What was your road to paying thousands for a bag?

TPF may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others

#31
Some kind of handbag chip went in when I was about 2 years old ... Yes, so many pictures of me as a child always with a handbag. I started to lust after Coach, then Gucci and on to LV. I just loved the design and workmanship. Honestly I would rather spend $ on bags then most anything else and I use my Pradas and Chanel bags everyday. They bring me joy - kind of hard to explain , hence the reference to chip insertion at age 2!
 
#32
Haha, I am still not comfortable with paying over £300 for a bag... Mind you, years ago I would never have paid over £100 for a bag so you're right, it is an addiction! ;)
I still don't own anything like LV or Chanel, but who knows? Maybe one day ;)
 
#33
South Beach said:
Some kind of handbag chip went in when I was about 2 years old ... Yes, so many pictures of me as a child always with a handbag. I started to lust after Coach, then Gucci and on to LV. I just loved the design and workmanship. Honestly I would rather spend $ on bags then most anything else and I use my Pradas and Chanel bags everyday. They bring me joy - kind of hard to explain , hence the reference to chip insertion at age 2!
Click to expand...
LOL! think I also got the handbag chip around age two! In almost every childhood pic I'm carrying some kind of handbag. My mom says I used to insist on sleeping with my handbag of the day under my pillow. To this day I'm still obsessed! :p
 
#34
I wasn't into any designer (or premium designer) bag back in college days. But once I started working, I started to buy designer bag, small bag so none over the $1000 mark at that time (Celine, Burberry, Gucci, LV). But as time goes by i just need larger bag, so I have my LV neverfull. At that time it's still under $1000. And now, haven't spend on bags for a while, I eyed on the Chanel bag which is $3600. >_< It's still on my wish list, I'm not sure if I can hold or it just will stay on my wish list forever.
One thing though, I like the Apple Watch but thinking $1000 for an Apple watch is way too expensive but $1000 for an LV is not? I mean, I am NOT willing to spend $1000 on Apple watch thinking it's overpriced but then I am much more willing to spend on LV (or bags in general...) I think I'm weird... :P
 
#36
fibbi said:
I wasn't into any designer (or premium designer) bag back in college days. But once I started working, I started to buy designer bag, small bag so none over the $1000 mark at that time (Celine, Burberry, Gucci, LV). But as time goes by i just need larger bag, so I have my LV neverfull. At that time it's still under $1000. And now, haven't spend on bags for a while, I eyed on the Chanel bag which is $3600. >_< It's still on my wish list, I'm not sure if I can hold or it just will stay on my wish list forever.
One thing though, I like the Apple Watch but thinking $1000 for an Apple watch is way too expensive but $1000 for an LV is not? I mean, I am NOT willing to spend $1000 on Apple watch thinking it's overpriced but then I am much more willing to spend on LV (or bags in general...) I think I'm weird... :P
Click to expand...


Not weird at all, fibbi !
The Apple watch will be much cheaper in a few years'time....whereas an LV bag.....[emoji17]
 
#37
This is a fun thread :). My first post on TPF was about a teal Rebecca Minkoff mini Nikki--this is hilarious to me. I never would have paid full price for a Rebecca Minkoff at the time, and was so excited to have found it on sale at Loehmann's (in the locked cabinet--lol!). From there I bought a couple of Botkiers and distinctly remember feeling very guilty the first time I went over $400 (for an army green Botkier Sasha). But, I loved those early bags and got a ton of compliments on them, and started reading and researching bags more and more. I discovered Proenza Schouler from TPF, and bought my first from ******, which I also found here. ****** introduced me to YSL and Balenciaga, and an obsession was born.

Fortunately, I seem to be in a bit of a "correction period" right now. I found that a number of bags, including Balenciagas, newer YSLs, the Givenchy Antigona and Fendi 2Jours, were just too showy for me, and sold them. I like understated and excellent quality--my current loves are Celine (the simpler styles), Marni, and Loewe--and I seem to like things that are from few years ago (examples are the Celine Blade and Edge, and the Marni Trunk). This helps keep the spending somewhat in check, and so far at least I have no desire at all for a Chanel, LV, or Hermes (I just don't get these brands). I wonder if I'll be able to say the same in five years :).
 
#38
I never bought a bag from my own money until I started working in 2006. Even after I started working, it probably took about a year or so before I made my first bag purchase: the Tano Minilisa, which was around $225 I think. Back then, I had a self imposed rule: I will never buy a bag that cost more than my monthly salary. Nine years later, I have still managed to stick to that rule. Of course the bags I bought increased in price because my salary also increased throughout the years. The most expensive bag I purchased is the Celine Mini I think, followed closely by a Bottega.

Prior to my first bag purchase, I was lucky to have a few designer bags already as gifts: a Balenciaga, an LV, a Coach and a Ralph Lauren. Plus my mom had some which I could borrow ocasionally.

I don't make enough money yet to buy a Birkin or Kelly without violating that rule. But I'm getting there haha
 
Last edited:
#39
I didn't ramp up at all.


Throughout my 20's & most of my 30's, I would own one Fossil, use it every day for every occasion until it wore out, then I would buy another Fossil. I had one that the zipper broke on, and a co-worker brought me into a Coach boutique near our office. I think that was 2006, at age 36, I said these words "OMG, I would NEVER pay $300 for a purse!!!!"


In early 2007, the Ugly Betty episode "Swag" aired in which Betty got a (85th Anniversary) Gucci when they were purging the closet at the magazine. I fell IN LOVE with that Gucci. I searched for it online... which is how I found TPF!!! And I found that it was currently available on Neiman Marcus. At that point in my life, I was 37, in my career for 15 years, owned a house and had a level of savings I was comfortable with. This also exactly coincided with my bonus timing. Despite the fact they said it was a $4,500 bag in the episode, it was actually about $1,900 with tax. - I gave it some consideration, and decided to get the bag.


