Why You Should Shop Preloved Designer Handbags?
How La Collection Élégance began?
I have always enjoyed the feeling of being able to repurpose things. It could be something so simple as leftovers from a previous meal or material from a shirt I no longer wanted. I genuinely get a good feeling when I am able to repurpose items.
However, it took me some time to hone into this passion and what I could do with it.
Another passion I always had was fashion and beauty. I would spend countless hours looking up makeup looks, fashion trends and how I could recreate them o my own. I eventually, started my own blog based on these exact topics.
As such, I found myself interacting more and more with other blogger pages via youtube and instagram. This sparked my curiosity of designer items.
My obsession with preloved designer handbags and wallets has grown over the last few years since I had started my blog. Not knowing how I could afford to buy just one- without breaking the bank, being sustainable, and realistic in today’s economy, I decided to do some research.
Eventually I discovered the world of consignment, preloved designer handbags, and the designer upcycling community. I loved the idea that I was able to own a piece of luxury history and contribute to sustainability by choosing to shop preloved designer handbags.
In a short time, my collection grew. I currently have about 8 beautiful preloved items in my personal collection that have plenty of life left. I also have a wishlist of items I would love to eventually own.
Below is a picture of some of the pieces from my preloved designer handbag collection.
(Pictured are a few vintage Louis Vuitton pieces, some modern Louis Vuitton handbags, and a couple versace pieces).
Eventually, I started thinking about how I could combine passions of fashion, beauty, and sustainability. This was how La Collection Élégance came about.
Why Authenticity is important?
Since I was a collector first, authenticity was ALWAYS of utmost importance to me, and I surely incorporated that into La Collection Élégance. After all, who would want to invest a ton of money into a preloved luxury handbag- only to find out that the item is a replica.
This is why every purchase made with La Collection Élégance comes with a certificate of authenticity. In fact, the process of vetting starts long before, as I only shop on reputable business to business platforms. They too take authenticity very seriously as they also have a reputation to uphold.
The items are checked before they are sold to me (by their in house professional authenticators).
Since becoming immersed in the luxury world, I have also gained plenty of knowledge on preloved luxury handbags and I utilize this knowledge to inspect photos of items.
I often get a verbal authentication from another authenticator as well before I commit to buy. Once it gets to me, I contract a professional authenticating company to do another check. This is where the certificate of authenticity comes from. I include this certificate of authenticity with every preloved luxury handbag I sell.
This means by the time it reaches my clients’ hands, it has been checked various times. What this means is that my clients’ can shop with confidence knowing that multiple steps have been taken to ensure authenticity. Why? Because it is top priority for me and my clients!
If it is not authentic- I simple do not list an item! Furthermore, La Collection Élégance also has a 30 day money back guarantee. So if you have any doubt after all the steps we have taken to ensure authenticity, you are able to have it verified again within 30 days. If it is deemed as not authentic- we offer money back. It is that simple and you have nothing to lose!
Benefits to Buying Preloved Preloved Designer Bags?
In recent years, the y2k trend has resurged. