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Is buying a knock off handbag ever a good idea?

57 replies

lighthousekeeping · 11/09/2012 11:15

I've never bought one but, I'm in Turkey and went into a "Mulberry" shop today. All real leather and all mad in Istanbul. I couldn't tell the difference. A large chocolate Alexa is £150. Yes or no? They had every model imaginable and were beautifully made.

I will listen to you guys.

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LaurieFairyCake · 11/09/2012 11:20

What are the child labour laws like there?

The cheap chemicals in tanning are pretty dangerous so I'd be wondering about working conditions.

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lighthousekeeping · 11/09/2012 11:22

I'm not sure but I have noticed that a lot of clothes I buy at home are made in Turkey.

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BobbiFleckman · 11/09/2012 11:23

if you can ignore the ethics of hooky manufacture and the morals of copyright theft, then go for it. The real things are ludicrously overpriced because the price bears no relevance to teh cost, but to the advertising campaigns they support.

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Geordieminx · 11/09/2012 11:23

If I was gonna spend £150 on a bag it wouldn't be a fake.

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lighthousekeeping · 11/09/2012 11:25

I've just done a quick google and a lot of mulberry bags are made in either Spain or Turkey

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BobbiFleckman · 11/09/2012 11:25

I don't think Mulberry m'facture there however a lot of hooky clothes come out of the back of the same factories that make the originals - they over produce & teh factory owners / workers sell the excess out of the back door - q common in China where lots of luxury goods are made (Marc Jacobs clothes on eBay are often hooky originals like that)

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CheeseandPickledOnion · 11/09/2012 11:27

Personally I wouldn't, but I just hate fakes. If I can't afford the real deal then I just don't bother or save up.

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dexter73 · 11/09/2012 11:28

Why don't you just buy a beautifully made handbag that isn't a fake? I'm sure it would be a lot cheaper. Fakes are naff apart from being ethically/morally wrong.

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BobbiFleckman · 11/09/2012 11:29

wow lighthouse you're right- Mulberry always plug the english leather / somerset factory thing so heavily I assumed they manufactured here. I suspect what you've seen is one from the back of the factory

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MrsApplepants · 11/09/2012 11:29

No. Save up for the real thing.

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lighthousekeeping · 11/09/2012 11:33

£900?!! No it's ok. I shall walk on by!!

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akaemmafrost · 11/09/2012 11:33

But it could be the real thing if like you say, they are manufactured there. Same materials, same place of manufacture, I would be tempted I have to say.

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AKissIsNotAContract · 11/09/2012 11:41

My bosses wife buys those types of fakes. You could never tell, they are amazing quality. I'm not sure I could do it as I do love my real handbags.

I don't think designer handbags are any more ethical in terms of not using child labour/fair pay etc than fakes would be. I expect the people who make them are still paid a pittance.

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BobbiFleckman · 11/09/2012 11:44

these are the real ones, but it's basically handling stolen property

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DonaAna · 11/09/2012 11:50

Buy a gorgeous bag that is not a copy of something?
You can find some amazing things in countries that have skilled leather manufacturers. I have found gorgeous, unique bags in Argentina.
Wearing something that you know is fake/copied/stolen will make you feel cheap. Surely you deserve something better?

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fedupofnamechanging · 11/09/2012 12:00

I would rip your arm off to get to it buy one. If you don't, you'll be kicking yourself when you get home.

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PropertyNightmare · 11/09/2012 12:15

I would not do it. The bags might not look fake to you but they will do to anyone who knows their bags. Little details or colour shades will be 'wrong'. You will be wasting your money.

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lighthousekeeping · 11/09/2012 12:31

I don't think any of my friends would notice tbh

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Iwannamovenow · 11/09/2012 12:34

I wouldn't buy a fake. You could get a nice bag for the money elsewhere.

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Iwannamovenow · 11/09/2012 12:37

I spent my 20's working in retail and we used to play 'spot the fake'

There's always small details that aren't quite right.

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PerryCombover · 11/09/2012 12:51

I've never bought fake before but now wonder why the hell not?
I understand the theft angle and that has been purely all that has prevented me.

I think anyone harping on about a £900 being worth it has lost their marbles
(I say this with over £15k of designer bags in my wardrobe)

It's just a bag.

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bishboschone · 11/09/2012 13:05

Mulberrys are made in turkey ( well some of them anyways) .

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AKissIsNotAContract · 11/09/2012 13:07

Whether you can pass of a fake bag as real depends on your overall demeanour. Plenty of my clients carry fakes but as they are well spoken and well dressed I always think their bags are real until they tell me otherwise. When I take my real Miu Miu into co-op when I'm generally dressed rather scruffily I suspect no one would know it is real.

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SavoyCabbage · 11/09/2012 13:10

Everybody wants to think that the fake that they are buying is real and that it's somehow from the factory.

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lighthousekeeping · 11/09/2012 13:11

I was only admiring the real things in the airport yesterday. And when I stumbled accross that shop I thought it was meant toe. It's a proper posh shop as well, not the back of a van.

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