How to spot a fake Louis Vuitton Bag

A recent report about a raid of stalls in Greenhills, San Juan, Philippines about fake Louis Vuitton bags was read in the Philippine's top TV news. An excerpt of the report below:

17 stalls in Greenhills raided for fake Louis Vuitton, Gucci bags

ABS-CBNNEWS.com | 09/08/2008 6:11 PM

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) raided stalls at the Greenhills Shopping Center Monday and confiscated sacks of fake Louis Vuitton and Gucci products.

The NBI's National Capital Region unit took counterfeit designer bags from 17 stalls at the Greenhills Shopping Center.

According to Atty. Rommel Vallejo of the NBI-NCR, Louis Vuitton and Gucci have filed complaints against traders for their rampant selling of fake designer bags.

The government is also losing millions of pesos from the non-payment of taxes on the counterfeit products, he said.

As of posting time, the NBI-NCR was still conducting an inventory of the items to see how much they are worth. --report from MAAN MACAPAGAL, ABS-CBN News

With this alarming news how would one then differentiate a real and a fake Louis Vuitton bag? Here's how:

1. THE PRICE IS WRONG

Louis Vuitton monogram canvas bags run from $350 and up, with most selling for $1000. So if you’re buying one that costs less than $300, you are not getting a deal… you’re getting a FAKE. Louis Vuitton does NOT discount. See LV's catalog for pricing here.

2. IT’S IN THE DESIGN

The LV monogram handbags are made of canvas, but the handles and piping are natural cow-hide leather. The color of the leather should be a light tan with the edge dyed red and the stitching in yellow. After a few weeks of handling your bag, the leather handle will oxidize and fade to a darker brown. So if your leather handle doesn’t change color, then it’s a FAKE.

Also, the actual LV monogram is usually (with the exception of some vintage pieces) symmetrical from side to side in all monogram styles (traditional, Multicolor, Cerises, Mini mono, Vernis etc.) Louis Vuitton is also very careful with its stitching. Stitching should be even and regular. The same number of stitches will be found in similar locations on similar bags. For example, the leather tab that the handle attaches to any size monogram Speedy bag will always have 5 regular, even stitches across the top.

In terms of the LV tag, when you buy a Louis Vuitton handbag, it will come with a tag, but they are never attached to the bag. LV tags are usually tucked into a pocket or included in an envelope that comes with your receipt. So if you see any dangling attached tag, it isn’t real.

Know the date code. Louis Vuitton uses a production code in its bags for its own internal purposes. It’s not unique so you might be able to find an identical number in different handbags produced at the same place and time. Since the early 1990’s, this code has been represented by two letters followed by four numbers, MI0060. Currently, with the latest authentic ones, it’s still two letters but the four numbers are now between them, M5933J.

3. LOCATION

Louis Vuitton doesn’t have any street resellers, so if you bought yours from one, most likely it’s not the genuine article. Also be careful if you are buying your LV handbags online, sure you can find authentic ones, but there are a ton of fakes. One website that is authorized to sell authentic LV bags is www.eluxury.com.

EBay also sells LV handbags, but the question of authenticity is always raised even if the site has made it a point to ensure that the ones being offered are genuine. How the heck would you be able to check anyway, right? It’s either you trust all the user feedback on that seller, or you do away with buying from EBay and just use eluxury above. Better yet, buy from an authentic LV store in your country, there really should be just one flagship store.

4. TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS

If you feel funny about where or how much you’re paying, walk away. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and always expect an answer. If you don’t get one, move on. If you have a bad feeling about things, keep moving on. If the seller is evasive and anything but straight-forward, consider that your answer.

But seriously, in a world where fakes look practically real, you’ll just go crazy trying to figure out if someone out there is toting a real one. So the best you can do is ensure that when you DO buy your own, and I assume you want to buy a real one, just save yourself the trouble and go to the official LV store in your country and buy the Louis Vuitton handbag that you want from there. God knows, it’s going to be expensive, but at least, somehow it’s going to be worth it.