"What was I thinking?" Bag purchases you regret...

[Manolos21]

Chloe Paraty. I think I only bought one because it was a great deal, but it just ended up sitting in my closet. I ultimately sold it to Yoogi's

 

[Rocket_girl]

I regret buying a Black Givenchy Pandora (medium), bought for full price @ Barney's.

I loved it and wore it every day for more than a month. The first day I had the urge to change out of it, I was horrified: "how could I spend that much and want to carry ANYTHING but this bag?"

For nearly a year, it sat - taunting me. I stopped carrying it with intent to sell. I had never sold a bag, so I was stuck: no idea where or how to begin.

During that time, I discovered tPF, and Bonanza, and Tradesy (knew about eBay, and never wanted to go there..). I bought some used bags - learned a bit about selling. Sold a couple of iThings on Glyde.com, and learned that Tradesy uses an identical approach. I felt OK about listing such an expensive bag with their system.

After many months, I wore her again - she was the PERFECT bag for whatever it was I needed that day. I fell back in love with her, and put her back into rotation. I decided to keep her and love her the way she deserved - to free myself from the guild and let myself love her. I removed the sale listing

Many months later, I received email, saying "Your Bag has Sold for $,$$$". To this day, I do not know how the listing I removed became active again. I called them; learned I could cancel the sale), I deliberated (should I just sell it or not???). I sold her, and I don't regret it.

So why do I regret buying the bag I loved--- then felt guilty about -- then let myself love again? Because it raised my threshold. That bag cost >$2k -more than double what I had spent for any single bag prior to buying her. Thanks to Panda, I learned that I do not want to be at that price point again -- or that if I am tempted (and believe me I have been) - that the happiness to be found there is not proportionately greater. Or, if it feels like the joy is greater, so, too will be the guilt!. (even now, I am coveting a Ferragamo Sookie. See thread: Celebrate - What we Did Not Buy)

It was hard to part with her, but I have learned that I can live without her. (I also purchased Anya Hindmarch maxi zip satchel as a replacement - for less than half what Pandora cost. Still too much, but less-too-much).

What I regret is that Pandora raised my price ceiling. I can now rationalize other purchases with this: "It is not $2,000 - it is only half that!" (see: vintage Chanel bucket, large Ferragamo Sofia, and Anya Hindmarch maxi zip satchel - all four-digit purchases, among many other sub-four digit purchases).

So, this.

Update:
For more than six months, I have regretted selling this bag. As more time passes, more regret. I found one pre-loved on eBay and just re-purchased the same style of bag I sold. I now have it back, and in total, have spent $100-200 more than the original cost of full retail price for the bag.

For that price, though, I know I will never part with this bag.

So what happened?

I moved, and my needs changed. Importantly, I KNEW this at the time I sold - yet sold under those flukey circumstances because I was infatuated with the Hindmarch bag and was able to get one on a pre-move visit. I carried the Hindmarch several times, but it never worked as well for me as I hand hoped. It is amazing quality and some of the most beautiful leather I've stroked or sniffed, yet it really doesn't hold much, so by the time I had wallet, small pouch, and eyeglass case, it felt (over) stuffed). As I settled into a very different lifestyle - with daily commute on public transit, I yearned for the Pandora: sturdy zips, three carrying options, outer zip pockets for transit pass and phone; bomb-proof goatskin leather (to borrow another tPFer's description from the Pandora thread).

Lesson One: Impulse bag-decisions -- buying AND selling -- are bad news at times of transition. With a goal of buying what fits the life you HAVE, it's silly to either buy or sell before knowing what your new life will be like. There's a window there when it's easy to project the life you want or think you may have - the very vision of your new life that you MUST have to get yourself through the upheaval - before knowing how it will all play out. At the same time, it is SOOOO TEMPTING - to want to be prepared with JUST THE RIGHT BAG. Don't do it: you don't know until you know. Live the new life, learn the routines - what's the same (not much)? what's different (well, everything). What matters most to me now? THEN decide.

