't really want them, I want the Courier, and I shouldn't be spending $150 on bags I don't want. But then I thought that I could practice my rehabbing techniques on them and sell them for enough to pay for the Courier. When I got home from buying those bags, I bid on the orange Courier even though there was still an hour or so left of the auction. I then spent time sorting out the estate sale bags and when I knew that enough time had passed that the Courier auction was over, I sat down to pay for it but saw that I had been outbid!! That bag sat on ebay for a year and no one bought it, so it never occurred to me that I would get outbid! What a nasty surprise. So now I was sad and angry because I missed out on it again and now I was stuck with 19 bags I never wanted, which I mostly bought to sell to earn enough money to buy the Courier. (Flawed logic, I know. The courier was only $25 more than the estate sale bags, so I was nearly doubling what I was spending instead of just buying the Courier.)

As time went by, I missed out on 2 or 3 more orange Couriers because I got outbid again or I was worried about the condition of the bag. I think one had evidence of mold, so I passed on it. Then one day, (insert dramatic music here) lo and behold, my rust orange Courier pops up on eBay again! Not just any rust Courier, THE rust Courier. The original rust Courier that had started my obsession. By this time I had learned who the original seller was so I contacted them and asked if it was really the same bag. It was! So I negotiated with the current seller but I could only get her down to $260 from her posted price of $289. This irritated me because I knew what she paid for the bag, she had outbid me months before! In the end, I decided to go for it. I bought it. I love it. I don't regret it. But I learned something. From now on, when a HG bag comes along and the price is within reach and somewhat reasonable, I will go for it! And, if you ever find a bunch of authentic vintage bags at an estate sale, buy them too! Because rehabbing is fun and I ended up getting my money back for those bags plus enough to cover the cost of the Courier. It all worked out in the end.

I would have bought that Sherbourne too if I hadn't been told that I will either be laid off or begin working reduced hours soon. That bag is a unicorn IMO, especially in British tan. We're not likely to see another one any time soon.

Sorry for the long story! It's now 3am and I have 30 more minutes until my alarm goes off for work but I feel better having spent the last hour watching Harry Potter while I type out this story and then re-read it a thousand times to find all the stupid auto-corrections and spelling mistakes my tablet makes. It kept my mind off of worrying about work anyway.

Yes this was a fun read and epic journey. An experience like that would certainly teach a lesson. I completely understood as you went along because I have felt many of the same things.

I feel for you right now if it is potential job loss that is giving you anxiety. I work in oil and gas and though my company is positioned very well to weather this downturn, we are only in that position because over the past 5 years the company has made extreme cuts to capital spending in the range of almost 500 million, and I have survived four, count em, FOUR layoffs, two of which directly affected my immediate team that I work with daily, my office next door neighbors. The company announced this week more capital cuts to the tune of another 250 million so we know that layoffs could be part of it. Constant living in layoff scenarios is tiring at best. I always think this next one could be the one that gets me. Constant uncertainty around your job and work makes you unproductive and certainly keeps you awake at night. I have seen so many people I know get laid off. I've seen my boss and HR making the rounds up and down my hallway, praying I am not targeted. It is almost like those coworkers die or something, there is a level of mourning when you see their office empty and survivor's guilt is a thing, along with the stress of getting their assignments added to your own full workload. Our execs are taking a large paycut this year and our annual bonuses will be drastically cut. We don't know what benefit losses we might endure, but it is all to save our coworkers' jobs so there is no ill will toward any of these decisions.

But yes, anxiety! I get it! I am so glad you got your holy grail! We find joy where we can and try to live in that moment! Not the negative. I was able to find my holy grail for under $100 and that was thrilling. I just want to be able to go somewhere to USE it! I am so corona'd out! I am ready for the world to get back to normal and by that I don't mean going out before the virus is under control, I just mean I want the virus to go away already!