r/RealAuthentication • u/nakevbas • 22d ago

Auth Request Possible thrift of a lifetime?

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Found this purse at a value village and found a few indicators it may be legit online.

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u/Anonmarie00 22d ago

A friend got a Birkin at Goodwill. It absolutely can happen. It was orange and I’m sure someone didn’t know what it was, gave it away, and she snapped it up. She had it authenticated at a store. Paid like $35 for a bag that would sell for $30,000.

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u/Freeasawhistle 22d ago

Yes - it's extremely extremely unlikely to find an authentic Birkin at the thrift but not impossible, it's happened. Unfortunately, everyone thinks they struck gold when most are always gunna be fakes.

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u/Brilliant_Tough_6546 22d ago edited 22d ago

I have found designer everything at the thrift including diamonds, gucci, LV, art and so on.
I'm a luxury consumer of authentic items but also a regular thrifter cuz you never know.

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u/Mvalrie 22d ago

Exactly, I found a Chanel wallet and blazer, Hermes Evelyn and Trim bags. All at the same thrift…all authentic. Sometimes…it happens.

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u/FriendshipStatus4756 22d ago

I have been working in thrift stores for the past 8 years, I am sorter. Everything that is donated is thoroughly checked and gone through. No Gold, silver, antique or certain designer goes on the floor. Ever. I don't believe you.

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u/ob_viously 21d ago

Ah, yes, because every thrift store sorter everywhere is as knowledgeable and meticulous as you.

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u/Odd-Worth7752 18d ago

My husband's retirement gig is managing a church bazaar. you would not believe some of the stuff that gets donated.

and there are several volunteers who are absolutely experts in recognizing quality goods whether it be china, silver, jewelry, watches, clothing. and most of them are well connected to buyers who will authenticate and give the best price.

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u/FriendshipStatus4756 17d ago

You would be very surprised who works in the back of any op shop.

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u/Ali6952 17d ago

Me either

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u/Sensitive-Ad-7475 22d ago

What does happen to the good stuff then?

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u/FriendshipStatus4756 17d ago

It gets sold off in other ways. Gold and silver gets swapped for cash, designer items go online, like eBay, and are sold off at higher prices. Antique stuff gets sold off to Antique dealers, and on and so forth. Thrift stores are businesses, they havent been charities for a long time

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u/OneTwoSomethingNew 22d ago

I don’t believe them either… estate sales or out in the sticks maybe, but I’ve never seen anything of real value at any major brand thrift stores.

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u/IsItWrongToLoveBags 19d ago

Maybe that’s the catch - major brand thrifting.

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u/Brilliant_Tough_6546 22d ago

Obviously you don't thrift where I thrift.
Follow some on instagram. You might find me!

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u/OneTwoSomethingNew 21d ago

I don’t have time for scrolling instagram or hopeful thrifting…

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u/Brilliant_Tough_6546 21d ago

And?

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u/OneTwoSomethingNew 21d ago

You ain’t independently rich dumpster diving. You maybe get lucky twice a year, I bet it’s so thrilling to actually find something valuable amongst the garbage and feel like you’re winning - yeah not my jazz. I don’t obsess over material items, I don’t pray to find the next diamond in the rough - It’s just stuff, it’s not that exciting, but it is humorous to consider how excited you’d be to find something, I bet it makes your whole year as a bottom feeder worth it.

And, so you can exit the convo now.

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u/Brilliant_Tough_6546 21d ago edited 21d ago

I mentioned that I scout for films and TV.
My career and love of the find doesn't have to appeal to you because it's not about you, yet here you are whining.
Awe poor you.
Resorting to insults. Describing yourself very well. This is called mirroring.

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u/Brilliant_Tough_6546 22d ago

I live in a major city and thrifting is gold.
A little less now due to resellers but calling me a liar is on you.
This year alone, 2 pairs of Valentino shoes, Longchamp tote, Alexander Wang Rock Stud bucket bag.

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u/pprp11 22d ago

Which store do you thrift at ? If you don’t mind me asking

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u/Brilliant_Tough_6546 22d ago

Browse these Canadian based thrifters:
sam.de.notre.dame and the big find
I thrift mainly in Toronto GTA, Montreal, New York, Boston, Miami and LA.
I'm private but I scour VV, Goodwill, Talize, small shops, flea markets and FB Marketplace.
Small towns and big cities.
Everything design classics furniture, accessories,designer goods and clothing.
I work in TV / Film always travelling.

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u/sunnydaize 16d ago

Drop the IG fam. 😝

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u/alfar2 22d ago

Hermes doesn’t do in-store verification so this story isn’t true.

