Help Me Find My Friend a Bag
I'm kind of mad at eBay. In fact, if eBay and I were having a fight, right now we'd be in the stage where I'm yelling and antagonizing and desperate to prove my point, and eBay is being all smug and stoic and infuriatingly standing its ground. This is what happened.
On Saturday, my friend Amy was telling me how she really wants a nice, grown-up, well-made designer bag, but she doesn't want to spend a month's rent. In fact, she wants to pay around $200—in my mind, totally, completely reasonable. Ever confident of my search abilities, I explained to Amy that this would be "no problem" on eBay and, in fact, I would find it for her myself.
Oh, eBay, how you have betrayed me.
Yes, there are plenty of beautiful bags on the site, but every one I found that fits Amy's criteria—brown, newish, lots of pockets, big enough to fit her portfolio—fell well out of budget (these were the kinds of things I was foolishly looking at: Chloé , Mulberry, Kooba). I also had a hard time navigating the handbag finder, tried different ways to narrow my search, and still came up with zilch. Has anyone bought a great purse on eBay around this price range? Is this even realistic? Help.
i was semi able to. i really love love loved this isabella fiore bag that was way out of my price range. 675$. not as ridiculous as some, but still. anyways, i was able to get it down to 300$ by using the buy it now feature on ebay. 300$ was still a bit much, but i loved it so much, i thought it was worth a bit of a splurge. and i got it for more than 50% off! not bad!
oh, and i got it from the VIPfashions store on ebay. so i suggest looking through there...you may be able to get them down to a reasonable price.
Try "pinchrosemary" ebay store. They have great bags, some used, but they have professional descriptions including a grade system. They are honest about what needs to be fixed, if anything, and have lots of up close pictures. Great brands like Fendi, Kooba, etc.
While walking around the city last weekend I saw a girl with a beautiful, used, but still outrageously pretty Hermes bag. Since I will NEVER be able to afford even a used version, I am looking for a look-alike in natural leather.
Here's the search I have setup on eBay: Style: Vintage Bag, Main Color: Brown, Lt., Material: Leather.
I'm hoping that one day...
I definitely think It's possible. Last Christmas, my Mom bought be a beautiful, lightly used Coach bag on Ebay, I think for about $80. I am ready for another one, so I've been looking,and there are many options!
Definitely possible. I go for lower priced labels or labels that aren't so popular at the moment. They cost as much in real life or are just as fabulous as the Chloe's and the Mulberry's but no one is after them/know who makes them, so the prices are much lower.
If your friend is willing to ditch the label for a non label, gorgeous, leather, adult bag, I would tell her to go to Fossil. She could buy a purse new and in person and their bags range from $100-$300 depending on the size and how elaborate the bag is.
Check out these two stores on Ebay for authentic designer bags and fashions-"endoangels" and "catspeaks". Email me before paying and I will give you a discount-just tell me you found my store at Lucky online!
I agree that you need to broaden your search beyond the biggest names right now - they're still too expensive on Ebay. Try Coach, Cole Haan, Juicy, or something of the sort. They have some good priced bags on auctions - new - in your price range. Also, consider looking on smartbargains.com. They have some good stuff too. Or if your friend lives in New York go to Loehmans. They always have great purses.
a few that I found on Ebay - search parameters = brown, new, leather, in US only, between 100-200$:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NWT-100-Auth-Coach-Hand-Bag-tote-8A09-MSRP-358_W0QQitemZ220184434858QQihZ012QQcategoryZ63852QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/Juicy-Couture-Stella-Leather-Handbag-Dark-Neutral_W0QQitemZ110206597100QQihZ001QQcategoryZ63852QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting
http://cgi.ebay.com/Kate-Spade-Handbag_W0QQitemZ270196869047QQihZ017QQcategoryZ63852QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/NWT-COACH-HAMPTONS-SUEDE-LARGE-CARRYALL-BAG-PURSE-8A79_W0QQitemZ300182530063QQihZ020QQcategoryZ63852QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/LEATHER-SHOULDER-BAG-HANDBAG-MADE-IN-ITALY_W0QQitemZ360005541033QQihZ023QQcategoryZ63852QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
It might help if you use the 'playground' to search. I've prefer the way it's search parameters are laid out, but I'm relatively new to ebay. So, you may be seaching that way. If not, it's worth a try.
I have an ebay store (BestBoutiqueBrands) so I'm on ebay alot, A while back I had a Dulce bag, and since it is a lesser (or barely) known brand of amazing bags I ended up selling the $475 for a mere $179. So I'd definitely put "Dulce" on your e-mail search notifications. (check out dulcebags.com)
Also, have you looked at TJMaxx or Marshells? They have started liquidating AMAZING bags for cheaper than I would have ever expected. The other day I saw 2 Cynthia Rowley handbags there each for $199. I've also seen Michael Kors, Juicy, Isabella Fiore...to name a few. They also carry great Italian lines that aren't exactly notable brand names to the everyday shopper, no matter how bag obsess you may be. So keep an eye out for the "Made in Italy" tag and quality leather, you'll know its an Italian keeper if they have it priced the same as the brand name bags.
I recently bought this brown bag on ebay (30204632871) from a store called Station 85. It was way less than $200, leather, and very Foley & Corinna (http://www.shopbop.com/shop/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441807408&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302024667&fm=browse-category-viewall-shopbysize&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181057).
This seller has a ton of bags listed also. Good luck!
- Pamela
Perlina makes beautiful, well-made bags. If you go to the website you can buy them on sale: www.perlina.com
Most of the bags are under 200 dollars, but sometimes under 100. The leather is soft and the zippers, buckles, etc. all great quality.
I just went to the station 85 site, and they have so many handbags below that range, like a couple hundred or so on the page all different brands and styles. You should really check them out!