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I did, I bought a fake Gucci Chain Hobo, then I ordered one from Gucci.com, authentic of course. Now I'm an expert. But I can tell you, anyone, including me--still, can be fooled on eBay. The replicas of Gucci "Horsebit" Hobo are near mirror-image and definitely AAA (is that what they call it?) "quality".
They've got the cards, the pictures with nice GG alignment, sometimes the feedback. I didn't suspect mine was fake until after I paid and my seller's FB went private, and when it came, I could tell.
The leather was just - not leather! But this didn't show in the pictures.
Now buying one on eBay is taking a huge risk, so make sure there is a return policy. I'd only be comfortable buying within my same country. Ask for pictures (of what I'll say below). But really, I'd recommend just buying from Gucci or Neiman Marcus/the like. Save for a little while and feel confident.
But it probably can be done, buying authentic Gucci on eBay. I'm planning on selling my own Medium Chain Hobo and I want buyers to be knowledged enough to choose an authentic one.
They've got the cards, the pictures with nice GG alignment, sometimes the feedback. I didn't suspect mine was fake until after I paid and my seller's FB went private, and when it came, I could tell.
The leather was just - not leather! But this didn't show in the pictures.
Now buying one on eBay is taking a huge risk, so make sure there is a return policy. I'd only be comfortable buying within my same country. Ask for pictures (of what I'll say below). But really, I'd recommend just buying from Gucci or Neiman Marcus/the like. Save for a little while and feel confident.
But it probably can be done, buying authentic Gucci on eBay. I'm planning on selling my own Medium Chain Hobo and I want buyers to be knowledged enough to choose an authentic one.
- The leather should look crackled, with long lines running through it. The fake leather has shorter, more speckled lines. *Note some styles have smooth leather.
- The easiest thing to spot before purchasing on eBay, SHOULD be the extended zipper with GUCCI imprinted on it, HOWEVER I've never seen an auction with this. Omissions or fakes? Well, that bit of hardware is the only logo-imprinted hardware on the entire bag, so I should think good sellers would all include it, no? Your general power seller, maybe? But nope.
And guess what? The fakes don't even HAVE this tab!!! Ask for pictures of this.
- The bottom of the bag: on fakes it is one piece of GG fabric, on my authentic, there is a seam in the middle. The two sides stitched together have GGs that PERFECTLY line up with each other, but they're not dead centered, necessarily.
- On fakes, the inside tab with GUCCI on it is light and barely noticeable. On the authentics, it is clear and bold (and on that same crackled leather).
- The Horsebit: On fakes, the horsebit area has looser hardware, the O rings can jiggle around, but the auth bags are very rigid. On the center piece, the fakes have a screw coming up to connect the hardware, but the authentics is NOT screwed, it's pieced on nicely, but the side that is not connected remains loose, no screw.
- Getting the bag in person, if you do: you can immediately tell that the fakes have pleather. The authentic leather is stiff and not soft, and you may be unsure, but with the fakes you SHOULD know immediately.
- The hardware on the fake bag I got, compared to my Gucci.com authentic, is slightly an even lighter gold.
- One judging point may be the title itself. Gucci calls this bag the "Chain" hobo, but all eBay auctions call it the "Horsebit Hobo". I may be wrong in saying this, but put a small amount of doubt into auctions that use just "Horsebit" and not "Chain" in their titles. However since auctions try to compete against one another, legit auctions will probably also use "Horsebit" in some way. Perhaps, "Chain Hobo with Horsebit Detail". It's just one factor.
- Now there are other factors, fakers will probably have sold a lot of this item in the past so check. Also check feedback with sites like Goofbay.
- Now here is a photo with what came with my Gucci.com shipment (sorry for eBay's resize):
There was ONE controllato (inspector) card in grey/white, a story package with story booklet, and since I ordered online and it was shipped, a packing slip, which was stapled.
Hopefully this helps you more than it does fakers!
Hopefully this helps you more than it does fakers!
Guide created: 02/07/07 (updated 05/08/09)
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