Have inadvertently sold a fake item and now buyer is threatening me with police

[HelpMeSoWorried]

Have namechanged as I am so embarassed. And also sorry to post in here, maybe should have posted in legal, but I know there is a lot of traffic here.

I was given a Mulberry bag as a christmas present a couple of years ago and tbh I never liked it much anyway and never used it (apologies to any handbag fans). As far as I knew it was genuine and had all tags with it etc.

I had no idea what it was worth but recently did a bit of research and they are about £700 new I think. So I decided to get rid and put it on gumtree. I was inundated with enquiries and sold it to a lady last week. She was really happy with it and I got £350 for it.

She has texted me today claiming it is fake and saying she wants me to pay her back and she will return the bag if I give her my address. She doesn't know where I live as I met her in town(at her request!) but she has my name, and obviously my number.

I am very upset and shocked as I would never have sold it if I thought it was not real, I would have maybe just given it away or something. Its completely against my principles, I am an honest person :( I am sat here crying now as I am so scared.

I really needed the money, I don't want the bag back and I don't want to return the money as as far as I am concerned I sold it in good faith and she happily chose to buy it. I am not a criminal, or a scam artist, but she is threatening to report me to the police. :(

can anyone help?

I wouldn't spend that kind of money on a bag. With £700, I could buy a cow covered in 10 times as much leather, or go on a training course and learn to make my own bags!

Mumsnet is very odd and has a really peculiarly snotty attitude about handbags.

People can say things about their expensive car, or the very pricey watch they own or their Caribbean holiday or a £10 bottle of balsamic vinegar. But handbags seem to relentlessly draw superior or hand wringing comments about how can anyone spend so much on a bag.
And often when it has nothing at all to do with the thread.

It is quite odd really.
The world is filled with people who can spend shit loads of money. But handbags seem to draw very high levels of snark fuckery.

Sorry flow4 - I know I followed your moments but thatwasn't aimed at you. I was just pondering this thread and it was top of my 'threads I'm on' thingy.

Somerset factory just expanded.There are sheep all over the driveway, staff also get a factory tour

You would be suprised at how much a baywater costs mulberry to make, a lot more than i ever thought. They are all made in England, exotic Bayswaters are made in spain, tiny little village. . A year ago i could tell you how many mintutes it took to make too, takes 40 people to make one. Alexa is made in Turkey, just because of the demand, early ones were produced in somerset and takes like half hour longer than the Bayswater.
The bags from China are generallly cheaper, and Mulberry do own their factories rather than rent, so it is very fair labour wage.

And with regards to our customers, some were a bit snotty and treated me like dirt, but most were lovely ladies/gentlemen who had saved all year for a bag or were treatingthemselves after a degree/promotion. Some people really did get a lot of joy from them and others had 100 and treated thought them no different to the way you think of a primark bag, nothing special, does the job kind of thing.

Had completely forgotten how much useless knowledge i have. Anyone know a pub quiz that specialises in Bags?

Pagwatch - I don't think its a mumsnet thing, its seems a life thing. Perfectly fine to swan around in a Ferrari but a £700 handbag is such a waste...

Not that I'd buy a £700 handbag. I wouldn't buy a Ferrari either. I'm just tight.

:) pag... Don't worry, I very rarely take offence at anything :)
JellyBaby, I'm tight too... And a bit hippy-dippy. I'd actually prefer an old banger to a Ferrari, and a £3 charity-shop bargain to a £700 designer something. My ridiculous anti-consumerism is the bane and horror of DS1's life!

I live about 15 minutes from Shelton mallett where the mulberry shop is? Get it back and take it there for it to be authentic.

Oh good flow4

I am a bit of both. I spend on things I like but I lie a bargain and a good charity shop find.