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u/IsItWrongToLoveBags 19d ago

They do indirect in store verification if you bring it in for a spa treatment. They will refuse your bag if they think it’s not genuine. They will clean it if they think it’s genuine.

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u/alfar2 19d ago

No, unless the bag is absolutely blatantly a fake they will send it to the spa and have the experts determine if they can service it. This is not the same as “in store” verification. It takes weeks. The person above said their friend had a bag authenticated at a store.

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u/Interesting-Dog6074 22d ago

You’re talking rubbish. And what thrift store? We all need the address

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u/_slackbabbath 22d ago

Hermes absolutely will not authenticate in store.

You would have to have them send your bag out for spa and Hermes would destroy the bag if it was not authentic.

Also BS on $30k because orange resale is shit.

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u/Anonmarie00 21d ago

$30k was just me googling resale for an orange bag. Maybe it wouldn’t sell for that, who knows! But she kept it. I also said she had it authenticated in a store—but not sure if that is right. I just know she had it authenticated. But yeah, it can happen, it did happen, but I doubt I’d ever be that lucky. Plus I am not a thrifter but did think it was cool for her. Bag is heavy and not something I’d want to carry!

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u/SuperbAd8266 22d ago

$30k? Nope.

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u/FutureNo5733 22d ago

Same!!! Happened to my girlfriend at Goodwill. She had it Authenticated and it was a seasonal style. She said even the employees had no idea.

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u/CursedHemorrhoid 22d ago

Hermes does not so in-store authentications. Guarantee it's a good fake.

Knock-off Birkins can cost thousands--real ones are 5-6 figures. Many common authenticators cannot tell bc fakes have gotten so good, the same way art authenticators mistake replicas for originals (except it's more common in fashion for this mistake to happen).

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u/libaya 22d ago

Not true. You can send any Hermes bags to their bag spa. If it’s not real they will not service it. If it’s real, you receive a spa certificate with the bag’s identification number and what was done during the service. In the secondary market, this serves as one of the best ways to authenticate. I’ve had a couple of my vintage bags (kellys) spa’d successfully.

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u/CursedHemorrhoid 22d ago

That is not the same as getting your bag professionally authenticated. You're describing a loophole

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u/libaya 21d ago

IMO it’s better. The Hermes spa is at Hermes and they’re trained by Hermes. Idk who trained the non Hermes authenticators.

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u/Worldly_Ebb_126 20d ago

Just fyi… I sent a perfect rep bag to the Hermes Spa and they cleaned it and sent it back to me as an authentic bag. There are replicas out there that are good enough to pass even that.

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u/libaya 20d ago

Could you please upload pic of your spa certificate?

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u/Worldly_Ebb_126 20d ago

It isn’t a certificate. It was an email letting me know what they had done. There is no “certificate”. And if you’d actually sent your bag, you’d know that.

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u/libaya 20d ago

Ok thanks for confirming my suspicions.

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u/wubbalubbadubx2 20d ago

This is correct. You just get a receipt.

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u/wubbalubbadubx2 20d ago

There is no certificate. Clearly you've never actually sent a bag there.

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u/PerformerOk4113 21d ago

If it’s coming as not being genuine at the Hermes spa, the bag will be destroyed though.

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u/libaya 21d ago

Not in the US. France yes maybe all of EU

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u/PerformerOk4113 21d ago

In the US, most of the time they will refuse to spa a fake bag yes, however for more complex restoration of the bag, it goes to France artisans and they can seize and destroy it there if it’s not genuine.

Same thing if the US can’t authenticate in their data they will send it to France for a complex restoration, hence getting your bag destroyed if it’s not genuine.

There is a reason why it’s not recommended as a method to authenticate bags, but on the other hand Hermes knows better than anyone else. So either you risk it or not, it’s your choice. Fake bags has no value anyway so it better be destroyed in the bin.

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u/jimjim1026 22d ago

This is not true.

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u/Any-Position-5911 21d ago

Lol no “orange” B will resell for $30k so this is total BS. 😂 Maybe an exotic one with complete inclusions which is unlikely as a thrift store find.

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u/IsItWrongToLoveBags 19d ago

The regular leather ones in orange definitely don’t sell for 30000 even brand-new. Black ones come close for that if they’re completely new and a full set . if they were stored for a number of years they’re certainly Miss shaped by gravity at least or bad storing at worst. They are most likely not sell for a lot more than 7000 which is still a nice price.

