Photo taken from Pinterest.com
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.
Hello, Jessica! This article is very convincing. A lot of girls like to go to different handbag stores to buy a brand new bag, but they don't realize, they can save more money if they buy vintage bags and pre-owned bags as well. Buy Vintage and save the environment as you are actually helping the earth via recycling. Personally, I like vintage bags because I actually want to know the story behind the bag, like what you've said, these bags have an unknown story and just like you, I love to think about the story behind this precious bag before i took ownership of it.
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