How low do the *real* ones go anyway?

[CTstyle]

I'm doing research for a paper about the fake bag industry and I came upon an interesting question. Is it at all possible, anywhere, to even buy a REAL designer bag for any type of discount? Do the Marc Jacobs bags, for example, go on a type of clearance and how much clearance? Do they get marked down in the major stores (Barneys, Harrods, et al) as much as half off?

I'm asking for a reason. the paper raises this question and will attempt to answer it. I will be happy to let anyone here read it after it's done. I'll be publishing it online as well as in my local paper for editorial. It raises the larger scope of the moral and social issues at risk in counterfeit bags.

 

[Greendrv]

I'm doing research for a paper about the fake bag industry and I came upon an interesting question. Is it at all possible, anywhere, to even buy a REAL designer bag for any type of discount? Do the Marc Jacobs bags, for example, go on a type of clearance and how much clearance? Do they get marked down in the major stores (Barneys, Harrods, et al) as much as half off?

I'm asking for a reason. the paper raises this question and will attempt to answer it. I will be happy to let anyone here read it after it's done. I'll be publishing it online as well as in my local paper for editorial. It raises the larger scope of the moral and social issues at risk in counterfeit bags.

Yes, some authentic designer bags go on sale for as much as 70% off! The current Saks, NM, and Nordstrom sales are marking select Marc Jacobs, Chanel, and Gucci handbags down by 50%, for example. What isn't sold, is shipped off to the department store outlets (e.g., Off-Saks), or purchased by resalers such as overstock.com, bluefly.com, sam's club and costco (However, Fendi is currently suing Wal-Mart and Sam's Club over the sale of fake Fendi handabgs, so stay tuned on this one). However, for very hot, "IT" bags, there is no sale. So for example, authentic YSL Muses, and the Chanel Luxury Line are not on sale anywhere.

However, there is a HUGE market for counterfeit handbags that exists both online and offline. Some people buy fake handbags thinking they are getting a getting a "great deal", while others do not care about quality, intellectual property rights, human rights, or the fact that the counterfeit industry funds terrorism. A great blog on the subject is: http://www.counterfeitchic.com/.

BTW, is this for the Courier-Journal, Velocity, or LEO?

 

[wolfmaster]

I'm doing research for a paper about the fake bag industry and I came upon an interesting question. Is it at all possible, anywhere, to even buy a REAL designer bag for any type of discount? Do the Marc Jacobs bags, for example, go on a type of clearance and how much clearance? Do they get marked down in the major stores (Barneys, Harrods, et al) as much as half off?

I'm asking for a reason. the paper raises this question and will attempt to answer it. I will be happy to let anyone here read it after it's done. I'll be publishing it online as well as in my local paper for editorial. It raises the larger scope of the moral and social issues at risk in counterfeit bags.

Yes, all the time.
Marc Jacob's Ursula in green is marked down from 895 to 295ish.
Chloe Betty is marked down from 1800ish to 550ish.

 

[masquerade]

Yes, all the time.
Marc Jacob's Ursula in green is marked down from 895 to 295ish.
Chloe Betty is marked down from 1800ish to 550ish.

i thought the green ursula was 395, i might be wrong. i remember seeing it on sale at nordstroms, i just dont remember the price

my mom has a marc jacobs Wonder Shoulder bag in spearmint that was bought on sale at the MJ store for 150 and thats an 895 bag

 

[ambidextrous]

MJ Venetia is/was on sale on net-a-porter. then the bags of the last season are on sale right now in Paris. like Luella, Chloé and I believe also MJ. but certain brands don't, like Vuitton, Goyard, Hermès...

 

[wolfmaster]

i thought the green ursula was 395, i might be wrong. i remember seeing it on sale at nordstroms, i just dont remember the price

Very well coudl be, i'm confused sometimes.

Edit- It was actually 289 at saks!

 

[VainJane]

Ahhh, this makes sense....

I think I remember seeing some bags like Chanel and MJ and Gucci on sale but I thought they were fakes! I didn't know major designers did that (because someone once told me that Louis Vuitton never has bags on sale, thankfully).

I'm still suspicious when I see a discounted designer bag....

 

[Greendrv]

I'm still suspicious when I see a discounted designer bag....

Well, you shouldn't be suspicious when the discounted bag is at the store of an authorized retailer such as Neimans, Saks, Barneys, Nordstrom, Bergdorfs... well, you get the picture.

You are correct in your statement that Louis Vuitton never goes on sale. Louis Vuitton, Hermes, and Goyard never go on sale.

 

[CTstyle]

Well, you shouldn't be suspicious when the discounted bag is at the store of an authorized retailer such as Neimans, Saks, Barneys, Nordstrom, Bergdorfs... well, you get the picture.

You are correct in your statement that Louis Vuitton never goes on sale. Louis Vuitton, Hermes, and Goyard never go on sale.

