~  COACH ~ EST. 1941  ~

    Buying an authentic used Coach bag can be very tricky. How do you know if it is authentic? It took me YEARS to recognize an authentic Coach bag from a fake. I have seen some amazing counterfeits and you have to be really 'educated' to tell the difference. Knowing styles and correct serial numbers, of those styles, helps alot.You almost have to go to purse 'college' and basically educate yourself.Having been a Coach lover and avid collector for 30 years, I have come to know the difference, and one thing for sure...there is NOTHING like an authentic Coach! Their quality and design is like no other, and once you recognize it, you are totally 'hooked'! I have had three of the same Coach bags in the 'glove tanned leather', for 30 years and they still look new!

 Coach's glove tanned leather ~

     ... is extraordinary. It is the FINEST, BEST MADE LEATHER I have ever touched or ever WILL touch! It is so soft, yet durable and made to last a lifetime.It is 'cured' the same way that good old American baseball glove leather,is cured, and is WHY it is called 'glove tanned' . Many (most) of the older, original Coach bags were made this way. It is the special'glove tanning' that made Coach famous in the first place.Coach does still 'glove tan' much of their leather , but not all.  Many of the newer bags are made of the signature jaquard fabric. These are very popular, but tend to be the ones that are often counterfeited, as they are easier and cheaper to make, than the bags made of the 'glove tanned leather.' Although I know there are counterfiets of the classic glove tanned styles, I personally have seen many more in the signature cloth bags.

Here are some clues...

WHAT's WRONG WITH THIS LABEL?

DID YOU FIGURE IT OUT YET??    NO SERIAL NUMBER! ! FAKE! There was a time in the very early vintage years of Coach, that  the bags did not have serial numbers on the labels. Many of the smaller wristlets, wallets and pouches, are not numbered as well.

 ** Coach 'most often' has YKK Zippers and the YKK is stamped  on the side of the zipper.  

** Coach rarely  puts their signature design on both the inside and the outside of the bag. If the signature is on the outside of the bag, the inside lining will be solid. If the signature design is on the inside, it will not be on the outside. If you see the signature design, both inside and out...it's a fake! There are a couple of exceptions on a very few of the newer Coach bags, but as a rule, most are signatured only on  either the outside or inside, not both.

CLUE~  

NOTE THAT SIGNATURE Cs are inside and outside! FAKE!

NOTE;  on this Coach , the Signature Cs are ONLY ON THE INSIDE.~ OUTSIDE IS SOLID...AUTHENTIC!

       

NOTE; Signature Cs on the outside of this Coach bag  ~ Inside is SOLID; AUTHENTIC!

   The signature bags are different every year in design . So trying to authenticate by placement of C's touching, not touching, etc., is difficult, as it is different from year to year.  Although one consistency is the 'inside ~ outside situation' we mentioned earlier. As you learn more (it does take time and familiarity) you recognize the style of even stitching and quality materials, along with the real brass and  real nickle silver buckles and hardware.

  COUNTRIES MADE ~** It is a popular misconception, that if the label says 'made in China' that the bag is fake. Although Coach was originated in ,and made in the USA only, for many years, they did eventually, go international, and have manufactured in                                                                                                                                                             

COSTA RICA,

HUNGARY,

TURKEY,

ITALY,

MEXICO,

INDIA,

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC,

USA 

and now MOSTLY in CHINA! 

 

LABELS & SERIAL NUMBERS ~

Bags from the late 1960s did not have any serial numbers. Coach added actual serial numbers that were unique to each bag in the 1970s into the 1980s. It was not until the 1990s, that Coach introduced the modern format of letters and numbers, with the last set of numbers after the dash, indicating the 'style' of the bag.

Here are some fake serial numbers to watch out for that DEFINATELY indicate the bag is counterfiet;

H4B-0532

H4B-0516

H4B-0678

H4B-0517

M4N-4154

TN-9951

TN-4186

7H-7456

4C-9911

40-8624 

NT-4903

NT-4908

NT-4115

NT-4157

TN-9085

TN-9096

233-5678

   Coach bags with only six serial numbers are obvious fakes. There are always at least seven letters and numbers on the labels. There are many more fake serial numbers, I am sure, but these are the ones I have personally seen on fakes and am familiar with.

   It's a good idea to go directly to Coach and purchase some of their handbags to better familiarize yourself with their product. As time goes on and you own two , three, or twenty, THEN you will KNOW the touch, feel and unmistakable quality and will be better educated to tell the real one's from the fakes.

 If you feel you've been duked already and someone sold you a fake, return it immediately. Pay pal WILL get you a full refund under their Pay pal Protection program, irregardless if the seller offers refunds or not.

   It is an EBAY VIOLATION and total TRADEMARK VIOLATION, to sell counterfeit ANYTHING on ebay, which can result in serious consequences.So feel confident that ebay and Pay Pal  _WILL_ get your money back from any seller in violation of their strict policies regarding counterfeits.Ebay really does protect their buyers, so feel confident!

   There are some casual sellers on ebay that really don't know, that their bag is fake.Often times it is just a mistake on their part. They may have received it as a gift and didn't like it, so they try to sell it on ebay, and YOU got stuck with it! That's why it is BEST to find a seller that has been on ebay for years and that consistently sells Coach.The experienced seller KNOWS the difference and wouldn't be on ebay for  long selling fakes as ebay would remove them from the site.CHECK the date they started and their 'selling' feedback, carefully. If they have a good selling score for alot of years, you can buy with confidence.

  Then, there are the crooks, that deliberately sell counterfiet bags and don't think anything of being deceiptful. They don't care about all the crimes these counterfiets support, they just want the money. They usually get caught by ebay and kicked off the site, but some buyers are unfortunate to have bought from one of them before hand.

UPDATE: ebay now has  a new buyer protection program in place. This new program will protect you as a buyer, from fraudulent sellers.

 

LABELS~  .  A good thing to do, when you find a Coach bag you are interested in, on ebay, is to check the serial number of the bag and then do a search on ebay,entering the last ''style numbers' after the dash, to find more of that same bag. The first letters and numbers, BEFORE the dash, will identify year made and place of origin.

EXAMPLE : D9C-9966 means 'D (4th letter of alphabet, 4th month = APRIL)  the 9 represents the year ( 1999 ) and C is United States.  So you know by this, that the bag was made in April of 1999 in the USA. The country of origin letters vary. D is US also C and several other letters all mean US; P is Costa Rica, and so on. There are several letters used to represent each country of origin, so this can take time to learn, like so many other things about Coach. One thing I have learned about trying to decipher these serial numbers, is that while there are many consitancies, there are many inconsistancies, mostly depending on the year made, this serial system will vary.  If the serial number begins with an FS, it means that it is a Coach 'factory' outlet bag.

Coach has been known ( rarely ) to have made mistakes on their stamps that engrave the label onto the leather. While usually the serial numbers have no spaces between the  letters and numbers, I have seen instances of spacing, between the year number, and the letter P, on some of the Costa Rica bags. These bags are still authentic. As a rule, there are no spaces, but there are a few exceptions to the rule, on some of the older vintage bags. The only ones I have seen so far, are out of Costa Rica. There are those that are not familiar with this, But 'I' am. I am sure others have seen instances of this, as well.

  On some vintage bags, I have seen labels that were stamped onto the bag, to not be level or straight,  or that are slightly croocked. This is rare, but it has happened. Most of this depends on the year and country made. I have heard this usually happens when a plant may be closing down, or various other reasons, such as problems with the machinery , etc. Again, this has only been seen on vintage bags. The newer bags are always perfectly straight with no spaces between the letters and numbers and labels are not crooked. .

