Picture Comparison of Authentic and Counterfeit Coach

The counterfeit Coach bags seem to be getting better, at least to the  untrained eye, today I am going to go step by step comparing 2 bags, one counterfeit and one authentic.   These are all the things you can look for that will help you to determine if the bag you got is authentic.

Normally I would just do a google search using the creed number.  Most counterfeit bags will have the wrong style number for that bag so when you do a the search, a different bag will show up. But when the style number is correct in the counterfeit bag, thats when you need to use your knowledge of authentic bags to find the less noticeable things that will tell you whether or not the bag is authentic.  This bag is just such a case, having an authentic style number, but notice the details!

This is the Coach Signature Multi Stripe Diaper Bag

This is the seam side, notice that the letter Cs do not line up, nor are they centered.  Now, on some styles, while the Cs may not line up, they are ALWAYS centered. Also notice that the colored leather patches, while they appear to be in the right color order, the colors don't match to the authentic bag.  Of course, you may not have a bag to compare it with, so the most obvious thing is how sloppy the pattern is right on the seam.

Again, the pattern is not centered on the counterfeit bag.

Now the inside is a major clue.  A baby bag will have the gathered pockets on the sides, the counterfeit bag has the 2 slip pockets and 1 zipper pocket like you find in the handbags.

I don't have a good picture of the authentic bag zipped closed, but this angle of the inside shows 1 side of the zipper.  It's what's called a "break away" zipper, meaning it unzips and separates.  Note on the counterfeit bag that it's not a true break away zipper, it is connected on one end.

And now we're at the creed patch.  At first glance you can see the differences. The wording is spread out, so the border around the wording goes right to the edges of the creed patch.  The words "superior" and "attention" look different.  It's hard to tell if they are misspelled, but there appears to be a "t" on the end of superior and the end  of attention appears to have something wrong with it.  Always read the words in the creed patch and make sure they are all spelled correctly, and evenly spaced.  Something I have run across on a few counterfeit bags is wording that indicates the whole bag is made of leather instead of just trimmed in leather.  Also note the prefix letters/numbers are short one on the counterfeit creed, and while the authentic bag was made in 2007, the counterfeit would indicate 2006.  The numbers/letters on the creed patches have changed over the years, so you can't say any one thing about them is an absolute, except that the No in front of the set of numbers/letters is always a capital N with a small o underlined.  On the counterfeit bag you really don't see it stand out like it does on the authentic bag.

I hope this has been helpful, it takes a lot of skill to know what to look for and that takes time to develop.  Guides like this one may help you be more confident in buying pre owned Coach bags, but the best thing to do is to have confidence in the people you buy from.  We, at Exclusively Coach pride ourselves on our knowledge of Coach and our superior customer service.

Stop in to our next auction on April 14th, 2015 here , we have expanded to bring you more designers, however we are still primarily Coach.

Exclusively Coach! Auction Sneak Peek

The listings are getting in and many buyers are using the Buy Now feature, so get in there and take a look and see if there's anything you want!

Here are just a few things in the lineup:

Welcome to the New Exclusively Coach Auctions!

We have spun off into our own group now, bringing the same great variety of Coach merchandise, brand new, pre owned, vintage and hard to find pieces, all guaranteed to be authentic.

Our auctions will be on Tuesday's at 10am.  Our first auction was on Tuesday, October 7th and was a huge success.  Don't miss our next auction on Tuesday October 14th at 10am.

We have a lot of new and exciting things in store for our customers, giveaways, contests and more.

Stay tuned.........

Coach Spotting the Fakes

Spotting counterfeit or replica Coach bags is difficult. Unfortunately there are no hard and fast rules that apply across the board. One myth is that all authentic Coach bags will have a creed patch with a number on it. This is simply not true. Many of the accessories that Coach makes have no creed or story patch, and as you read in the earlier article, some creed patches didn't have style numbers on them. It's pretty safe to assume that most, if not all, of your totes and larger bags will have a creed patch in them. Swingpacks, wristlets and smaller accessory type bags most likely will not. However, once again, this is not across the board because some of the smaller demi bags will have the creed patch inside. The bottom line is, the presence or lack of a creed patch is NOT an indicator of an authentic or replica bag. Concentrating on the presence of a creed patch in the bag, one now has to know what the numbers and letters stand for. Thjis was also covered in the last article .  

There are known fake numbers, much too numerous to list here, if you google you will find several resources that list a large percentage of them.  You'll never remember them all, so I'll give you some of the more common clues in creed patch numbers to keep in mind.

Any Coach item that has only 5 or fewer digits in the serial number, and / or is missing the “No” in front of the number, is almost 100 percent certain of being fake. If the creed also says “Made in Korea” it's fake, NO EXCEPTIONS. Every Coach made in or after 1994 will always have at least three digits in the first half of the number including a one or two-number year code in the center position. If there’s just a letter and a number, or only 2 letters and no number, the item is FAKE - no exceptions.

Serial numbers beginning with the letters N thru Z are not valid Coach numbers and are almost always fake. There are a few very rare exceptions for "N" so ask an expert.

A prefix of 3 LETTERS is always fake.  Bags made in 2000 will have a 0 so make sure that's what it is and not an O

This is only scratching the surface of counterfeit serial numbers.  The counterfeiters have also gotten good at using an authentic serial number, but on a completely different style bag.  You can google your style numbers to see if the bags match the one you're questioning, but again, that's not a foolproof method because it might be a popularly replicated bag.  And not finding a bag that matches doesn't necessarily mean it's fake either.

One hard and fast rule is that Signature style handbags will not  have signature C pattern linings.  Coach bags with signature patterns on the outside should have a solid interior lining or a Coach lozenge logo lining, not a C pattern lining.  Exceptions to this rule are  2 styles of the signature "wave" patterns that also have a signature C lining.  It should be noted that vintage Coach bags did not have linings.   

I think that's enough info to get you started.  As  you can probably see, it's not easy authenticating bags.  It takes a lot of time, a lot of knowledge and good resources to fall back on when you need an "expert" to authenticate your bag.  One great resource is The Purse Forum  the gals there are a wealth of knowledge and expertise.