Disclaimer: Please note that the auctions displayed to the right of this guide under the "Member Information" heading at the very top of the page are my individual auctions and are guaranteed to be for authentic items only. Additional items displayed farther down on the right side of this page under the "Items from eBay Sellers" heading are randomly placed there by Ebay, NOT me. I do NOT vouch for the authenticity of the items that are randomly displayed by Ebay, nor do I endorse any auctions other than my own! At any given time, several of the items Ebay choses to display are fakes!
Welcome! I am the author of "Searching for Louis Vuitton: How Not to Get Ripped Off on Ebay," a copyrighted publication currently sold on Ebay. My publication offers detailed knowledge on how to authenticate most of Louis Vuitton's current handbag lines.
I wish to offer a free version here of the most basic information found in my guide, intended to get you started in your online search for authentic Louis Vuitton items on Ebay. These are some of the most important rules to follow:
1) Learn About the Louis Vuitton Items you wish to purchase. Visit Louis Vuitton's official site at Vuitton.com and Eluxury.com, the official LV online shopping site, to view pictures of the items you are interested in. Familiarize yourself with the specific details of the items: the dimensions, the way the monogram canvas is cut, the material it is lined with, and especially the retail price. Also, make sure the bag you want is one that Louis Vuitton actually produced!
2) Learn How to Spot of Fake Version of the item you want. Obviously, if you are interested in purchasing a $1200 Louis Vuitton bag and you find an auction with a buy-it-now price of $120, you have found a fake item. Familiarize yourself with how the fake version looks, so you will recognize it in less obvious auctions.
3) Do not expect to pay substantially less than retail for a NEW, unused Louis Vuitton item. In most cases an new, authentic Louis Vuitton item will be selling for barely less than retail price, in some cases for more than the retail price. Anything advertised as new and unused selling for 1/3 of the retail price should obviously be avoided.
4) Know Your Seller!! Research the history of the person you are thinking about purchasing from. Does this person have a history (feedback) for selling authentic Louis Vuitton items? Does this person have negative feedback for selling fakes? Is this person brand new to Ebay, and selling numerous brand new, never used bags at a fraction of retail? Let common sense guide you.
5) Avoid 1-Day Auctions! Most sellers will list their items for five to seven days (sometimes ten). One and three day auctions are used by fakers trying to make a quick sale before their listing is cancelled by Ebay. Think about it: If you wanted to attract as many bidders as possible to your auction, why would you list it for only one to three days when you could list it for seven?
6) Avoid Auctions Where Paypal is Not an Option! If you use Paypal to pay for your Ebay items, you are helping to protect your purchase, especially if you chose the credit card option. I would not purchase any high dollar item on Ebay without using Paypal and my credit card. I am protected by both Paypal and my credit card in the event I receive a fake (or nothing at all)! Paying with money orders, checks, or Western Union is paying with cash!
7) Avoid Sellers who do not specifically mention Authenticity in their listing. Many sellers will refer to their LV bags as new. New is not "authentic," authentic is authentic. The seller should not only spell out clearly in their auctions that the item is authentic, they should guarantee the authenticity and be willing to provide additional pictures.
8) Avoid Buying from Sellers using stock pictures from Eluxury or Vuitton.com. Sellers should post numerous pictures of the exact item they are selling. If they are using a stolen picture from the Eluxury site or the official Louis Vuitton site, their item is probably SO fake that it doesn't photograph well!9) Pay close attention to Seller's return policies. If the seller requires written proof from a Louis Vuitton boutique that their item is not authentic in order to provide a return, they are trying to scam you. Louis Vuitton NEVER offers written proof of authenticity from it's stores.
10) Extras are Nice, but can be Fake, too! Just because a seller is offering the item with an authentic box, dustbag, and tags does not make the item authentic. Fake LV receipts are actually for sale online! Base your opinion of authenticity on the ITEM, not the extras. And if the extras are also fake, that tells you the item is fake as well.
11) Fakes have Date Codes, too! Don't base your opinion of an item's authenticity on date codes alone! The new fake Denim Speedies have the right date codes in the right place! Older, poorer quality fakes have fake date codes, but super fakes generally have plausable date codes.
12) Dead Giveaways! If you see any of the following in an Ebay auction for Louis Vuitton, you can be 100% certain the item is fake: A white, circular "hang tag" with a black LV on it hanging off of the bag; a "swatch" of matching material hanging off of the bag; a yellow Louis Vuitton card placed in a wallet for sale; or white paper wrapped around the metal hardware on a bag for sale.
If you have enjoyed what you have read so far, and have learned anything and would like to learn more, please see my auctions for my book "Searching for Louis Vuitton: How not to get Ripped Off on Ebay." And visit my Ebay About Me Page for pictures of my collection. Thanks for reading!
_______________________________________PLEASE NOTE: The "Items from Ebay Sellers" shown to the right of this Guide are in NO WAY chosen or recommended by me, but are randomly placed there by Ebay based on my keywords. After viewing these listings I would like to warn readers that many of them are for FAKE items. Please know I am not endorsing any listings shown to the right of the text for this guide, with the exception of those items for sale specifically by ME.
Orignal From: How to Buy AUTHENTIC LOUIS VUITTON on Ebay! NO FAKES!!
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