  The numbers AFTER the dash, identify the 'style' of the bag and can be found , as Coach produces thousands of a same style, so the 'style number' will remain the same, on that particular style. Then compare the similarities. While not always the answer, this can be a help, as part of your researching.

Here are some EXAMPLES;

#9927 ~ is always a Coach 'Willis' bag. If it has that number on it, yet looks completely different than the Coach Willis ( which has two straps) , and is presently on Coach.com...it's a fake! The Coach Station bag is similar, but is smaller, so it has a different 'style number'(#5130) Go ahead...do a search now, using those style numbers,right here on ebay!

  

COACH WILLIS # 9927 This is what the Willis will always look like. Any other bag with the #9927 on it, that doesn't look just like this, is not authentic. This is AUTHENTIC!.

UPDATE; I should point out that this rule applies only to Willis bags made after the style number format began in the 1990 s. The vintage bags had their own individual serial numbers, pre 1990s , that were unique to each bag. Should you see one that doesn't have 9927 on it, it just indicates that the bag is early vintage and close to or more than 20 years old. It's just when you see #9927 on a completely different style of bag, and not the style bag above in photo, you know it is fake.

#9951 ~ series is the Coach PATRICIA Legacy bag.It too, is presently on Coach.com. If you see that number on a completely different looking style of Coach..it's a fake! The 9951 will ALWAYS BE a Coach Patricia Saddle style that has a flap on it.Coach uses that particular number to identify the Patricia bag.There are other Coach bags like the 'Fletcher' that is similar, but smaller with different compartments and hardware, so it has a different 'style' number. Are you totally confused yet? LOL! As I said, it takes time and alot of research.

   

# 9951 Coach Patricia; any other completely different looking bag with this number on it, IS NOT a Coach Patricia bag. This is AUTHENTIC!

UPDATE; I should point out that this rule only applies to bags made after the style number format began in the 1990s. The vintage Patricias had their own serial number that was unique to each bag, pre 1990s. Should you see one that doesn't have 9951 on it, it can still be authentic, it just indicates it is early vintage and close to, or more than 20 years old. It is only when you see 9951 on ANY OTHER style, that isn't identical to this bag, you know it is fake.

Another good way to research is to find a bag on Coach.com and then see if you can find the same bag on ebay. Compare photos and descriptions. If they are identical to the one you found on Coach, most likely it is authentic.

 Many  will tell you to call Coach. Coach does NOT authenticate on the phone. They would have you send them the bag, only IF, you paid over 200.00 for it. Even then, they won't guarantee that you will get the bag back! Taking it to a Coach department store to ask the store clerk, is futile, as well. Many of the clerks have never even seen a vintage Coach and really are NOT experts. They are only sales personal, that want to make a sale, (to get their commission or quota ) and will tell you your bag is fake, (even if it's not) just to get you to buy one from them! It's a 'dog eat dog' world out there... You just can't be too careful!

   A good method, is to call the Coach 800 number and ask them for a replacement strap,or a hang tag, for that serial number. When they check their records and don't come up with anything for that number, 8 times out of 10, it's a fake....although sometimes that item is not available any more and the number may no longer be posted,in their system. So it really is, very difficult to get your 'preowned' Coach, authenticated, even by Coach itself.Coach will tell you that the BEST way to be certain it is authentic, is to buy it directly from Coach.

   There are MANY wonderful Coach sellers, here on ebay, that you CAN trust. If you are particular enough to want a Coach product, then you should be just as particular about WHO you buy it from.

  In essence, buying a great preowned Coach can be a fabulous experience....as long as, you KNOW WHO YOU ARE BUYING FROM.  Coach bags are designed to last a lifetime, so why not ? Also, many of them are 'collectibles ' that actually hold their value. True collectors will pay alot for a certain, rare, discontinued style or color, that can't be found anymore. It's FUN! It's always more fun to get a really great deal, especially in today's economy. So go for it!  Just some good common sense and research, will help you find your perfect, authentic Coach bags.