Handbags

[chrystaltree]

Coach is like many luxury brands, there are the low end bags and there are the very high, top of the line bags which cost much more than $325.  Also the Coach outlet bags are an entirely different line than the bags you see in the Coach boutiques.  

[Nataliesgramma]

I was disappointed when I made a lng trip to an Outlet Mall only to see the Coach and Michael Kors bage were not the same quality as Macy's

[sunshine45]

via ebay

Say you have a serial # that looks like this:

EXAMPLE:  No. L1160-F13533

* This is the Correct Format of the Serial #... You will ALWAYS see "No." before the actual serial number and you should NEVER see any spaces... they will all have this same format. Although some of the older Coach Bags have a slightly different format (which I still have yet to figure out!). Most of my energy and interest have gone toward the newer styles. So at this time, I'm only speaking on behalf of those

* MONTH CODE... First is the month code: the "L" in this case stands for November, which is the month it was manufactured in (A=January; B=February; C=March; etc...). "I" is always skipped and there will never be a letter after "M" (M=December).

* YEAR CODE... Next is the year code: After the letter month code, you will always see 2 numbers. In this case "11" stands for the year 2011 (99=1999; 01=2001; 02=2002; 10=2010; etc...).

* FACTORY CODE... These next 2 numbers are the code for the factory in which the bag was manufactured in. These numbers are more for reference tham anything. Unless you work in a Coach Factory, you wouldn't need to know the code nor would it give you any advantage to trying to figure out if your Coach bag is real or not. Plus, there are just way too many to memorize!

*** NEXT WILL ALWAYS BE A DASH... After the dash you will sometimes see an "F" (See Below)

• F... In this case there is an F after the dash which stands for Factory, meaning the bag was bought/sold at a Coach Factory Outlet not from a Coach Store or a Macy's, Nordstrom, etc.. but nonetheless they are still very much authentic.

• NO F... If there is no F after the dash, you will just see 5 numbers (some of the older styles will only have 4 #'s). This set of numbers are considered the Style #. Meaning every Coach Bag with this number will look the same... maybe a different color, but ALWAYS the same design and style.

[Mindy D]

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@sunshine45 wrote:

via ebay

Say you have a serial # that looks like this:

EXAMPLE:  No. L1160-F13533

* This is the Correct Format of the Serial #... You will ALWAYS see "No." before the actual serial number and you should NEVER see any spaces... they will all have this same format. Although some of the older Coach Bags have a slightly different format (which I still have yet to figure out!). Most of my energy and interest have gone toward the newer styles. So at this time, I'm only speaking on behalf of those

* MONTH CODE... First is the month code: the "L" in this case stands for November, which is the month it was manufactured in (A=January; B=February; C=March; etc...). "I" is always skipped and there will never be a letter after "M" (M=December).

* YEAR CODE... Next is the year code: After the letter month code, you will always see 2 numbers. In this case "11" stands for the year 2011 (99=1999; 01=2001; 02=2002; 10=2010; etc...).

* FACTORY CODE... These next 2 numbers are the code for the factory in which the bag was manufactured in. These numbers are more for reference tham anything. Unless you work in a Coach Factory, you wouldn't need to know the code nor would it give you any advantage to trying to figure out if your Coach bag is real or not. Plus, there are just way too many to memorize!

*** NEXT WILL ALWAYS BE A DASH... After the dash you will sometimes see an "F" (See Below)

• F... In this case there is an F after the dash which stands for Factory, meaning the bag was bought/sold at a Coach Factory Outlet not from a Coach Store or a Macy's, Nordstrom, etc.. but nonetheless they are still very much authentic.

• NO F... If there is no F after the dash, you will just see 5 numbers (some of the older styles will only have 4 #'s). This set of numbers are considered the Style #. Meaning every Coach Bag with this number will look the same... maybe a different color, but ALWAYS the same design and style.

---

You've been nominated for genius of the month club. Thank you for the break down. I emailed Coach asking about any difference in quality between their Outlet online bags and their regular bags and they flatly and emphatically denied any difference in quality. Please excuse the formatting errors below. They said:

"Thank you for reaching out to Coach.

" Our Coach Outlet stores and website carry factory overruns, discontinued styles and                   discontinued colors and merchandise that has slight imperfections. It is often difficult for   the untrained eye to determine the quality standard difference.

We can assure you that the product you saw in the Outlet website fits one of the categories we have indicated.

Because we do take such care in selecting the products that are sold in our full price stores, we hope you will reconsider being a Coach consumer. It is also our hope that this explanation shows that our intent is only to provide the best quality product and service to our consumers.

We appreciate your taking the time to write to us and look forward to assisting you in the very near future.

Mindy, should you like further assistance, please feel free to contact us at 800.444.3611. Any of our Customer Care Professionals will be happy to assist you

Regards,

Selesa
Coach Customer Care"

[Mindy D]

Inside the bag is a sewn in black leather label. There are numbers pressed into the leather on this, but they are impressed; black into black, making it very difficult to read. Coach says there is no difference in the quality of the bags sold at dept. stores and the bags sold on their online outlet. I posted the letter they sent me on the other reply to your post. 

[Q4u]

The handbag industry has taken a huge hit.  Women are not lusting for handbags anymore and if they are, they take the time to research them.  There was a time at the very beginning of outlet stores that the merchandise were overruns, out of season or overstocks but all first quality and coming from first rate department stores.  

Then manufacturers (like Coach) realized how incredibly popular outlet stores were and started manufacturing styles that were made cheaper and specifically for the outlets. Basically, the bags looked like a huge discount but were being sold for just about what they were worth.

But the Coach frenzy continued and Coach continued to over-saturate the market everywhere.... until that fateful day when Coach started losing market share.  

And as gorgeous as the product was, ladies stopped buying them.  It got so bad at my Dillards that they dropped Coach completely about a year ago.  They are so sure the love affair is over where I am, they aren't even bringing in Coach's new upper end bags (those bags reaching $700), yet they still sell several upper end lines including Brahmin and Frys.

Now I'm seeing the same thing happening with Michael Kors.  Another brand that tried to make as much money as fast as possible, oversaturating the market until the brand means very little.  My Dillards is still trying to sell MK, but even at 1/2 price with another 20% off the tables are never sold out....

Interesting to watch....   

[VenturaHighway]

@Q4uI was at a Macys store and they only had three Coach handbags. The lady said that they didn't want to invest that much money. She said they had to buy a certain amount.

I love Coach and buy mine at consignment shops. Yes, they are older styles but I feel the leather is great.

[Q4u]

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@VenturaHighway wrote:

@Q4uI was at a Macys store and they only had three Coach handbags. The lady said that they didn't want to invest that much money. She said they had to buy a certain amount.

I love Coach and buy mine at consignment shops. Yes, they are older styles but I feel the leather is great.

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I agree with you, Coach's leathers are supreme and the older ones at consignment shops are very desirable.  I will also buy off eBay.  My last purchase of a new Coach was several years ago (don't remember the name) but was in a burgundy leather.  Beautiful bag....

What has happened to Coach (and is happening to Michael Kors) is a huge lesson in market saturation and the loss of brand cache.... it'll really hurt a company.

[Danielle46]

Having family in high level positions in the fashion industry, what I can tell you is that the main stores and "outlet" sell completely different merchandise.  Outlets sell merchandise that was specificially made for the outlet stores and all the merchandise is lower end than what you find in the designer's "main" stores and high end department stores.  So if your unhappy with the quality, then shop at the main stores (not outlet) where you will pay more for a better product..

[topcat10]

LOL! - Looks like you've been schooled!