Chanel Handbags: Reasons to Buy Vintage Instead of Brand New

Photo taken from Pinterest.com 

Who doesn’t love a good handbag, especially a Chanel! Fabulous women have been carrying Chanel bags dating back to the 1920s. Coco Chanel’s legacy continues to live on because her brand is even more popular now than when she started in fashion. With their ever-increasing popularity, comes the dreaded price increases from Chanel, mainly on the classic flap bags (i.e. Wallet on a Chain bag, Mini Flap, Small/Medium Flap, Jumbo Flap and Maxi Flap). I mean, I do get it. Chanel is arguably the most popular luxury brand in the world. Chanel business executives want to make money off of that by increasing their prices. This sucks for those of us who want to own Chanel bag, but don’t want to max out our credit cards or skip rent payments to own one. For this and other reasons, are why when I buy Chanel bags, I buy them vintage. Here's why I find buying Chanel bags vintage is better than buying them brand new.

1. The price points are lower when buying vintage. When buying vintage Chanel, you typically are paying a lower price than buying a similar current Chanel collection bag brand new. Take for example, the Chanel classic medium double flap. Current prices for the bag are $4900.00. Which to me is freaking ridiculous! You can find a similar vintage Chanel medium double flap bags from pre-loved handbag sites like Fashionphile, Yoogis Closet, and also Ebay starting at $2400.00.  But note, prices will fluctuate depending on the leather you prefer. Typically lambskin leather is lower priced than the caviar (pebbled) leather.

Photo of my Vintage Chanel Mini Flap

2. Vintage bags have an unknown story! I currently own a vintage Chanel mini flap (see above photo). It’s close to 27 years old. Sure she’s (yes, I do refer my mini flap as her and she. Don’t judge me) been worn before and the quilting is not as puffy. But, I love her so much! I like to imagine that before I owned it, where it was carried and who owned it. Could a supermodel owned and carried it as she globe trotted across the world? Or could it been owned by a corporate executive who only carried it out for special events? I love to think about the story my mini flap had before I owned it. I also get joy out of it being close to my age. I don’t know why. 

Photo taken from Pinterest.com 

3. Craftsmanship is typically better on vintage bags. I’ve found with the Chanel bags I’ve loved and sold that the vintage bags were made better than the new bags. I've read about the quality issues of newer Chanel bags on the PurseForum. The only brand new Chanel bag I’ve owned was the In the Business Flap. I bought it and found that it was nothing but trouble. Within the intertwining of the strap/metal chain on my bag (similar chain that’s on the Chanel classic flaps), the piece that held the handle together kept unraveling. I had to keep taking it back to the store for repair every six months. It was so much of a hassle that I stopped carrying the bag and eventually sold it. With the vintage bags I’ve owned and sold (Vintage medium classic flap, vintage vertical jumbo flap, vintage mini flap in pink and a small classic flap), they have been nothing be amazing in the craftsmanship department. And let’s face it, a vintage bag is over 20 years old. If it can hold up for that long and with minor wear, that is pretty amazing!

Photo taken from Pinterest.com 

4. Gold on vintage bags are made of real gold plated hardware. It’s good to know that the vintage Chanel bags are made with real gold plated hardware. The more recent Chanel bags with gold hardware are made of fake gold. Can you believe it? The price increases because of popularity and the brand can’t upgrade the hardware materials to gold plated? That is ridiculous to me. If the bag is made of premium leather, to me, so should the materials in the hardware. 

I think you get more for your money if you buy vintage. Yes, you don’t get the in-store experience when you buy brand new. But for me, that’s okay. I’d rather have a great quality vintage Chanel bag and have something I can carry for years than have the in-store buying brand new experience. Next month, I’ll share my tips that I’ve learned on how to buy authentic luxury bags on pre-loved handbag sites and also on Ebay.