There are many opportunities to buy Authentic Chloe handbags on Ebay and there are now several sources to help lessen the risk of purchasing a replica.  The most obvious way to provide assurances that the item at auction is the genuine article, is to thoroughly educate yourself on the brand and then become educated on buying safely on Ebay. 

This Guide I of  II focuses on where to obtain information on authentic Chloe vs. fake Chloe details.  Guide I shows actual photos of authentic Chloe.  Guide II will give you a photographic side by side comparison of a few fake and authentic details. Ebay's guides allow for only 10 photos. For our research,  we deliberately paid over $500 for what we knew was a replica. We purchased this on an outside Ebay Internet site that appeared to be professional and professed authentic! Regardless of where you buy your Chloe, pay for it through PayPal or a credit card.  We paid for the fake in our photos with a credit card and have since filed a dispute with the vendor.  Unfortunately, we are required to send it back for a refund and it will probably be resold to an  unsuspecting and and unknowledgeable buyer.  We'll also have to pay for shipping to send it back, but for us the ship-back cost was worth the investment to actually handle, feel and examine a replica Chloe upclose. 

    

Chloe is unique in one unequivocal fact. They are consistently, inconsistent. The consensus from some of the experts I have spoken to is that there is a purpose in this inconsistency, but only the manufacturer is privy to that information so it cannot be confirmed.

Special Tip #1:  Research the Brand, Know the Product.  This is not something that can be accomplished in a couple of hours. To research properly, you're going to have to spend a significant amount of time.  If you're not prepared, you really should not bid on the perfect looking bag you just spotted with only two hours remaining at auction.  Restrain yourself! Another perfect Chloe bag will come along, at the perfect price and next time you will be prepared.

The Chloe brand is complex.  Learning about it cannot be done by reading two or three self-professed expert "seller guides" on Ebay.  It cannot be accomplished by placing a single call to your girlfriend for a comparison of her recent Chloe purchase at full retail.  It cannot be done by comparing it with photos of other "same style"  bags for sale on EBay.  All of these above resources can be used in the process of 
learning about Chloe, but by adding additional resources, you'll be able to identify and set straight the misconceptions that are often posted by alarmists who have been misinforming others about what constitutes a fake.

Tip # 2:  Visit a couple of retail stores and actually hold and feel a few Chloe handbags. Hold the same styles in different colors and examine each one. Notice the weight of details such as the lock and key. Put the bags on your shoulder or hold them as though they were your own. Feel the leather. Compare the feel and texture of the leather on different style bags. Take a look at the quality of the stitching outside and inside the bag. Look at the hardware. Take your time. The more you hold a Chloe bag and study the brand, the more you'll learn the subtleties of them.

Tip # 3:  If it is advertised as authentic, you are entitled to receive the authentic article. If you are not sure about a seller or the authenticity of an item, post the item number on Ebay's Shoes, Purses and Fashion Accessories Community Board. Many of the posters there are committed to helping buyers obtain the genuine article. Sometimes there is a quick consensus as to an item's authenticity, and sometimes debate, but most times the members there have good intentions and lots of information on “just plain buying safely.” 

We can also direct you to some written information on a group whose mission centers around education and the illegality and consequences of buying and selling replicas. Feel free to contact us through Ebay.  If you think buying a replica doesn't hurt anyone, after reading up, you'll change your mind.

On a special note, there is some erroneous information circulating about Chloe handbags.  Most likely unintentional, but misguided information is detrimental to both buyers and sellers.

Those little leather embossed tags inside a Chloe bag are a very good example of this misguided information. THERE ARE NO SET RULES regarding these tags. Chloe SA assistants will also tell you that some bags produced don't even have them.  They can have large or small type,
different stitching into the lining, different placement, the same or different numbers. Some have dashes, some have blocks, some don’t...  The message here is that those little embossed tags, or lack of one, is not an indication of an Authentic or Replica Chloe handbag.

Authentic Chloe tags.

The products displayed to the right of this guide were selected by Ebay and may or may not be authentic. A Pinch of Rosemary does not endorse them.