Help! Have I been scammed

Of course it matters if she’s paid a fortune for it!

Just return the bag and draw a line under it. You will always have that niggling doubt in your head! Just save up for a genuine bag no matter how long it takes because when you do eventually get one from a legit store you will be on cloud nine knowing it's the real thing and all your hard work saving has got you to your dream bag! You cannot beat that feeling of elation and achievement!

If these PPs aren't just being arsey for the sake of it (on MN? Surely not!!) they might be kind of people who look at Monet paintings and say their kid can paint something just as good!

Fair enough, they may genuinely prefer their own child's artwork to a dead Frenchman's. But there's a real difference between a 'nice picture' and a signed masterpiece. That difference is worth £ millions, even if some can't see why.

All designer bags are limited editions. That, alongside the quality and design details, is why they keep their value. They aren't just a 'nice bag', any more than a Monet's just a picture. If you don't get it, that's fine. Put prints on your walls and use an Asda handbag.

Owning fakes is not illegal if it's purely for your own use. Selling fakes and saying they are the real thing IS illegal.

Seriously - people are being really weird about this. It has nothing to do with being bloody shallow- if I buy something that's advertised as a certain designer and it cost a designer price, it's not "shallow" to want a refund. You have been lied to by the seller FFS.

You also have a legal right to a refund if you've been sold a fake/counterfeit so the law backs this principle up.

That’s not the point is it… I’m sure OP paid a substantial amount of money for a second hand designer bag. It’s not something you just let go when the bag is probably worth a tenner on a market stall.

If you've got a really good fake, it will have a serial number. You'd then have to go to an authenticator to find out if it's a valid code.

On the other hand, if you've got a Faux St Laurent bag of very good quality at less than YSL price, then enjoy it and don't ask questions!

No it's not. It's illegal to sell/import/distribute them. The law intentionally does not criminalise people who've been duped by counterfeit goods.

@amraa does it have the serial number that’s the key.

Yes, all authentic Saint Laurent LouLou bags have serial numbers. These numbers serve as a unique identifier and are debossed or heat-stamped on a small, rectangular leather tag stitched into the bag's interior lining, usually near the zip pocket. 1, 2, 3]

Looks fake, I am sorry. As others said the print looks soft and a bit misaligned. My YSL has this:

Mine is an old bag but 100% genuine.

Report the seller asap.

You have learned hard lesson.

Four shops in my city were raided by the Police just recently for importing, manufacturing and selling. Millions of pounds of high end designer goods

$his sort of thing is rife on line.

Some people are and will only buy labels, even though the items are actually unattractive and over priced.

Do you know what gets me? In all honesty, I have probably spent enough to buy at least one MaxMara coats since 2002 - buying lots of inferior coats from High Street at £160 a pop, but I never felt I was ready to spend a decent sum on a decent coat like you did. Still can't do it.... Understand it in my head, but can't.

Thank you! What an interesting article!

OP I’m just glad that you can get your money back and your post serves as warning to others too. I’m not sure about buying secondhand designer items online but I think Vestaire is meant to be good. I’m sure someone will come along to verify this.
If you really love the bag then save up for it over the next few months. Go in person to buy it so you can see it and feel it for yourself - you may even change your mind about it.

Yes, that's what I understood

No read the response carefully

that is the retail price

Yes I completely agree! Which is why I don’t buy them. I am merely suggesting why the bag OP has bought is not likely to be “decent quality” if it is fake.

People are literally saying it doesn’t matter if it’s fake or genuine and that’s the entire point 🤣

Yes around 2thousand she replied on my post

So don't buy fakes then? Of course fakes are lower quality, you get what you pay for. If it's cheaper than it should be, you know it's fake. And if you know it's fake, you know the quality won't be as good. It's not rocket science.

Why though? What is a 'genuine' bag? Surely if she likes it and it's decent quality

Thats the thing though- fakes are rarely made well made and thats the point!

You dont find fake designer bags made from buttery soft lambs leather with hand made stitching. They are mass produced and fall apart in a few weeks of use because they're cheap to make

Try smelling it, fake bags have plastic gluey smell, also did it come with the packaging? Dustbags and box can be a big giveaway

No

Has OP even said how much she paid for it?

Just a thought. Maybe designer bags are themselves a big scam. A Made in Italy label does not necessarily mean Italian level craftsmanship. Some are made by Chinese migrants in sweatshop type operations sub contracted by YSL, Gucci etc www.rfi.fr/en/international-news/20251204-slew-of-top-brands-suspected-in-italy-sweatshop-probe