Greendrv, you are very helpful. Everyone else who responded to this question, thank you very much. Ambidextrous, thanks, you have to been helpful in answering my other questions around the forum, so I owe you some karma, surely. So I am gathering that the secondary retailers mark down the bags (put them on clearance, any type of clearace, 70% or less) as soon as they can afford to, and the only brands who are excepted from this rule are: LV, Hermes and Goyard? These last three mentioned are never, ever marked down.

However, Saks fifth Avenue or Barneys may very well mark down the Chloe Paddington at some point if/when it goes down in demand. (??)

The reason for my questions is that I want to know everything I can about this business. I am an investigative reporter extremely concerned about the human rights violations as a direct result of these fake bag sellers on ebay and other auction sites.

Greendrv, to answer your question, my research paper is published here:
http://homepage.mac.com/chewstercastle/shadowpeopleessay.html
It is not in a mainstream magazine. I am going to submit portions of it (those that stem from my own ideas) for editorial in the local Louisville newspaper the Courier-Journal. But I have to edit out the citations first, as the editorial version must only have my personal ideas and not quote from other sources.

 

[ambidextrous]

well an oddity i noticed: auth LV cerise bags that were on sale at least the magazine (a taiwanese one, Breeze Center) had the ad for the sale (not only LV, there was also Chloé, Balenciaga...), it was supposed to be in a mall where the lux brands have little stores in it (um yeah my business vocabulary sucks ), but I couldn't find LV anywhere there however those markdowns are all under 100$, since LV sells for a much higher price in Asia (Japan its 140% of the French price) I could see a possibility for this, though it seems to be against the company's rules if you're really interested I could scan the "summer sale" ad with the LV for you

another thing: Goyard also sells at Barney's for a remarkably higher price, so it could be that Barney's reduce the price though Goyard in Paris never would. like the Okinawa bag sells for 850€ in Paris, but for 1465$ makes around 1153€, meaning 300€ more for the same bag at Barney's! So Barney's could give like 10% so some people think they're going to save and still making a sh*tload of profit... I just dunno how much control Goyard has over pricing and such

 

[CTstyle]

well an oddity i noticed: auth LV cerise bags that were on sale at least the magazine (a taiwanese one, Breeze Center) had the ad for the sale (not only LV, there was also Chloé, Balenciaga...), it was supposed to be in a mall where the lux brands have little stores in it (um yeah my business vocabulary sucks ), but I couldn't find LV anywhere there however those markdowns are all under 100$, since LV sells for a much higher price in Asia (Japan its 140% of the French price) I could see a possibility for this, though it seems to be against the company's rules if you're really interested I could scan the "summer sale" ad with the LV for you

another thing: Goyard also sells at Barney's for a remarkably higher price, so it could be that Barney's reduce the price though Goyard in Paris never would. like the Okinawa bag sells for 850€ in Paris, but for 1465$ makes around 1153€, meaning 300€ more for the same bag at Barney's! So Barney's could give like 10% so some people think they're going to save and still making a sh*tload of profit... I just dunno how much control Goyard has over pricing and such

Maybe LVMH and Goyard have to relinquish their distribution rights when they sell to some retailers?? It seems odd, considering how much weight and reputation those companies throw around, but they may do it especially for Asian companies if these Asian companies are paying such astronomical prices for their products, which seems to be the case judging from what you say about them selling so high. Barneys too, I suppose. Barneys may also pay more in order to secure more rights to sell at their own prices.

 

[Greendrv]

well an oddity i noticed: auth LV cerise bags that were on sale at least the magazine (a taiwanese one, Breeze Center) had the ad for the sale (not only LV, there was also Chloé, Balenciaga...), it was supposed to be in a mall where the lux brands have little stores in it (um yeah my business vocabulary sucks ), but I couldn't find LV anywhere there however those markdowns are all under 100$, since LV sells for a much higher price in Asia (Japan its 140% of the French price) I could see a possibility for this, though it seems to be against the company's rules if you're really interested I could scan the "summer sale" ad with the LV for you

another thing: Goyard also sells at Barney's for a remarkably higher price, so it could be that Barney's reduce the price though Goyard in Paris never would. like the Okinawa bag sells for 850€ in Paris, but for 1465$ makes around 1153€, meaning 300€ more for the same bag at Barney's! So Barney's could give like 10% so some people think they're going to save and still making a sh*tload of profit... I just dunno how much control Goyard has over pricing and such

Some of the pricing differences have to do with the strength and weakness of currency against the currency of the country of origin.

CTStyle, I know for a fact that certain Neimans and Saks discounted unpopular Chloe Paddington colors (only silver) during the SS 06 sale. However, the paddy has been released for 3 seasons already (starting SS 05), and was released in many, many colors this season. So it made sense that a less popular color would be marked down 30%. The Chloe Edith which was very popular for SS 06 and released SS 06 was not marked down anywhere, and will probably not be marked down anywhere for at least one year.

 

[stilettogirl84]

Well, you shouldn't be suspicious when the discounted bag is at the store of an authorized retailer such as Neimans, Saks, Barneys, Nordstrom, Bergdorfs... well, you get the picture.

exactly- but if it's on ebay or something, well....