Melie Bianco Handbags are designed for the budget conscious person. Melie Bianco takes the best from the best and creates an affordable designer handbag. Click here. Samantha Cabrera, PapierdollLanding a designer bag is now the mainstay of nearly every woman’s fashion desires. It began with a few boldface names and constant reminders of what we should be wearing by every budding starlet that now put ‘fashionista’ on their resume as well. After a decade of spending hundreds, and now thousands, of dollars on designer handbags, the fever has spread like wildfire. Everyone from the soccer mom to the urban high school teacher to the young professional wants a piece of the pie when it comes to toting a “good bag.” Papierdoll brings you THE ultimate guide to shopping for a designer bag and scoring a deal at the same time. Understanding how to stakeout your prey and strike at the right time is similar to something out of Planet Earth, so keep this handy as heavy sale season approaches. As with any other sale purchases, understand that a vast majority of the time, sale handbags are final sale, especially when shopping online or from a high end boutique store, so shop accordingly. Of course if you’re a true steals-and-deals gal, you’ll have all season to scope what you may land come first markdowns.
On the web Landing a bag online is probably the easiest, but that doesn’t mean it won’t come with tons of panic or several phone calls. A lot of this depends on what bag you’re looking for, whether it was an It bag or not, and how many are available once the sale hits. Often online stores do not replenish stock the way a major department store or boutique might, but because so many hardcore bag hags have gotten away from buying their bags online, there are many deals to be had. You could go the eBay route for a steal, but that comes with the whole is-it-real? song and dance, along with the notion of a good chunk of change going through the Paypal system. If you’re comfortable with this, go for it, but be sure to have the bag authenticated at a forum known for their handbag experts like ***spot.com or ***forum.com. Both sites have authentication sections where experts decipher a bag’s lining, hardware and leather to come to the conclusion of whether a bag is genuine. It isn’t always the easiest the process, but for every Marc Jacobs Stam fake that prowls ebay (and there’s a lot of them), there’s a vintage Chanel bag that’s authentic and whose owner has no clue of the starting value.
If you’re wary of eBay, I don’t blame you. Horror stories of real pictures and fake product paint the eBay forums, so opting for an actual online store is a far safer bet. Thepursepage.com is a designer handbag site devoted to designer handbag reviews and purses donned by celebrities. This site makes it easy to navigate upcoming designer handbag sales as well as sample sales, which usually take place in the LA or NYC areas, depending on the designer. Bookmarking the premier and designer handbag pages of major department stores like Saks.com and Barneys.com, also allows you to check back regularly to see if that beloved Givenchy Nightingale has been marked down yet. Most websites like these have newsletters you can sign up for, which will notify you of specific sales or promotional events. This makes it a bit easier, but know that, like you, a trillion other handbags lovers are signed up for this same email list, so pounce quickly if you see your bag available. Online boutique stores like shopbop.com, allow you to buy both contemporary and premier designers on their site, so you have a clear idea of what’s available. Other sites like aloharag.com (the only online site to purchase Balenciaga handbags) allow you to peruse the merchandise online, make an informed decision, and then call the store to make a purchase. This same policy goes for buying AR’s sale bags.
The thing with online stores is that there’s always a bag on sale somewhere. This can be good or bad for your bank account, depending on how you treat it.
As mentioned before, online stores sometimes have drastic markdowns, so the chance that your sale dream bag is a final sale is a solid one. Some sites do have exchange policies (meaning you can exchange the bag for store credit, in the event it is returned unused and in the original condition), but be sure to read the fine print. Most online boutiques have live chat or a 1800 number if you can’t find enough details on their website.
Boutique-ing Boutique stores have taken over in a major way in the past decade. Like the It bag, boutiques seemed to pop out of nowhere, and before you knew it, there were several in every major city, usually specializing in some sort of contemporary wear, footwear, or accessories. Boutique shopping is arguably the best of the shopping experiences since it allows you to shop at your leisure, in most cases. I’m sure we’ve all fallen victim to an early morning trip to a cute shop looking for a relaxing way to take our mind off of things, only to be hounded by the convenient sales associate that lurks around every corner. The key here is to be aloof and discerning, as associates can sniff out a girl who knows her stuff the way a dog sniffs out a piece of raw steak. Building a relationship with a boutique SA is well worth the effort, especially come sale time. A good SA will give you a ring when upcoming sales are in the near future, and most of the time, they will pull things for you, especially if you know you’re going to buy and hand over your payment information on the spot. This eliminates the need to shop the sale in the first place, as that lovely watermelon Muse (yes, I can’t wait until this one’s marked down!) can arrive at your doorstep in the exact same manner it would have had you paid full price.
