Counterfeit designer handbags have been around almost as long as, well, designer handbags. After all, there are always businesses out there looking to get a piece of the pie they didn’t have a hand in baking. Unfortunately they are are never high quality, they may be made using harmful chemicals, and it’s just morally wrong to purchase them. In the U.S. alone, almost 28% of all counterfeit products seized are handbags and wallets, so it’s important to know how to spot a fake before using your hard earned money to purchase one. Here are some things to look for.

Low, Low, Prices

If you spot a designer bag at a price that seems too good to be true, it probably is. These sales can be through online retailers you’ve never heard of, through online marketplaces such as Facebook, or even in person at discount shopping malls or flea markets. Many people fall for counterfeit products when they are on vacation out of country too, and if you get caught trying to bring them home you can expect them to be confiscated with a fine attached.

Watch Out For Trending Bags

If the bag you are looking at is hot and in demand, odds are it’s not going on sale any time soon. They will be pretty hard to find as well. These are the handbags that are copied most often though, so if you find a store that have plenty of them in stock, you might want to look at little closer.

Look At The Small Details

When shopping for designer handbags, it’s important to know exactly how the designer describes it. Look closely at the material quality, the logo and serial numbers. Other things to pay attention to include the hardware such as zippers and buttons, the logo and “made in” stamp, date codes, materials used, the packaging, and even the stitching. You can believe that a designer bag is never flawed, and will look exactly the same from bag to bag. The easiest way to catch a counterfeit however is in the typography. Most of the time the fonts used in replicas are a little different, or there is a typo. For many it may seem like a little thing to pay attention to, but it can save you a lot of heartache.

Handbags Should Always Be Consistent

Designers are very fussy about making sure their handbags are consistent. The latest bags are all meant to look exactly the same as each other. They go through a very specific quality check before even being shipped out their warehouse door. What this means is that you should compare the online retailers pictures with pictures from the designer’s website. If you are in the store, check to make sure all the bags on the shelf look alike. In many cases counterfeit handbags all look a little different from one another.

Buy In Person When Possible

The easiest way to spot a fake? Your senses. Counterfeits just don’t feel right. The leather doesn’t smell like it should. The zipper is rough, or the buttons don’t snap together properly. Handbags can’t really be examined properly online, and by the time it arrives at your home it may be too late to do anything about it. If you are at the store however, you can walk away before paying for it if something just doesn’t feel right.