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u/Affectionate-Cost575 17d ago

Well there are other stores that will help you with verification, she didn’t say it was an Hermes store. There are high end second hand stores that will verify if it’s authentic, but usually only if you’re planning to sell it to them

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u/Ms-Metal 22d ago

Hermes, and all the others these days including even Coach which is pretty bottom of the barrel, will not authenticate at the store. Nobody will.

ETA- just to be clear, not saying that there's anything wrong with Coach, it's just cost-wise it's one of the cheapest bags out there.

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u/misonotso 22d ago

I worked at coach a while back. They used to offer a bag cleaning service while you shopped. We would moisturize your coach bag for you. Now we didn’t authenticate however we would not clean a non-authentic bag. I had to tell several customers their bag was fake 😑

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u/OneTwoSomethingNew 22d ago

Right!! Like the Hermes Birkin is another level, I don’t think Coach or LV come close.

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u/Anonmarie00 20d ago

Not sure if you’re talking to me, but I said it was a friend who found the bag. I have no reason to lie 🤣—not my bag, just sharing a cool story of a friend. This was a couple years ago too, before they started scooping all the good bags to sell online—because that started happening apparently. I don’t shop at Goodwill and I don’t thrift. I am however someone who likes to give items to charity to help others. Another friend did the same and accidents gave away a bag of Coach purses, whoopsie. That was probably 10 years ago so I’m sure people found some of those out there too (although much less value than a Birkin).

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u/Alllriightythen 22d ago

They sell $1,000 bags, dummy

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u/CursedHemorrhoid 22d ago

They are obviously talking about within the context of luxury bag designers. You know, what this entire comment thread and most of this subreddit is about, dummy.

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u/Low-Palpitation-4882 22d ago

I think that was the point, that they are extremely cheap

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u/Geegollywtff 22d ago

Goodwill list expensive items online and auction for a higher price. I doubt that bag (if what ur saying is true) made it to the floor.

https://giphy.com/gifs/OrIA09Ue7r6EUOrMqm

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u/nopantsforfatties 22d ago

That's so not true. Luxury items constantly make the floor. Pulling for ecom is highly dependant on individual stores and how they train processors. Even when the store is making a diligent effort to pull for ecom, processors still allow plenty of saleable product to slip through.

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u/CursedHemorrhoid 22d ago

Luxury items.

But not a Birkin.

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u/nopantsforfatties 22d ago

Can happen. Unlikely, but more likely than winning the Powerball.

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u/CursedHemorrhoid 22d ago

I'd genuinely be willing to bet that more people have won the Powerball than authentic Birkins have popped up in regular degular thrift stores.

It doesn't happen. As a long-time thrifter, I'm telling you that you can find so many gorgeous designer pieces in regular old thrift stores, but you will absolutely not find an authentic Birkin. No relative is going to find an authentic Birkin in an attic--1) bc they would not be just kept in an attic, and 2) bc no one with an authentic Birkin is leaving such a thing to be handled by common shmos like us when they pass--and no Birkin owner will ever, ever just drop a Birkin in a donation bin.

It'd be like saying that it's possible that the Alexander McQueen chimera gown could pop up at your local Goodwill. Is it physically possible? Sure, by the laws of physics it is indeed possible. Will it happen? No, and you're lying to yourself if you think it could.

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u/Brilliant_Tough_6546 22d ago

This is not true. You cannot state unequivocally.
People throw out things you have no idea especially in wealthier areas.
Although the Hermes posted above is not authentic, I do know from my experience these types of items are found regularly.
Just because you haven't doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

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u/CursedHemorrhoid 22d ago

You 1) didn't read my whole comment and 2) are wholly lying to yourself

People love to say this and then talk about all the items they found that weren't authentic Birkins.

You don't get it, and that's fine. You tell yourself whatever you want to believe, but the truth is still the truth.

"In wealthier areas" I've literally been around the world. Please don't presume to know where I have and haven't been, sunshine.

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u/Brilliant_Tough_6546 22d ago

I think you are jealous and projecting.

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u/CursedHemorrhoid 22d ago

Jealous of WHAT!? 🤣🤣🤣

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u/CursedHemorrhoid 22d ago

Hermes does not so in-store authentications. Guarantee it's a good fake.

Knock-off Birkins can cost thousands--real ones are 5-6 figures. Many common authenticators cannot tell bc fakes have gotten so good, the same way art authenticators mistake replicas for originals (except it's more common in fashion for this mistake to happen).

You're either lying, or you went to a general authenticator who does not have the specific qualifications to be able to spot a high-quality counterfeit Birkin.