It can be difficult to determine if your favorite must have tokidoki purse is authentic or not, especially when you are buying it without seeing or touching it in person or if you are not that familiar with the brand.  I do have a few simple tips for determining if a purse is authentic or not. 

Does the purse have the carabiner cord? 

I have yet to see any fake purses that have the BLACK and WHITE stretch cord with the carabiner having LeSportsac etched on both sides beware of ones that just have solid black stretch cords those are a new generation of SUPER FAKES!  (Some purses may have gotten seperated from their carabiner, this doesn't make them fake but they should still have the checkered black and white cord attached to the purse as it is sewn inside, the carabiner however can be removed from the cord.)

Does the backside of the zipper say riri M6 and does the qee have the red star on the arm?

I get a lot of requests asking for closeup pictures of the qee and the riri M6 on the backside of the zipper however I always try to tell my buyers that the qee alone (which should have the red star on the arm) and the riri M6 zipper pics aren't going to prove if that particular purse is authentic.  My rational is having tried to take close up pictures of the riri M6 I can say that there is no way to take the photo and show that it actually belongs with the same purse that is for sale. So if a seller of fakes wanted to dupe a buyer they could take the picture of the inside of the zipper showing a riri M6 or copy one from the internet and it might not even go to the same bag that you would be bidding on.   So personally if I am spending a lot of money on a tokidoki bag I would rather see a photo of the exact bag with the carabiner sticking outside of it rather than a generic shot of qee or inside riri M6 zipper shot. 

*****UPDATE ON THE FORESTA & PARADISO RE-RELEASE*****

All the Forestas showing up on ebay that have the white nano star on the black info cards are the re-released Forestas & Paradiso only available in Hawaii/Guam.  The Forestas & Paradiso re-released in Hawaii/Guam come with the new tokidoki toy keychain and not the toy2r qee, in addition a new style has been added such as the Avventura.  The bags pricing in this region are not the same with mainland USA prices they can be $15-45+ more, the bigger the item the more upcharge. The Lesportsac in this region is a seperate operation, so you can either criticize them for charging more or thank them for the opportunity to get your hands on these highly sought after bags which might not have been produced if it weren't for their order.  I hope this answers questions on why they cost so much :) 

Does the print say flowerspring?  No authentic tokidoki for Lesportsac bags have this saying.

Does it have leather accents?  Real tokidoki bags have leather trim, fake ones don't have any leather trim!  In addition, if the qee has been seperated from the purse/wallet it should still have the leather loops where it the qee is supposed to hang from.  Just because the qee is missing from the bag doesn't make it fake, (however not having a qee does factor into the value of the bag so keep that in mind when making a bid).  The blue meomi qee and pink dalek qee were only on the first season bags so that is a good portion of the bags value plus you are competing with toys collectors for those rare qees.

Does it have the rainbow metal zippers?  I have seen some purses that are fakes that use plastic zippers that are rainbow with white webbing, if its not metal with big teeth that are seperated beware!

Does the interior color match the season?  i.e. Foresta with interior Orange, Inferno with interior Red, Playground (Cammo Black and Olive and Tan) with interior Orange, Paradiso with interior Yellow, Citta Rosa with interior Pink, Tokidoki print with interior Green, the First season Black with interior Tokidoki print, Notte and Fumo with interior Citta print and so on... 

Does the strap have the embossed Lesportsac name on it?  Many of the fake purses don't, they use just a plain cotton strap with no embossed Lesportsac name.  Also the strap should have a small bit of sheen too it, similar to a car seat belt.  A lot of the fakes use more of a matte cotton that have no sheen on the straps.

Does the purse have embossed circle rivets and zipper pulls?  Again some very good A+ class fakes do have the embossed rivets and zipper pulls but in general most do not. (Yes, there are classes in fakes).  Personally, I have only seen a few of these super class of fakes on ebay.  If I recall correctly that particular seller was from Canada and the purse was a black bambinone that went for a large sum. 

Does it have the black label on the inside saying tokidoki for Lesportsac?  While this helps prove authenticity don't rely upon it for 100% authentication as I have seen fake LAMB for Lesportsac labels that looked just like the real labels. 

Does it have the ball and chain and black info cards? 

Again since this is a removable item it should help in identifying an authentic purse but don't rely upon it for 100% authentication.  I have seen some fakes that are now showing up on here with the real qee and ball and chain with info card, perhaps they are lifting them off the real purses from the department stores and that is why so many of the real ones are missing them?  Who knows for sure? 

Misc. FYI

Be leary of sending money orders to sellers with very little feedback in Kentucky! 

As a longtime buyer, seller and trader I know a whole lot of people in this business and I want to share my experience, I sent a money order for $145.00 to a seller in Kentucky and never received my purse. UPDATE:  NEW INFO HAS BEEN FOUND OUT THAT THIS SELLER WAS A SECURITY GUARD AT THE LESPORTSAC IN KENTUCKY! CONTACT THE KENTUCKY STATE POLICE FRAUD DIVISION IF YOU TOO ALSO SENT A MONEY ORDER AND NEVER GOT YOUR ITEM TO FILE A COMPLAINT.  I am not sure who they might be affiliated with at the lesportsac in Kentucky or if they have other relatives/co-workers that might be continuing the scam but please be leary if you come across sellers in that region that will only take money orders this includes TN or other surrounding states.  You have no protection from ebay when you send a money order and your item doesn't arrive!  Looking on the internet I found that someone else was asking about the same person that stole my money, they unfortunately got their money stolen too!  While this seller only had a few items listed they got a whole lot of bids and I won mine through a second chance offering shortly after sending my payment they were no longer a registered ebay user so they may have stolen thousands from unsuspecting buyers not knowing of all the other second chance offerings going around. 

If you are buying used or new without tags or from sellers with very little feedback ask questions......

Again, I thought I was getting a deal but nope, a month later my nwot purse arrived and was very very worn and on top of that it had been put through the wash which ruined the leather, this thing wasn't worth the $120.00 I paid!  No magic eraser would fix this disaster.  I have seen a lot of listings that say they are new in the condition section however when you go to read the listing the purse is indeed used it might be in great shape but still it is a used bag and should be consistent in their listing as it can't be both new and used. Also, if a bag is used and the pictures are distant or blurry ask for a close up its hard to see the actual condition from a distance they all look good even the super yucky one I got looked new from afar!   Luckily, I got my money back on that one too. 

Try not to buy items off ebay when you are very tired and or maybe not thinking so clearly.  I did this myself trying to get in some late night retail therapy and was duped and bought a fake LAMB for Lesportsac purse by accident, luckily I did get my money back.  Looking back I should have known better the pic was distant and blurry plus the colors didn't match!  The original LAMB rasta purse had more muted tones and the one I bought had primary colors!  Da!  What was I thinking?  It's a whole lot easier to get fooled when you are tired and your eyes are strained. 

So in closing I wish you all happy bidding and if you are in the market for an inspired bag make sure you pay inspired prices ($15-$20) not $100-$300.  Being an educated buyer is your best defense!