What's your criteria for culling the Coach herd?

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Jadis4742

Jadis4742

Member
May 24, 2013
811
1
#1
I find myself in the unfortunate position of needing to cut down on the number of purses I own - sad, but I'm disabled, and it's hard to justify a herd of 40+ purses when I actually go outside about once a week, and most likely won't live on my own ever again. Sucks, but must needs be done.

My original plan was to wait a year and see which purses I rarely used, but I have since fallen in love with a...wait for it...a non-Coach bag and can't wait that long.

So help me out - how do you decide who needs to go without waiting to see which purses you never use?
 
#2
I am not the right person to ask!

Every time I think about getting rid of one of them, I fall in love with it again. I had one that I actually took pictures of so I could sell it. Then I decided to carry it one more time, and that did it. It was off the chopping block.

I'm very curious about the new love in your life!

If it is a financial choice, I would get rid of the ones that would bring in the most money, as long as I didn't love them too much. You could also try to keep only one of each style if you have multiples and try to get rid of color duplicates.
 
#3
I agree with whateve on this "You could also try to keep only one of each style if you have multiples and try to get rid of color duplicates."

I've thought about cutting down on the number of bags I have as well. Just about all of them are Coach and I've been looking into other brands especially with all the changes going on at Coach.

I was thinking I would rank all my bags and keep the top 20 or so bags. I have around 45+ bags (I haven't had the nerve to round them all up to count). The last few months I've noticed that there are about 6 bags I prefer to use and in the last year I've been bad about buying multiple colors so getting rid of multiples would be an easy way for me to weed them out. I'm finding that I'm really big on the functionality of a bag and I think it will be easy for me to get rid of bags that no longer work for me.
 
#4
I'm struggling with this, too. I have too many to enjoy them all often enough, but cannot seem to choose which ones I would not miss. I tried looking at color multiples, but each style is different. Tried looking at bag multiples, but I bought them because I truly love that bag! Now I'm stuck on "if I haven't used it in a year" but that is going to take a long time. Tried getting rid of my smaller bags, since I carry the bigger ones more, but then I thought, "I should save these for my daughter!" See, I am no help at all!
 
#5
I too am horrible about getting rid of bags! I agree that multiples are easier to cull and styles you don't use.

Functionality and frequency of use are good indicators of bags you should keep. I have a couple of bags that rarely see the light of day and haven't in months (some years) and I know I can't justify keeping them.

I wish I had better advice, but look at the bags you use and your holy grails and then think about what is worth getting rid of.

My biggest issue is that the bags I want to get rid of are not always going to bring in enough that makes it worth selling them. In this case, I give them away to friends that will appreciate and use them.
 
#6
I like GA Peach's idea of basing it on functionality. For me, multiples in a similar color and/or style are (for the most part) my favorites. I have noticed that my preferences have changed throughout the years, so maybe older styles that you don't use as much...? I'm pretty sure that's how I would decide. Unless you have a TON of duplicates...
 
#7
I like to look at bags with tags..... Every now and then I look at bags I've had for a while that haven't been used. That's a good indicator that I can part w them without missing them. Then I look at season and functionality. If I have x number of bags for one function and I can only use one at a time that helps narrow it down. GL, I've gotten rid of 10 and bought 1 this year! So freeing!
 
#8
Also, I've noticed that i have a couple bags that are "perfect". I just love them, they meet all my needs and are so easy to use. I have others that aren't easy to use or have some type of flaw I notice when I pick them up after being stored for a whole. Recognizing those flawed bags makes them much easier to part with!
 
#9
I recently did this... Not with Coach but with another brand. I started with the obvious... Bags that hadn't been used in the last 12 months. Then I classified them - neutral, warm colors, cool colors, dressy, casual, business, mini, etc... Then I kept only one or two of each style along with a couple that I just couldn't bear to part with. So far, no regrets.

ETA: The most important thing, for me, was not to overthink it. If it hadn't been used in 12 months - gone! Had I started thinking about it too much, it would have been much harder.
 
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#10
abl13 said:
I like to look at bags with tags..... Every now and then I look at bags I've had for a while that haven't been used. That's a good indicator that I can part w them without missing them. Then I look at season and functionality. If I have x number of bags for one function and I can only use one at a time that helps narrow it down. GL, I've gotten rid of 10 and bought 1 this year! So freeing!
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The ones with tags are the easiest to get rid of because I know I can return them and I won't lose any money. I have three with tags that I'm not ready to return, but I have two others all packed up and ready to go back.

The bags I'm having trouble getting rid of are the used ones that I don't like all that much but I paid too much for to be able to get a good portion of my money back if I sell them.

For the last year, I rarely carried my smaller bags. Now I'm on a small bag kick, and my previous favorites seem huge. I don't want to get rid of them because this might just be a phase.
 
#12
Thanks, everyone! You've given me a lot to think about. I definitely have color and style duplicates, especially of Candace, Molly, and Haley, which are my very favorite styles. And I haven't been able to carry Candace much lately because of the nasty weather (with those open bits on the sides) and Haley may be a bit too formal...oh, who am I kidding, I'll never get rid of Haleys! It's ok, I only have...six. :shame:

But the Candaces I can take a good long look at - they take up the most space anyway - and I can think of a couple Mollys I might not miss. That's my only fear, that I'll let something go and then want it back!

(Oh, and Happy Easter to those who celebrate! :flowers::flowers::flowers:)
 
#13
Happy Easter! I do this periodically too - on a smaller scale. I usually have a couple bags in mind that I'm thinking I don't use, don't need, have something too similar, or want something new that's too similar.
 
#15
Jadis4742 said:
Thanks, everyone! You've given me a lot to think about. I definitely have color and style duplicates, especially of Candace, Molly, and Haley, which are my very favorite styles. And I haven't been able to carry Candace much lately because of the nasty weather (with those open bits on the sides) and Haley may be a bit too formal...oh, who am I kidding, I'll never get rid of Haleys! It's ok, I only have...six. :shame:

But the Candaces I can take a good long look at - they take up the most space anyway - and I can think of a couple Mollys I might not miss. That's my only fear, that I'll let something go and then want it back!

(Oh, and Happy Easter to those who celebrate! :flowers::flowers::flowers:)
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Unless you need to immediately sell some, you can try this and see if it helps in your decision making.

Pack up the ones you think you can live without. Put them in a box and store them away from your immediate reach (don't leave them in your room). Store them in a plastic storage box...it's only going to be a short time so the plastic box is ok. Put them out of the immediate area and into the garage, basement, etc....place them somewhere that you have to make an effort to retrieve....once again, this is just for a short period of time so they will be okay.

Wait a few weeks, did you miss one of them enough to go get it? Even though you know you still have the bag, did you need to go get it and put it back in your room? If you didn't miss it enough or want it enough to bother to go dig it out of the box and bring it back to your room, it's probably safe to say you can get rid of it with no regrets.

Good luck.
 
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