Here’s what to expect when going to the brand to authenticate.
If you wanted to authenticate a used designer bag–say, a Chanel 2.55–with a true brand expert, you would go to the brand itself, right? Trick question.
While it stands to reason that a brand employee would be best suited to determine whether or not your pre-owned purchase is the real thing, that’s actually not the case. Here’s why.
Sales associates are hired to sell authentic products, not to authenticate.
Authentication requires a completely different skill set, not to mention years of specialized training.
Resale actually cuts into the brand’s bottom line (and the sales associate’s commission).
When you bring in a pre-owned bag for authentication, the sales associate’s bias may emerge. It makes sense: they’d prefer you buy the real thing from them instead of a reseller.
Brands often tell their employees not to verify authenticity.
This way, they keep you paying big bucks at their retail locations instead of hunting the resale racks!
Design details change year over year.
Newer employees likely aren’t familiar with every seasonal update on a particular style. This especially applies to vintage pieces. Chances are, a brand representative isn’t looking under the zipper or examining the undertones of the tarnished hardware to verify your bag’s authenticity (again because interpreting these nuances requires specific training).
Established luxury brands generally don’t authorize resellers.
Quite frankly, most of these brands would probably rather we not sell your authentic, previously owned, ultra-luxury handbags and accessories. That being said, we guarantee the authenticity of every single item we sell forever with a 100% money-back guarantee.
So no, it isn’t easy to verify pre-owned luxury items on your own–that’s why we’re so passionate about this process ourselves!
We truly understand the importance of trust in the resale space (for example, every item sold on our site is examined by not one but two trained authenticators), so when you buy a FASHIONPHILE piece, you don’t have to waste your time checking in with an official brand rep. You can rest easy (snuggled up on a quilted Chanel bag) knowing that your bag is the real deal.