Lesson Two: With fantasy-like exposure to more high end bags than I could ever want, I got into Balenciaga. Not hordes of them in every color -- but a good, select, pre-loved few. I am Bal-content, not looking for more (and grateful that it's the older bags that call to me instead of the ones I can visit just down the street). Why is this important? The quality: as a tPF friend said, "when I can carry one of my Bals, why would I choose a 'lesser' bag? She's right - not because of status or labels - but because of quality and workmanship. It feels different, not in a good way, to carry a bag that doesn't have that. Now, some very expensive bags don't feel as good as they should for the price (some newer-year Bals, anyone?) and plenty of less expensive / mid-tier bags have supreme workmanship (the Frye languishing in my closet is one...).

A few things: I have access to hordes of bags. Balenciaga, Givenchy, and others that don't move me as much. With this, I learned a few more things:

1) my price ceiling has NOT returned to $2K - despite several attempts. I purchased full-price Bals and felt sick about it, so back they went. I did this several times, and know for certain that the original lesson of the price point - not wanting to go there again - has remained with me.

2) I am a vulture for a deal on a pre-loved bag that began at this price point. i am hooked on that level of quality, so I shop for it more patiently. More or less. Sometimes less. My sweet spot is right around $1,000 -- prefer to go lower, yet will also go a bit higher for the magical mix of infatuation, function, and value.

3) Loving one style in a line does not mean embracing the whole line. I did this shortly after discovering RM: in the buying-frenzy so well known to anyone who had an RM phase, I bought many RMs, many styles, few to none of which work for me now. Can I add here that -- but for one or two -- I regret ALL (20-ish) of those, and they sit quietly in storage? The price point is such that it's easy(ier) to rationalize buying too many - a few hundred dollars doesn't feel as bad, so the risk lies in spending that few hundred bucks WAAAYYYY too many times. I'm better off with bags that cost more/ make me think more/ and that hurt more when I make a mistake. Enough to want to avoid the mistake (see: think more). So - that $1,000-ish price point I regretted getting to (prior post) turns out to be just the right place to be - to find joy and value - without the insanity of buying ALL the more affordable bags.

4) I learned that it's OK to love-love-love some styles and feel unmoved by others to the point of ignoring them completely. Rather than being a 'Bal Girl' or a Givenchy Girl' - I am a 'neutral-color-City-or-Velo-with-Giant-21-rosegold-or-silver-HW Bal Girl'; and a 'goatskin-sugar-leather-Pandora-with-silver-HW-Givenchy-Girl".

I also learned more about selling options and have resolved to clear out storage. (I sold the Ferregamo Sofia and the Chanel bucket - because, despite their quality and beauty, they didn't work for my life, before or after the move). One of these days...

 

[skyqueen]

I went to Barney's set on buying a black Givenchy Antigona since I wanted a nice black bag that I could carry on my shoulder or the crook of my arm. I ended up walking out with a black Celine Mini Luggage in drummed leather. The SA told me it was the best-selling bag in the department and I've always loved the Mini Luggage and Phantom. It was a spur of the moment decision.

Even though I love the look of the mini luggage, I ended up regretting my decision and selling the bag for the following reasons:

1. It was really heavy...after carrying it around for a day I realized it was too heavy for daily use.
2. It was too big for what I carried. I had a LOT of empty space in the bag.

At the time I really just wanted a bag I could use daily and not have to baby. I wanted it to be a classic, have room for my things, be low maintenance, and not too noticeable (definitely had a lot of people eye my large Celine. I think the fact that I'm really young and carrying the bag had to do with it).

Ended up with a black Balenciaga city and have been loving it so far! Would love to get the Celine later on in life when I have more to carry...and have bigger muscles to handle the weight haha. It's definitely a gorgeous bag, just not for me right now.

You read my mind! I think I enjoyed "the hunt" more then the bag.
Had to have it in the lipstick red...fabulous red, but too big and no shoulder strap. To add insult to injury I bought a LV stole to match it. I don't wear either one...so sad!

 

[jennytiu]

All my non designer handbags. I regret having so many in my closet a few years ago. Yes it costs about a tenth or sometimes barely even a fifth of a designer handbag but the poor quality is such a waste. And after acquiring so much non designer bags, I realized the cost of these bags could buy a designer bag. Since then, I have not bought any fashion bags. I know these bags are very trendy but the poor quality annoys me. The synthetic leather would peel off after 2 years

 

[Heidisaddiction]

My regret is ordering a Gucci swing medium and after opening and trying in deciding it looks way to big on me and sending it back for the small.

😔 little did I realize the small is to small for my everyday stuff so I am now lusting over a medium one again but in pink.