The upside of building a relationship with a SA from a brand boutique (think Chanel, YSL, Prada) is they can often pull from another store. So if you know exactly what you’re looking for (and you should come equipped: style number, bag name, retail price, and color code, if you can), inventories can be checked, phone calls can be made and your next trip to the store may involve picking up your bag on sale. To build this relationship can sometimes take time depending on the size of the store, and how high traffic is, but make yourself known. When you visit, ask questions, and make it clear what bag you’re interested in. If purchasing something isn’t in the cards, request that you’re put on the store’s mailing list, as to keep up with events. “Events,” in the eyes of many boutiques translates to trunk shows, and yes, sales.
The client/SA relationship is also crucial (if not more so) for the independent boutique sale. Usually these sales are advertised once in the local major newspaper, and the client list is consulted for making folks aware of the upcoming markdowns. Smaller boutiques often let clients shop the sale early, and reserve items for the day of the sale. This isn’t always the case, but it’s worth looking in to if you plan on getting a Derek Lam bag on sale. Most independent boutiques have a strict final sale policy year round, so if you can’t physically get to the shop to check out the bag, be sure to request pictures to ensure it’s a safe purchase. Don’t let the notion of 30% off cloud your mind, because an expensive bag is still an expensive bag and if you’re stuck with something you don’t want…well, that’s never a good thing, regardless of the “deal” you got.
Shopping the ‘Department’ Department store shopping is usually the safest, if you’re unsure about the handbag or aren’t very familiar with the high end handbag world. One of the saddest things is a woman who gets insane with the handbag hunt, lands her bag, and opens the box only to realize that, yep, $1100 is a lot to spend on a bag…even if it was on sale. Do this with a boutique store purchase and you can pretty much hope to get half of what you spent after the whole eBay process, or buy from Nordstrom and know you’re home free. All a department store asks is that you hold on to your receipt! I know this may seem like such a hassle to some, but once you get in the groove of doing it, you realize it makes your life so much less hectic. Keep your receipts in your wallet and at the end of each shopping trip put them in an envelope or Ziploc. So if you decide that bright turquoise Tory Burch clutch works with nothing in your closet, you’re able to head back to the store and get your money back (or, find something that does work!).
Building a relationship with a department store SA is just as important as building one with a boutique SA, so don’t neglect to leave your name and number with someone who gives you particularly good service. Now that designer handbag sales are at an all-time high, sales associates know that going above and beyond only once can make a client for life. The relationship with a department store SA is beneficial because not only can they notify you of sales, allow you to pre-order sale items, and do store transfers, they are also (sometimes) knowledgeable on multiple brands. This comes in handy when choosing certain bags (yes, Balenciaga we’re talking to you) due to the variations in leather and color. When you begin to delve into the world of high end handbags, you quickly realize that a bag is not a bag is not a bag.
Shopping department store sales is great if you know when to shop. The prime sale seasons are late spring/summer, and right at Christmas approaches. Many retailers do first markdowns just two or three days before Christmas to get an early start on moving inventory after the holidays. During the first days of holiday sales, expect extra savings during early hours.
What I like about shopping department store sales is that the sale bags are usually pretty identifiable, even during the season. Styles that are specific to a designer’s current season will be marked down, as well fashion/seasonal colors in classic styles. By this I mean, you may not find a black Stam on sale at Saks, but you will find its beige sister with bright yellow python trim. If the seasonal colors aren’t your thing and you’re plunking down big bucks only once for your big hurrah bag, try shopping during gift card events at Neiman Marcus or Saks. In some cases, you have to shop with the house credit card, but other times you’re required to spend a certain amount in order to quality for gift card to use on a future purchases. I know this isn’t quite the same as cash in your pocket, but it does take some of the sting away.
Landing a designer handbag on a budget isn’t impossible, but as laid out, it does take some work. If you’re reluctant to go on the hunt, look into authentic resellers like realdealcollection.com, a New Mexico-based online resale shop that specializes on gently used and new Balenciaga handbags and accessories. ****collection.com even offers a layaway program encouraging clients to put 30% down to “hold” a bag, and pay the remainder within the next month. Heck, you can even hire a personal shopper to find your dream bag for you with services like luxurypersonalshoppers.com. Handbag lover Mona El Rafie will hunt far and wide to land your bag at a discount, and she only asks for 10% of the discount price as a fee.
Regardless of your budget, there’s a designer purse out there for you, you just have to look. And having patience and this guide in your corner won’t hurt either. Labels: designer handbags, designer purse, discount designer handbags, melie bianco, melie bianco handbags
Melie Bianco Handbags as seen in Cosmo!
