Need help authenticating if possible

[nalmon]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174026782472

Hi - I sold the bag in the above linked listing. I know it might be hard to do but can you give me an opinion on whether or not this is authentic. I believe it is. The buyer thinks not because she claims that there should be a white id tag inside the inside zipped pocket that corresponds to the leather logo sewn into the front of the zipped pocket (i checked my personal collection and all the bags I currently have for sale on ebay (21 in all) and not one of them have this white tag). She also claims that the zippers aren't what Coach uses and the leather is not Coach. My recollection from when I looked over the bag was that neither of these two were questionable. Also, the inside zip pull is common to alot of vintage Coach bags, the Coach logo stamped on the hardware is not likely fake, the stitching is flawless (including the tightly wrapped stitching on the strap fixed anchor-to-bag connection) and the stamped leather logo sewn into the front of the zipped pocket is well done - lettering and stitching. Any help would be appreciated.

[genemaat]

Please wait for our Coach expert @albertabrightalberta to advise.

I'm not expert in Coach, but it looks like a Soho style to me (I have a Soho Lynn c. 2011-12) — not old enough to be vintage but not recent enough to have the serial code on the creed patch replaced by a style/production code on a white tag (Coach only started doing that about mid 2014, ref https://forum.purseblog.com/threads/serial-number.916887/)

[fashionclubgurl · Accepted solution]

Its genuine Coach but not vintage, vintage means 20 years or older and this purse was made in May 2007.

Your buyer has only  a few of her details correct. Coach didnt start using the small white tag inside the pocket until around 2014 when they stopped stamping the same details - month, year, plant code and style number - on the leather patch on the inside pocket. Purses from other time periods that were large enough to be considered handbags and not accessories, and were made earlier than 2014 or more recently than around 2017 will usually have those details stamped on the patch. Coach stamps in bags changed often and you cant compare what Coach was doing in 2007 to what they were doing 10 years later. Your buyer needs to do a lot more research before she starts accusing people.

Her comments about the zippers being wrong probably meant that she read and believed the lies found in hundreds of useless "authenticity guides" about Coach only using YKK zippers - again, that is a LIE. Coach has used almost a dozen different brands, and fakes can also have YKK zippers. That information has been available on Google for at least 15 years and was also available on Ebay until Ebay stopped publishing member-written guides. Heres one of at least a hundred posts from the Ebay forum archives where I talked about it, scroll down halfway:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Archive-Fashion/Is-this-bag-authentic/td-p/22869315

and heres a set of 6 guides posted on another forum and commissioned by Ebay seller Salearea that covers that subject and a lot of others:

https://forum.purseblog.com/threads/salearea-guides.983575/#post-32252957

"The leather is not Coach"? How does she know? Coach has used dozens of different kinds of leathers and again, the kinds they used 10 or 20 or 30 years ago can and will  all be different.

Too bad your buyer couldnt be bothered to educate herself about what she was buying, there's nothing wrong with that purse. Its from the Soho line and I believe was called a Soho Flap. And just so you know, stitching and names stamped on the hardware and well-done stampings can never prove somethings genuine. What does prove that is that the stamping of the creed and serial number is exactly what it should be for that style purse from that plant, month and year. There are at least a dozen others listed on Ebay, search for "coach 10910"

[nalmon]

Here is what the buyer responded after I pointed her to this thread. Just posting this fyi. I think the buyer is just a newly self-minted 'expert' who doesn't want to admit she's wrong and may have a bit of buyer's remorse. Thanks for your reply - it may help when I call ebay to close the case and save me having to reimburse shipping costs.

Reply to the buyer soon

Hi XXXX,

yyyy sent you a message about their request:

You do realize I am not trying to offend or argue..... I called Coach and gave them the id number inside for verification. It is not one of thiers. The link you sent only comfirms that it is a very good imitation. No hard feelings I am sure you are a hard worker and wonderful person. No worries about shipping cost. Have a good day

To reply now, see the request details.

You should reply to the buyer and try to work things out by October 24, 2019. On that day, the buyer can ask us to step in and help.

[labbypaws]

It was made for factory so if she called a Coach store or Coach, they would be clueless. They cannot authenticate over the phone. It is possible if she gave them the numbers after the F and the year, they might have been able to tell her the number existed.

The bag is authentic. No doubt about it. Just take the return and relist. Call eBay to see if they will refund your shipping fees.

[albertabrightalberta]

Unfortunately, because the case was opened as SNAD (not as described), you are on the hook for shipping in both directions. Once you get the item back, the buyer's refund will make her whole.

It's so frustrating to read this type of nonsense. I'm so sorry your buyer is unwilling to admit to a mistake.

[fashionclubgurl]

Adding to the good information Labbypaws already gave you:

Coach definitely does not authenticate anything over the phone. Authentication requires acxtually seeing the item and having photos of genuine versions of that style for comparison.

The purse has an F in front of the style number which means it was made for the Factory Outlet stores. The Factory store exclusives were not carrried on the main Coach computer ststem during that time, my SA from back then told me so when I asked and actually called Coach to confirm it. So if someone from a store OR from Coachs main office tried to find the number, it wouldnt show up on their computers.

And if "the number wasnt one of theirs", where did all those others with the same style number that are listed on Ebay come from? Has Ebay suddenly been flooded with dozens of fakes with 12-year-old serial numbers? Heres the Current listings, 61 of them, for purses with that style number:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=coach+10910&_sacat=0

and there are 58 of the same style listed under Completed but those include some of the ones under Current that have been relisted:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=coach+10910&_sacat=0&rt=nc&LH_Complete=1

Sounds more like buyers remorse to me, the buyer is clutching at straws and theyre all breaking. That purse is genuine. And buyers like that are why I dont sell on Ebay.

[nalmon]

Just to close the loop and thank you all for your help...

I called ebay and had to resort to escalating the issue to a supervisor (after receiving the bag back in the mail today there is no clean cut way to reimburse the buyer with the cost of the bag only (excluding the shipping)). The supervisor opened a case, asked me to reimburse via pay pal (which does allow editing of the amount to reimburse to the cost of the bag only) and then when the supervisor saw the transaction go through, made a note that the buyer mentioned in all the back-and-forth to "forget about the shipping", closed the case. It was alot of work just for the principle of the matter.

Without your help the buyer probably wouldn't have made that statement and I would have had to have eaten the shipping cost.

And ask me if the buyer packaged the bag for return to me with the care that I took in sending it to her? I think you know the answer to that one.

So thanks and take care all.  I learned a little and appreciate it and the time you took to lend a hand and share your expertise. 

Sincerely,

Simone

[albertabrightalberta]

You got very lucky in getting a CS person to advise you how to issue the refund without giving back the shipping! 99.9% of the time, it's irrelevant what the messages say; with SNAD, the seller pays it all back!

Congrats! I'm glad it's over for you.