I can't wait to buy it and get it together over with because I have that obsessed feeling that I have at the moment where you absolutely need the bag

I had the right one in the first place. That will teach me to not take a few days and research before making decisions.

Ah I hope this is all normal hahaha. Dam my obsession with handbags. It's a love hate.

 

[Heidisaddiction]

You read my mind! I think I enjoyed "the hunt" more then the bag.
Had to have it in the lipstick red...fabulous red, but too big and no shoulder strap. To add insult to injury I bought a LV stole to match it. I don't wear either one...so sad!

If it makes you feel any better I love the red. I think I'd red as a classic like black and nude. You can wear black white ect and it will be your statement peice. Try and enjoy. 😘😘😘 and don't feel to bad the chase gets me to always.

 

[Heidisaddiction]

Update:
For more than six months, I have regretted selling this bag. As more time passes, more regret. I found one pre-loved on eBay and just re-purchased the same style of bag I sold. I now have it back, and in total, have spent $100-200 more than the original cost of full retail price for the bag.

For that price, though, I know I will never part with this bag.

So what happened?

I moved, and my needs changed. Importantly, I KNEW this at the time I sold - yet sold under those flukey circumstances because I was infatuated with the Hindmarch bag and was able to get one on a pre-move visit. I carried the Hindmarch several times, but it never worked as well for me as I hand hoped. It is amazing quality and some of the most beautiful leather I've stroked or sniffed, yet it really doesn't hold much, so by the time I had wallet, small pouch, and eyeglass case, it felt (over) stuffed). As I settled into a very different lifestyle - with daily commute on public transit, I yearned for the Pandora: sturdy zips, three carrying options, outer zip pockets for transit pass and phone; bomb-proof goatskin leather (to borrow another tPFer's description from the Pandora thread).

Lesson One: Impulse bag-decisions -- buying AND selling -- are bad news at times of transition. With a goal of buying what fits the life you HAVE, it's silly to either buy or sell before knowing what your new life will be like. There's a window there when it's easy to project the life you want or think you may have - the very vision of your new life that you MUST have to get yourself through the upheaval - before knowing how it will all play out. At the same time, it is SOOOO TEMPTING - to want to be prepared with JUST THE RIGHT BAG. Don't do it: you don't know until you know. Live the new life, learn the routines - what's the same (not much)? what's different (well, everything). What matters most to me now? THEN decide.

Lesson Two: With fantasy-like exposure to more high end bags than I could ever want, I got into Balenciaga. Not hordes of them in every color -- but a good, select, pre-loved few. I am Bal-content, not looking for more (and grateful that it's the older bags that call to me instead of the ones I can visit just down the street). Why is this important? The quality: as a tPF friend said, "when I can carry one of my Bals, why would I choose a 'lesser' bag? She's right - not because of status or labels - but because of quality and workmanship. It feels different, not in a good way, to carry a bag that doesn't have that. Now, some very expensive bags don't feel as good as they should for the price (some newer-year Bals, anyone?) and plenty of less expensive / mid-tier bags have supreme workmanship (the Frye languishing in my closet is one...).

A few things: I have access to hordes of bags. Balenciaga, Givenchy, and others that don't move me as much. With this, I learned a few more things:

1) my price ceiling has NOT returned to $2K - despite several attempts. I purchased full-price Bals and felt sick about it, so back they went. I did this several times, and know for certain that the original lesson of the price point - not wanting to go there again - has remained with me.

2) I am a vulture for a deal on a pre-loved bag that began at this price point. i am hooked on that level of quality, so I shop for it more patiently. More or less. Sometimes less. My sweet spot is right around $1,000 -- prefer to go lower, yet will also go a bit higher for the magical mix of infatuation, function, and value.

3) Loving one style in a line does not mean embracing the whole line. I did this shortly after discovering RM: in the buying-frenzy so well known to anyone who had an RM phase, I bought many RMs, many styles, few to none of which work for me now. Can I add here that -- but for one or two -- I regret ALL (20-ish) of those, and they sit quietly in storage? The price point is such that it's easy(ier) to rationalize buying too many - a few hundred dollars doesn't feel as bad, so the risk lies in spending that few hundred bucks WAAAYYYY too many times. I'm better off with bags that cost more/ make me think more/ and that hurt more when I make a mistake. Enough to want to avoid the mistake (see: think more). So - that $1,000-ish price point I regretted getting to (prior post) turns out to be just the right place to be - to find joy and value - without the insanity of buying ALL the more affordable bags.

