Help! Have I been scammed

Some rarer bags and accessories have huge values attached.
It is normally vintage stuff that ends up on Kim Kardashian’s as well.
Buyers who know their stuff are rarely aware of catwalk history, who wore what, and so some Chanel/Dior etc pieces are far more expensive than buying new.
I can remember looking (as in just looking!) at a Chanel bag in 1999 it was £750. I’d just bought myself one in Karen Millen at the time for £150. Obviously the Chanel one was more expensive.
Now the same Chanel bag is 10k. The quality isn’t as good and there are fakes everywhere.
I gave the KN one away a few years ago and to be fair it lasted.
The Chanel one would have been a great investment….

That's not remotely the case with the most desirable bags which can often be resold above retail. Same for watches, high end sportscars etc.

In the UK, it is not illegal to own or buy fake designer goods for personal use. It is only illegal to sell them or buy them for the purposes of resale.

See, I can't part with them. I know, I know. It is a mental illness. Hoarding?

Second hand designer bags are always going to be less than retail price purely because they arent brand new- surely thats obvious to you?

Therefore, it being less than usual retail value is completely normal and depends on the wear and tear of the item which sellers have to list. Even if the item hasn't ever been used, it is still technically second hand so wont attract the same retail price as if it were brand new out of the box from the manufacturer.

None of the above is suspicious or automatically means the item is fake. Many second hand designer websites authenticate designer items in house so you get an extra layer of reassurance it's real.

Its your ridiculous assertions that the OP is being "shallow" for not wanting to pay for a fake item that people are finding ludicrous or that it being fake somehow doesnt matter when it was deliberately and falsely advertised as real.

Sell them on Vinted, and buy your one, beautiful item.

Each year I put all my Vinted earnings together, and buy one expensive item. This year I'm blowing it on a pre-loved designer bag (bought from a super reputable store in Paris). I'm already half way to my target.

I love the idea of selling off all my old, unwanted items in exchange for one high-quality piece.

If you've bought a bag/diamond from a legitimate retailer/jewellers then you'd expect it to be real so of course you'd take it back. But if you've bought a product for less than its usual retail value, you know it will be fake, faulty or used so you have no grounds for complaint.

There used to be a stall in East Street Market that sold loads of YSL & Gucci bags. Some of them were genuine leather. They had really nasty Michael Kors purses that looked very plasticky. Apparently, the trick in passing fakes is to claim that they look slightly different because they are earlier models.

Anyone travelling to France (I'm French) should leave their fake shit at home. In some place police will confiscate and destroy.

Another reason to avoid designer tat. Instead find a leather artist and commission a bespoke bag. I had a lovely bag that was inspired by the Birkin in lovely soft cognac coloured Moroccan leather, but sadly it got stolen at a wine bar.

She's hardly going to get arrested for it walking down the road is she. 🤣🤣

Maybe she is, and frankly so what. If she finds joy in it, let her.

I had a proper clear out when I turned 50. It felt great but the things you find….
Let’s just say every variety of boot cut jeans. Diamanté. Lace trim. Cut-outs. Grim. 🤣

https://legitgrails.com/blogs/saint-laurent/real-vs-fake-ysl-loulou-medium-bag-legit-check?srsltid=AfmBOor_Ol5iF6g6QmGKdqSRQfzOUq7tk4PGfPKKDVZPd1OM3Ff1mxO0

https://legitapp.com/blog/how-to-tell-if-your-ysl-loulou-bag-is-real-or-not-expert-authentication-tips

Aaaaa, don't. Please don't. In the attic I have binsacks full of coats from Next, Zara, M&S, Country casuals, Viyella, H&M, Debenhams, John Lewis, Jigsaw, Jaeger, Austin Reed.... All because deepdown I am such a cheapskate and can't part with a sizeable sum at any given moment, I just squander money bit by bit. Aaaaaa

My 1998 one is still doing a good turn.
Got my first LV bag - the accessories pochette one - at the same time - £90!
The prices now even if I could afford it, it’s all too much. And there are so many fakes.
I have sold a few bits to resale sites - good ones - so that’s where I’d go if I was buying.
I’ve used 1st Dibs which was great.

Yes, report including to Trading Standards. Illegal selling and misrepresentation.

Loads of people own fake designer watches!

My husband wore a fake Rolex for years - it lasted surprisingly well considering it was bought at a market in Portugal.

It’s fake.

Font spacing inconsistency.

Take it to a shoe repair store like Timpson’s and ask them about the quality of the leather. They can tell you if the leather and stitching consistency is worth what you paid. If not, return it Monday for quality inconsistence. Leave all the authenticity out of it. They didn’t promise you authenticity. They promised you a fake of high enough quality that it couldn’t immediately be clocked. Do not buy designer except straight from authorized retailers.

You can have a “fake” of anything made in China within 24 hours. This person runs a business, yes, but it’s not a business selling what you thought they’re selling. Gold metallic debossed stamping costs extra on these bags. If you love the LOOK of it, buy direct from a vetted Chinese factory and ask them to customize with YOUR logo, not YSL. Choose a Swedish word, have it metallic debossed, tell everyone it’s a hot new very exclusive brand. (wtf Mumsnet I need the laughing emoticon here lolz).

I think if I cared as much as OP seems to, I'd have just walked into a bricks and mortar shop and paid the full price...

it does matter as OP"s probably overpaid if it's fake. Sorry op I have no knowledge if it's real or fake but if you're unsure I'd send it back. You probably won't ever feel the same about it if you don't.

I think it looks genuine, it’s too good to be fake eg the branding on the zip and buttons. But if you’re unsure send it back which you’ve done as you will always be wondering.

and yes people do sell designer for a fraction of new cost on Vinted etc. I’ve sold some unwanted Stella Mcartney, Issey Miyake clothes and only got 10% of the new cost.

Years ago I was invited on a story about fakes for ebay. I saw just one out of quite a few hangers worth of fake goods that had been seized by the powers that be. It was astonishing, it really was. A few things struck me, one was how many different branded items in this hanger which was just the tip of the iceberg and actually that the things copied were not what I'd expect. Obviously designer products like this bag were copied like mad, but then other things like batteries, glue, medicines, razors, even things like bubblebath that only cost a couple of quid in the shops anyway. I suppose people sold enough of them to make it worth copying?

I have not bought anything electrical, beauty or anything I need to be safe to use from a marketplace since. I'd rather buy the original.

Return it and learn the lesson.

It’s very silly indeed to buy designer items for this obscene amount of money (over a grand 😱) on eBay.

You are very lucky that it looks like you might get your money back. This had scam written all over it. Who buys a designer bag and uses it once and puts it on eBay. Nobody.

Definitely fake.

DD collects Coach bags and purses, but would only ever buy them in Selfridges, Harrods or Bicester Village.

Selling them is illegal full stop, whether you sell them as real or saying they are fake.

I am wondering if that poster would pay £££ for a diamond ring from a jewellers only to find out later its actually cubic zirconia and really from Claire's accessories whether they'd say to themselves "oh well, I mustn't be shallow! I'll just keep it and say nothing" 😂