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Womens' louis vuitton bags

post #1 of 33
5/4/04 at 6:18am
Thread Starter 
I have absolutely no intention of buying one, ever, but there are 56 pages on eBay of what I'm assuming are fakes, and I was curious to know how much these little bags are at full retail. The 'pochette', the 'Alma' and the 'Speedy', especially, the ones in white, with the colored logos all over. How can women be so enamored of the pattern and the brand that they'll knowingly tote the fake, and know that everyone else knows it's fake as well? My mind boggles... EDIT: Found them on eLuxury.com. $475 for the little ones, $1100-$1600 for the bigger ones. My mind remains boggled...
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post #2 of 33
5/4/04 at 9:06am
i have a wife who has a small but growing collection of them in most cases, she can spot a fake a mile away, there are tell tale signs for each bag design i believe you are referencing the "monogram multicolore" bags (white with the bright coloured monogram) and i do know that an alma in "monogram multicolore" runs in the US$1,200 range v. the alma in the traditional "monogram canvas" which runs in the US$800 range the speedy bags depend on size, from US$475 and up most on ebay are fakes, from what i understand women carry fakes because it's a status thing but some are so bad looking and plastic like that it's embarrassing ..... i even know someone who bought one who was told by the retailer that it was a real one but a 'second' .... but alas, vuitton has no such thing as a second
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post #3 of 33
5/4/04 at 10:59am
Nick, If those prices boggle you, check and see what Hermes bags sell for. There is a waiting list, so some people order bags through Hermes and then re-sell them on ebay and make a small profit. I've seen the alligator Birkin bag sell for $30,000, and just a plain yellow leather Birken sell for $12,000. Outragrous. Those are car prices. Regarding ebay, every bag you see is a fake unless: 1) it is used, and even then there's a good chance it's fake. 2) it's offered at the same price one would find at a store. LV does not sell second-quality bags. All of their factory seconds are destroyed. They also only sell their bags at their stores, and I think a FEW other retail stores. From what I hear, they never go on sale. This would make it impossible for an ebay seller to get a bunch at a lower price to resell - they would have to walk in the store and buy the bags, which would not be profitable. A tip for spotting fakes: I heard that on the multicolor bags, the real ones do NOT have a red 'LV' in the pattern, while in many cases the fakes do. I hung out with my friend and a girl he's friends with one time. She was complaining the whole night that the Gucci logo fell off her purse. I asked to see the purse and felt the leather - it was so cheap and stiff - felt like vinyl. I guess that was a great indication of it's authenticity.
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post #4 of 33
5/4/04 at 11:15am
Thread Starter 
So, let's say we lay an authentic LV bag and a well-made fake side-by-side... What's the difference in terms of construction and leather quality? Do LV use only the best materials, Hermes-style? Besides the logo, what sets them apart from the average bag?
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post #5 of 33
5/4/04 at 12:27pm
Quote:
Besides the logo, what sets them apart from the average bag?
Nothing. There's the rub.
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post #6 of 33
5/4/04 at 12:32pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Quote:
Besides the logo, what sets them apart from the average bag?
Nothing.  There's the rub.
Sheer genius. I wonder if the owners of LVMH have a giant money-bin they roll around in...
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post #7 of 33
5/4/04 at 1:12pm
Quote:
Nick, If those prices boggle you, check and see what Hermes bags sell for. There is a waiting list, so some people order bags through Hermes and then re-sell them on ebay and make a small profit. I've seen the alligator Birkin bag sell for $30,000, and just a plain yellow leather Birken sell for $12,000. Outragrous. Those are car prices. Regarding ebay, every bag you see is a fake unless: 1) it is used, and even then there's a good chance it's fake. 2) it's offered at the same price one would find at a store. LV does not sell second-quality bags. All of their factory seconds are destroyed. They also only sell their bags at their stores, and I think a FEW other retail stores. From what I hear, they never go on sale. This would make it impossible for an ebay seller to get a bunch at a lower price to resell - they would have to walk in the store and buy the bags, which would not be profitable. A tip for spotting fakes: I heard that on the multicolor bags, the real ones do NOT have a red 'LV' in the pattern, while in many cases the fakes do. I hung out with my friend and a girl he's friends with one time. She was complaining the whole night that the Gucci logo fell off her purse. I asked to see the purse and felt the leather - it was so cheap and stiff - felt like vinyl. I guess that was a great indication of it's authenticity.
Seriously, Those are car prices. I mean, I might spend thousands of dollars on a watches but at least its worth something when resale time comes (of course I don't want to resell them). At least the watches are fine miniature works of art, each one finished by hand and are made out of (at least some parts) precious metals. How complicated can it be to make a handbag? Barring precious metals / precious gems, what makes an alligator bag worth $30k? And please do not tell me the brand name; no name is worth that much. Jon.