4) I learned that it's OK to love-love-love some styles and feel unmoved by others to the point of ignoring them completely. Rather than being a 'Bal Girl' or a Givenchy Girl' - I am a 'neutral-color-City-or-Velo-with-Giant-21-rosegold-or-silver-HW Bal Girl'; and a 'goatskin-sugar-leather-Pandora-with-silver-HW-Givenchy-Girl".

I also learned more about selling options and have resolved to clear out storage. (I sold the Ferregamo Sofia and the Chanel bucket - because, despite their quality and beauty, they didn't work for my life, before or after the move). One of these days...

I relate so much to everything you wrote. Thank you. 😘

 

[skyqueen]

My regret is ordering a Gucci swing medium and after opening and trying in deciding it looks way to big on me and sending it back for the small.



[emoji17] little did I realize the small is to small for my everyday stuff so I am now lusting over a medium one again but in pink.



I can't wait to buy it and get it together over with because I have that obsessed feeling that I have at the moment where you absolutely need the bag



I had the right one in the first place. That will teach me to not take a few days and research before making decisions.



Ah I hope this is all normal hahaha. Dam my obsession with handbags. It's a love hate.

Sometimes your first instinct is the right one...the pink Gucci Swing sounds fabulous. Good luck!

If it makes you feel any better I love the red. I think I'd red as a classic like black and nude. You can wear black white ect and it will be your statement peice. Try and enjoy. [emoji8][emoji8][emoji8] and don't feel to bad the chase gets me to always.

[emoji8] Back at you!

 

[ladysarah]

You read my mind! I think I enjoyed "the hunt" more then the bag.
Had to have it in the lipstick red...fabulous red, but too big and no shoulder strap. To add insult to injury I bought a LV stole to match it. I don't wear either one...so sad!

It looks lovely though, I would imagine a lot of wardrobes would love that and I can see why you bought it.

 

[ladysarah]

Update:
For more than six months, I have regretted selling this bag. As more time passes, more regret. I found one pre-loved on eBay and just re-purchased the same style of bag I sold. I now have it back, and in total, have spent $100-200 more than the original cost of full retail price for the bag.

For that price, though, I know I will never part with this bag.

So what happened?

I moved, and my needs changed. Importantly, I KNEW this at the time I sold - yet sold under those flukey circumstances because I was infatuated with the Hindmarch bag and was able to get one on a pre-move visit. I carried the Hindmarch several times, but it never worked as well for me as I hand hoped. It is amazing quality and some of the most beautiful leather I've stroked or sniffed, yet it really doesn't hold much, so by the time I had wallet, small pouch, and eyeglass case, it felt (over) stuffed). As I settled into a very different lifestyle - with daily commute on public transit, I yearned for the Pandora: sturdy zips, three carrying options, outer zip pockets for transit pass and phone; bomb-proof goatskin leather (to borrow another tPFer's description from the Pandora thread).

Lesson One: Impulse bag-decisions -- buying AND selling -- are bad news at times of transition. With a goal of buying what fits the life you HAVE, it's silly to either buy or sell before knowing what your new life will be like. There's a window there when it's easy to project the life you want or think you may have - the very vision of your new life that you MUST have to get yourself through the upheaval - before knowing how it will all play out. At the same time, it is SOOOO TEMPTING - to want to be prepared with JUST THE RIGHT BAG. Don't do it: you don't know until you know. Live the new life, learn the routines - what's the same (not much)? what's different (well, everything). What matters most to me now? THEN decide.

Lesson Two: With fantasy-like exposure to more high end bags than I could ever want, I got into Balenciaga. Not hordes of them in every color -- but a good, select, pre-loved few. I am Bal-content, not looking for more (and grateful that it's the older bags that call to me instead of the ones I can visit just down the street). Why is this important? The quality: as a tPF friend said, "when I can carry one of my Bals, why would I choose a 'lesser' bag? She's right - not because of status or labels - but because of quality and workmanship. It feels different, not in a good way, to carry a bag that doesn't have that. Now, some very expensive bags don't feel as good as they should for the price (some newer-year Bals, anyone?) and plenty of less expensive / mid-tier bags have supreme workmanship (the Frye languishing in my closet is one...).

