Is buying a knock off handbag ever a good idea?

[lighthousekeeping]

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.

What are the child labour laws like there?

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

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

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.

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

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

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)

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.

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.

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

No. Save up for the real thing.

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

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.

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.

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

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?

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.