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post #8 of 33
5/4/04 at 2:30pm
Quote:
Barring precious metals / precious gems, what makes an alligator bag worth $30k? And please do not tell me the brand name; no name is worth that much.   Jon.
Maybe the alligators that the skins came from were hand-fed veal filets prepared by 5-star chefs every day of their lives?
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post #9 of 33
5/4/04 at 2:52pm
I know a girl who bought the LV dog-carrying case for $1200.
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post #10 of 33
5/4/04 at 3:29pm
Last summer or thereabouts, the New York Times Sunday Magazine contained an article about the making of a Berkin bag, from start to finish, at the Hermes "factory." Quite interesting: at least for the story, it showed how they start with essentially a blank canvas -- pieces of leather. The handles are especially labor-intensive. It appeared similar to a fine men's shoe factory, such as Lobb or EG, where individual craftsmen were responsible for specific tasks (cutting the leather; sewing; making handles; etc.). Personally, I've often thought LV bags that have the logo plastered all over it walk the line very close to being tacky and sometime appear to be of the same family lineage as those black leather hats that have "Armani" or "DKNY" emblazoned across the brim in huge block letters. My 0.02.
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post #11 of 33
5/4/04 at 3:44pm
Perhaps a more knowledgable forum member can confirm this, but I was under the impression that LV bags aren't even made of leather. Parts of it are leather (such as the straps and trim), but I believe the main "bag-part" is made of coated canvas. Ah well, what do you expect? The Prada bags that were ever so popular in the nineties were just nylon.
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post #12 of 33
5/4/04 at 4:07pm
Quote:
Quote:
Besides the logo, what sets them apart from the average bag?
Nothing.  There's the rub.
how many Vuitto, have you hold in your hand ?
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post #13 of 33
5/4/04 at 4:09pm
Quote:
Quote:
Nick, If those prices boggle you, check and see what Hermes bags sell for.  There is a waiting list, so some people order bags through Hermes and then re-sell them on ebay and make a small profit.  I've seen the alligator Birkin bag sell for $30,000, and just a plain yellow leather Birken sell for $12,000.  Outragrous.  Those are car prices. Regarding ebay, every bag you see is a fake unless: 1) it is used, and even then there's a good chance it's fake. 2) it's offered at the same price one would find at a store. LV does not sell second-quality bags.  All of their factory seconds are destroyed.  They also only sell their bags at their stores, and I think a FEW other retail stores.  From what I hear, they never go on sale.  This would make it impossible for an ebay seller to get a bunch at a lower price to resell - they would have to walk in the store and buy the bags, which would not be profitable. A tip for spotting fakes: I heard that on the multicolor bags, the real ones do NOT have a red 'LV' in the pattern, while in many cases the fakes do. I hung out with my friend and a girl he's friends with one time.  She was complaining the whole night that the Gucci logo fell off her purse.  I asked to see the purse and felt the leather - it was so cheap and stiff - felt like vinyl.  I guess that was a great indication of it's authenticity.
Seriously, Those are car prices. I mean, I might spend thousands of dollars on a watches but at least its worth something when resale time comes (of course I don't want to resell them). At least the watches are fine miniature works of art, each one finished by hand and are made out of (at least some parts) precious metals. How complicated can it be to make a handbag? Barring precious metals / precious gems, what makes an alligator bag worth $30k? And please do not tell me the brand name; no name is worth that much.   Jon.
For 1500 euros you have which nice watch? I means with miniature....
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post #14 of 33
5/4/04 at 5:51pm
I really think that Louis Vuitton is living on borrowed time. They've cheaped their brand so incredibly that their products now completely lack exclusivity. Despite that price tag, virtually every young woman in Chicago owns one. They are a definite "fashion" type items and all fashion trends eventually end. The plasting of their logo all over the bag is something I've always found quite gaudy. I suspect they'll be considered passe in a few years. Hermes on the other hand is a definite step up from LV. They haven't plastered the world with flashy stores and pumped up the volume of goods sold. I consider their products much more classic in appearance and would own them myself.
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post #15 of 33
5/4/04 at 6:05pm
My wife and daughter both have a LV purse. They were a gift from a grateful business associate. While my daughter uses hers daily, my wife rarely does. When they first received them, the first question people asked was if they were real. (They are). My wife got so tired of being asked, that now she only uses the purse when we are out with close friends. I am not certain about the accuracy of the numbers, but a sales consultant at the Toronto LV store actually told us that more than 50% of the LV purses out there are fakes. If this is anywhere near the truth, why would any woman want to have one when the first thought in people's minds is that it is a fake? Classic
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