A few things: I have access to hordes of bags. Balenciaga, Givenchy, and others that don't move me as much. With this, I learned a few more things:

1) my price ceiling has NOT returned to $2K - despite several attempts. I purchased full-price Bals and felt sick about it, so back they went. I did this several times, and know for certain that the original lesson of the price point - not wanting to go there again - has remained with me.

2) I am a vulture for a deal on a pre-loved bag that began at this price point. i am hooked on that level of quality, so I shop for it more patiently. More or less. Sometimes less. My sweet spot is right around $1,000 -- prefer to go lower, yet will also go a bit higher for the magical mix of infatuation, function, and value.

3) Loving one style in a line does not mean embracing the whole line. I did this shortly after discovering RM: in the buying-frenzy so well known to anyone who had an RM phase, I bought many RMs, many styles, few to none of which work for me now. Can I add here that -- but for one or two -- I regret ALL (20-ish) of those, and they sit quietly in storage? The price point is such that it's easy(ier) to rationalize buying too many - a few hundred dollars doesn't feel as bad, so the risk lies in spending that few hundred bucks WAAAYYYY too many times. I'm better off with bags that cost more/ make me think more/ and that hurt more when I make a mistake. Enough to want to avoid the mistake (see: think more). So - that $1,000-ish price point I regretted getting to (prior post) turns out to be just the right place to be - to find joy and value - without the insanity of buying ALL the more affordable bags.

4) I learned that it's OK to love-love-love some styles and feel unmoved by others to the point of ignoring them completely. Rather than being a 'Bal Girl' or a Givenchy Girl' - I am a 'neutral-color-City-or-Velo-with-Giant-21-rosegold-or-silver-HW Bal Girl'; and a 'goatskin-sugar-leather-Pandora-with-silver-HW-Givenchy-Girl".

I also learned more about selling options and have resolved to clear out storage. (I sold the Ferregamo Sofia and the Chanel bucket - because, despite their quality and beauty, they didn't work for my life, before or after the move). One of these days...

 

[skyqueen]

It looks lovely though, I would imagine a lot of wardrobes would love that and I can see why you bought it.

Thank you, my dear...I love your blog and taste.
Might have to rethink this purchase, now! LOL!

 

[tinybutterfly]

Regret?
Pretty much every bag I have ever bought. Have I said this before? Wish I had just stuck with my banged up and uninteresting bike messenger bags. This purse obsession got way too expensive over the past few years. Not sure I'm the better for it.

I used to carry a black Stone Mountain leather hobo bag. That was the BEST purse ever. I carried it for years and was happy with it.

I have so many handbags now. Shaking my head at myself.

On the other hand, after all of this, I have learned what I like and what I do not like, what works with my lifestyle and what does not work with my lifestyle.

At this point I just need to get the excess out of my closet and keep the pieces I really like and use.

I don't need to purchase anymore handbags or SLGs that is for sure.

Regrets, about five Coach leather bags, a MK canvas tote, two cloth hippie bags I got at the local health food store and I should have gotten a LV NF MM In da, not mono. I love the mono, but I would have carried the da way more often I think.

Live and learn.

But yea, I miss the days I was happy with my one bag.

 

[Rani]

I used to carry a black Stone Mountain leather hobo bag. That was the BEST purse ever. I carried it for years and was happy with it.

I have so many handbags now. Shaking my head at myself.

On the other hand, after all of this, I have learned what I like and what I do not like, what works with my lifestyle and what does not work with my lifestyle.

At this point I just need to get the excess out of my closet and keep the pieces I really like and use.

I don't need to purchase anymore handbags or SLGs that is for sure.

Regrets, about five Coach leather bags, a MK canvas tote, two cloth hippie bags I got at the local health food store and I should have gotten a LV NF MM In da, not mono. I love the mono, but I would have carried the da way more often I think.

Live and learn.

But yea, I miss the days I was happy with my one bag.

Why do you think you would have carried the DA Neverfull more?

 

[JazzyMac]

I also have the Celine I purchased on sale...but it didn't work for me and I never carried it!

 

[Catash]

Chloe Paraty. I think I only bought one because it was a great deal, but it just ended up sitting in my closet. I ultimately sold it to Yoogi's

Not only that our collection is similar, I also sold the same bag to Yoogi's. Haha 😺

You must be my long lost sister!