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For a while now I've been buying preloved Chanel handbags and I don't actually own any new Chanel bags. Here's why:
1) The recent price increases have meant that the Chanel bags are almost as expensive as Hermes now, and yet I'm finding that the quality is just not impressive anymore nowadays, so I am unwilling to pay the full price on these items.
2) Caviar is always a winner but I love the lambskin of the vintage Chanel bags, they are so much more durable and higher quality than the lambskin you find nowadays.
3) I've also seen quite some horror pictures of new Chanel bags are lop-sided / uneven.
4) I'm yet to have a great in-store experience. This could just be my luck, but unfortunately my experiences so far have not been fantastic, though I do hear many have great experiences.
Last year during COVID, I let go of some of my Chanel bags for cashflow purposes. The one that I regret selling the most is my Chanel Jumbo Classic Flap in Caviar in beautiful gold hardware.
Here she is in all her glory.
A series 16 (c. 2012) beauty in excellent condition, she did have some flaws including a bit of an indentation on the flap at the top (you can see it's a little angular) and a bit of a round bottom and slight sagging due to age. However I bought a Samorga insert which really helped with the structure.
The caviar in this year is just amazing, so super shiny and glossy. I used to take her to work as she was large enough to carry my essentials and more. The fact that she is in caviar and preloved meant that I didn't really have to baby her.
Honestly I loved her so much and really wanted to keep her but knew that I needed the money for more important things at the time.
If I had let her go at a reasonable price, I would have been happy. However I sold through a consignment store at the time at listed at AUD5300 (~USD6160), and since they take 10% commission, I received around AUD4800 (~USD3770). Unfortunately this had happened just before the massive price increases which resulted in preloved market increasing substantially too. By the time I realised, it was too late. My consigner had already sold this bag to someone who had asked for a LOOOONG payment plan (6 months, which I actually didn't actually agree to but had to be understanding due to COVID). Around the time that the buyer was paying off the bag, I was seeing similar bags to mine, and even older bags, and worse condition listed around AUD7000-8000 (~USD5500~6300).
Looking back now I really regret this sale, as this bag now retails for nearly AUD12K (~USD9400)! Not only did I miss out on selling my jumbo at a good price, but there is no way I would ever pay this amount on the preloved market, never mind full retail price! Also knowing what I had paid for it, there’s no way I would have paid for something of poorer quality for 2000 dollars more.
Aside from the price, the quilted style of the bag is really so beautiful and timeless, the caviar is extremely durable and I rly miss how luxurious the glossy leather looked and how it lifted up any outfit. For my 174cm height too, it was a great size for me.
I learnt a lot through this experience, be more careful with the consignment store you choose, make smarter initial purchase decisions so I don’t have remorse afterwards, be specific around what I can accept for payment plan, and do longer and better research on the market when selling to make sure I list at a reasonable price.
Hope my experience was interesting for you to read!
See you soon!
xx
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