Fashionphile has several guides that are accurate and helpful.

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When researching authenticity and studying guides, be very careful and make sure that the author of a guide is someone who knows the product.

There are hundreds (thousands?) of guides that are floating around the internet that are absolutely useless. Most are outdated, incomplete or just plain inaccurate. Anyone can write a guide and call themselves “expert,” but unless the author really knows the brand, they can cause buyers to falsely accuse honest sellers or selling fakes or can have buyers thinking that a fake is authentic.

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LV does NOT liquidate. LV is the only authorized seller of their new items. Even in department that have LV boutiques, those boutiques are run by Vuitton and are employed by LV. The employees of (for example) the LV department in Macy’s Herald Square location are NOT Macy’s employees.

You will never see an authentic LV bag sold by a liquidator.

You will also never see a new LV bag on sale or clearance. Louis Vuitton bags are only sold at full price.

One thing [URL removed] Vuitton is not available “new” for resale. If you see or find a “liquidator”, etc. on line, they will be fake. Vuitton does not sell their bags, shoes, etc. for resale/wholesale such as COACH. They restrict their sales within their own Company or companies that are allowed to sell them which are usually high end department stores. Used is another story. Just wanted to let you know.

Not neccessarly la-boo-teek

Like anything else, some state it is “New” meaning it has never been used. Yes some who claim to be Liquidators may carry fakes, but others maybe liquidating stores etc.

Like anything else, some state it is “New” meaning it has never been used. Yes some who claim to be Liquidators may carry fakes, but others maybe liquidating stores etc.

Not with LV products they won’t. As MNPID stated any store that sells LV does not own the LV merchandise. Louis Vuitton owns the merchandise and pays a fee plus commission for the counter space to sell in that store. If that store were to go out of business the LV would pack up all their merchandise and remove it from the store. It would NOT be sold to a liquidator.

So, any liquidator that has LV merchanise is selling FAKES. Period.

If you are looking at a Used Louie V I would venture over to the purse forum and take pics and ask in the LV forum for their opinion if it is real or not

This is where I’ve gone for direct results @> [URL removed]

I go to their direct sales marketing dept and have had conversations with Marcel (Sales rep)…

Going to the direct source bypassing site or referrals has always given me results. Best of luck to you!

As many have said here, Louis Vuitton does NOT have sales and does NOT sell “wholesale” to people who sell online. Ever. Ever. Ever.

If you’re wondering if a new LV bag you see online is fake, chances are that if it is listed as new and at a cut-rate price, the answer is YES. It is a fake. It amazes me that, for instance, on FeeBay some individuals pass themselves off as experts and even “authenticators” of LV bags…and they charge a fee to “authenticate” sellers’ listings using photos. Well, I’ll tell you, either the sellers are providing falsified photos (photos of other bags) or the “authenticator” is simply taking payoffs if they’re saying the myriad new LV bags online at 50% off are authentic. Trust me, they’re not.

Also, as others have noted, the only real chance you have of getting a good deal online on a LV bag is to buy a pre-owned one. I’ve bought either used bags and had them checked out or have bought new at the LV store or sometimes at Saks Fifth Avenue. Either way, you’ll pay a goodly sum for a real bag.

That being said, LV is one of my favorites. I’m hard on bags for sure, and I’ve bene “living out of” a really large LV Damier Canvas bag with a long drop (for over a year now) that I did buy online from someone who bought it from LV for $1500. It was in good condition and authentic (and I had it checked by LV as well) and shows almost no wear after having the crap beaten out of it by yours truly over and over again!

It was a steal at $800. If anyone had had a bag like that for $200 or even $500 in “new” condition there’s no way I’d have given the listing a second glance. My bags and my shoes (and my watches) are things where I always buy top of the line quality—and it’s worth it over the years.

If you’ve never owned a real one, I’d buy from LV or Saks or somewhere like that first. Get to know the line. Go to an authorized store’s L counter and ask them to “show you around.” They’re usually quite happy to help and answer questions, especially since they want a customer.

Good luck, and be careful!

LV’s never goes on sale or have markdowns EVER!! If you buy it online, make sure to have it authenticated before bidding/buying to make sure and PLEASE, DO NOT buy a LV with only one picture from the seller, always ask for more. Also, be wary of “I got this as a gift, OR, it was given to me type of things.”

There are many places where you can post pictures and have the member help you authenticate. When posting pictures, it’s important to get a close-up as much as you can on the bag. Avoid blurry pictures. For LV’s, you’ll need a close up picture of the whole bag, hardware like zippers, handles (very close up), date code, heat stamp, and stitchings.

You can post pictures in *bay Purse and Accessories discussion boards (some of those folks are LV collectors, they’re not shy of telling others if the item is fake), and the Purse Forum.

If everything else fails, check out CarolDiva.com and with $6, she’ll authenticate your item for you. CarolDiva has a great reputation and *bay & Paypal recognizes her as an authenticator of LV’s meaning *bay & Paypal will take her word over disputes or claims of counterfeits and so on. This is her [URL removed] [email protected] and I’ve used her services in the past and she gets back to you in less than 24 hours. She’s great! I highly recommend her.

Good luck!