That was my "gateway drug". I had loved LV monogram since high school in the 80's, but of course couldn't afford one in high school. And once I was starting my career in my 20's, I wasn't about to spend that amount of money on a bag. Money was for rent & bills, saving up a down payment for a house, and travel. - But once I got that Gucci, I thought... well why not get an LV which I've always wanted. So I did. This one was about $1,400.


However, neither of those bags was good for everyday use going to the office (they were both shoulder bags... which I couldn't carry with my laptop backpack, and the Gucci is velvet!!)... so at that point I started buying Coach (which are in the $300-$500 range)... and then I got a 2nd LV that was more practical to carry to the office (that one was about $800). And then I got heavily into the 2006-2008 Tokidoki for LeSportsac bags.


So I went from $100-$120 Fossils, straight to an $1,900 Gucci... and then all over the place. Just whatever I happen to like. My per bag comfort level caps at around $2k. I've paid slightly more for a few: my Chloe's were right at that point, and slightly over with tax, and a pre-owned Prada Fairy that I just recently got from Fashionphile.


I've been known to buy a few $1k-$2k a year, and/or many Coach bags per year... which have added up to double-digit thousands in a year. But I don't think I would ever spend much more than $2k per bag in today's dollars.
 
#40
In high school and early college years I never paid more than $400 for a bag. I had coach, mbmj, long champ, tb and Burberry.

My lv speedy is the one that broke the seal. I was a junior in college and was away for the summer for an internship. My intern friend and I encouraged each other to buy our first lv. She got the Eva and I got the speedy. I remember feeling terrible about the purchase after. My normally spending conservative mother made me feel better by telling me I had wanted this bag forever and to just keep it and enjoy it and remember all the hard work I did to get the bag. I guess her approval meant a lot to me and I stopped feeling bad. After that I progressed to bv, bal and Hermes without a second thought.
 
#41
I don't have one. I've never paid more than $700 for a bag and never will, yet I have an amazing, high-quality collection.

Up until early last year, I only had one bag ... a 2012 Coach Kristin hobo. Then I bought a LV Josephine PM for $450 and a Chanel hobo with tassel for $700, both from Malleries. From there, I actually went DOWN in price because for me spending $700 for a purse was ridiculous and knowingly a once-in-my-lifetime event. My next two bags were vintage Coach -- one made in NYC for $80 and one Italian caviar leather for $100. The last one was purchased almost a year ago.

Last night I bought a vintage Coach made in Italy for $242 including tax. It's in pristine condition, as are all my other bags. I'm now done, and my bags will last me the rest of my life as I'm 47.

So, there's no law saying you have to go down that road to paying thousands. You always have a choice in what you buy and how much you spend. You can control it because I have.
 
#42
Iv7 said:
Plus with all the price increases, as someone who works in retail, I just feel, bags are too pricy now and customers are simply deciding more. To me, if customers don't purchase on their first visit, the chances of them returning a 2nd time to actually make the purchase, is almost nonexistent. Or if they don't purchase quickly, the chances of a return is not low at all now.
Click to expand...

Very interesting you say this. I work in retail as well and i find it to be the opposite. Although i do agree that generally the faster someone buys something the less of a chance they are going to return it.
However, i find if a customer returns a 2nd or even 3rd or more time for the same item(s) then they are more likely to buy the item. It tells me they are strongly considering it. A lot of times customers just need to get over the sticker shock or want to look at other stores, research and come back. Most people don't spend several hundreds of dollars or more on something with a snap of their fingers, people like to research to some degree especially in this day and age. So when i see a customer come back, there's a very good chance it's because they want to make the purchase.
 
#43
I went from 50$ guess bags when i was in highschool to 300$ leather roots bags now(early 20s). So i'm pretty low on the price scale. I find the more i realize quality over quantity as well as of course the more i make, the less of a sticker shock i get when i see an expensive bag. Several years ago i thought it was crazy to spend to more than a hundred or two on a bag, much less $1000+. Now, while i don't think i personally can justify spending more than a few hundred on a bag, i'm a little more comfortable with it.
 
#44
Interesting thread. I never understood the desire to spend thousands on a purse, but now I can see how it can evolve into that. The most I've ever spent on a bag for myself are a couple of Coach bags for around $150 to $200. Bought them in my mid twenties when I grew sick and tired of my $50 bags falling apart. My most expensive bag is my Michael Kors bag at the moment, which retailed for $498. It was a gift, not something I would have ever purchased for myself. I can see maybe spending up to $300 or $400 for quality, but beyond that.... I'm jealous of all of you!
 
#45
For me, it was a slow but steady road into hell. Once upon a time, my stomach turned at the thought of paying just under $300 for a beautiful leather Coach bag, and over the years, that price point just went up and up and up -- it's amazing how one can become desensitized to a certain price and think, "Yes, $1200 is actually quite reasonable for a 'premier' bag." (?!!!!?)

I'm happy to say I've reached my limit. I have a YSL that I adore and that's the most I will ever, ever pay for a bag. I'm tempted to sell it because I feel ashamed at what I paid for it, but I know that if I DO, I'll always think about it and regret it, and will make some lame attempts to get the same bag back, and by that point the price will have gone up.

I have to say that as much as I adore TPF and all of the wonderful ladies and gents on here, avoiding it or limiting my time on the site has helped my addiction. (When other kind women agree that yes, $1200 IS a bargain for a bag, you've entered a danger zone where likeminded people enable you into buying things you may not be able to afford.)
 
  • Like
Reactions: celine666666
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top