You’re on a super tight budget. As in eating fast food or buying a new bag on a budget. You truly do need a new bag because you finally saw the light of buying a high quality purse and your current purse is hanging on by its last threads. Yes, the bag looks that bad. You feel like you have no choice but to suck it up and go to a place that will do a resale on designer purses. Are resale designer bags really all that bad?Should you buy a pre owned luxury bag? The short answer is yes!
It’s not as bad as you think
If you know what you are looking for exactly, then chances are you might find it either online or even in person. The purse of your dreams might not be brand new, but it will be new to you. Even pre owned luxury bags will still hold value. If you are lucky, you will be able to walk away with a find of a bag and still some change in your wallet for your new handbag. If you are the type to always buy new, think about it this way: it will give you additional time to save up until you buy it new. It is better for the environment anyways, that is one less bag left in the landfill, so you are doing the planet a small favor by buying used.
Find out the history of the bag, if possible
Unless your bestie is the one selling you her old beloved bag, chances are you may not know the general history of the bag. Story time. When I was a budding teacher back in the day, I was on a tight, tight budget as I had 2 small children in daycare, so most of my paycheck went to bills, food, and childcare. Not much was left over for me to have any little luxuries. I had a fellow teacher who bought Coach purses on the regular. She was a two income household empty nester, so she could afford to purchase purses every season or two. She told me she was getting rid of her bags from two years ago because she had so many, as you can imagine. She offered to sell me one of her purses at a very reasonable price. How did I know that her purses were authentic? Simple. She would come in either with the store bag or the receopt. I consider myself lucky because knew how the bags were handled. The bag I got was almost new, and I still have it to this day and bring it out on occasion.
*I would just like to disclose that as an associate, I receive commissions through purchases made in this post.
Three words: inspect, inspect, inspect
Then, inspect it again. A reputable resale store should only sell verified authentic designer bags if that is what they advertise. Beware of locations that will sell counterfeit made out to look like authentic purses, especially now since the fake ones are beginning to look so much more like the authentic ones. A Google search may give you guidelines to tell you if the purse you see advertises is the real deal.
Once you have determined that what you are looking at purchasing is indeed authentic, the next thing you’re probably going to want to look at is the overall condition of the bag. Inspect both the inside and outside for signs of wear and tear. a small scuff might not be enough for you to move on to the next bag, but maybe a large one will. Depending on the size and type of scuff mark, Check the main body for cracks and tears, if there are any seen, remember, these will only get bigger with time, and depending on how long you own this bag the tears will soon show up more pronounced. Check for discolorations because of wear and tear, or perhaps there was a spill that the precious owner tried to remove with harsh chemicals not suited for the bag, the sealants, or leather in general. Take extra special care to inspect the interior of the purse to make sure zippers open and close with ease, snaps open and close without a struggle or don’t open too easily so that contents might fall out. If the bag has a flap, make sure almost parts of the flap aren’t showing signs of being stressed as in being overstuffed previously. Check the interior’s seams for signs of tearing or stress, much like an outer flap on a purse. For a bucket bag, check the drawstring for signs of stress and wear. Make sure that the pull (the little piece that holds the drawstrings of a bucket bag together) doesn’t show signs of wearing out, or is too difficult to pull open or close.
Check out the straps and handles. This is one area that should not be neglected as well. Straps and handles must be checked out for signs of heavy wear. After all, this is the pint of lots of possible friction. Hardware such as chains and clasps should be checked out to ensure everything is working properly. Make sure there are no gaps in the links or hardware to where the is a risk of a link or clasp becoming detached.
If it all checks out?
If it all checks out or if there are minor defects that you are willing to overlook, buy the bag! Minor signs of wear on the handles if the bag has handles can easily be covered up with a purse scarf. Sometimes a tiny bit of wear on leather can be reconditioned to look like new. If the bag just looks to worn or has defects that you know you would not be able to overlook, keep searching until you find a suitable bag.
Final thoughts
There is no shame in buying a pre-owned purse. In some cases, unless you tell somebody that it’s not new, nobody will know. Resale bags are good for the environment by keeping them out of landfills. For some who can’t resist a good deal, why pass one up on a gently used purse if you can get ahold of the one you’ve been dreaming of? Once you get the one you’ve been saving up for, there’s always donating your used bag to charity or upcycling as well.