I have a couple of handbags. One is a mulberry and the other is a 1960s patent bag I got for £6 in Oxfam Richmond

Well for one a genuine nvt bayswater never has feet or a lining

If you're saying that a NVT Bays never has feet or a lining, you are actually wrong. I have an NVT Bays, bought from Mulberry itself, and it has feet. The ones which tend not to have feet are the outlet specials. Some Bays in NVT do have linings, too. I can't remember what the explanation for this is, but can check. So, sorry, TinyDancingHoofer, if you are actually saying that a genuine NVT Bays never has feet, you are definitely wrong.

I like handbags and shoes and do spend on them when I feel like it. I also love a bargain and a rummage round charity shops.

A bargain is a bargain.

Tiny thanks for putting me straight.

fwiw I doubt I'd spend £700 on a handbag, but these things are relative. Also I'm crap at looking after things.
'
I do appreciate how things can be so dear though; we're used to things being too inexpensive if anything. I have a friend who makes leatherware; decent leather is £££s.

Oh and if I had a Ferrari I'm buy a £££s bag for sure; my Matalan specials would look shite on the passenger seat

Camusfearna
Sorry, you're right. Completely mistyped meant that they never have lining always have feet. The lined ones are from the outlet stores or not in nvt leather. The printed nvt is, is lined and it is Slightly different with the old oversized and the east west, they have a few extra variations. In fact e/w now comes with a padlock and has a new zip internal pocket. Sorry for mistake was at work, which is no longer mulberry

How long have you had your bag? And do you love it? I love all of mine, call them by name and fell happy when i carry them, because i am shallow and i know i worked hard to get them(with my lovely staff discount of course).

Tiny, I've had my Bays for a few years now and I do love it. At the risk of being flamed for wasting so much money on bags, I have a few Mulberries and I love them all!

I feel happy when I carry them too - somehow, and I don't know how, they make the day seem just a little bit better .

Tiny, you sound like a fantastic sales assistant. Any chance you could go back to work at Mulberry? I love my bags too and it is always so much better buying from someone who knows and loves the products.

Caveat emptor! She had the opportunity to inspect the bag & reject it. Unless you knew, or had good reason to suspect, it was fake you have done nothing wrong - invoking the Police is simply to intimidate you.

If you are worried about her knowing your address etc or going to the Police, then you ask her to meet you at the Police Station & explain to her in front of the Desk Sgt that you are not giving her the refund. Doubt she'll turn up.

They do make you happy, not in a look at my £££ bag way but in a kind of warm and jolly way. And i love that if you're carrying one and you see a stranger with a mulberry on the tube etc. they always smile.

Thank you PropertyNightmare, that's very lovely to say. Oddly i am considering contacting my old boss, mostly because of this thread. It's made me miss playing with pretty bags all day and giggling with all the lovely customers. I miss the regulars There is a middle eastern man who comes in twice a year to buy his three wives new bags, he brings loads of shopping from other shops and gets it all out to show us. It's amazing.

Personally I'd ask the person who got it you how much it cost to see if its likely a fake if they say its real I would not refund the money as there are lots of scammers out there and after she left the exchange she could of done anything with it eg swapped it for a fake I've had buyers on ebay trying it on the get there money back it happens a lot at the end of the day she had a good chance to look t it before she brought it but it was fine now all of a sudden she nos its a fake something ain't right ether way don't stress about it the police want do wot cuz it's her word against yours hope this helps :)

It might have helped 4 months ago, but I imagine she's dealt with it by now.

@ koba and really really FFS at the zombie thread revivalist.

I hag sold 2 Luis Vuitton bags there authentic. I know because I had certified if there are real . Know that I sold them . I had meet the lady at a gas station . She know message me from offer up telling me she want her money back and the bags are not real . She is sending me pictures of my # plates car . Scathing me she gonna report me to the police . What you I do ??

Its completely against my principles, I am an honest person
Not really if you can't see that if there is a chance that is is indeed fake, you should indeed meet with her again and agree to give the money back and get the bag back.

@Tiah you should start your own thread or you will just get a load of irrelevant replies from people reading the original post and not realising this is an old thread.

ZZZZOMBEHHHH

THIS THREAD IS FROM 2012!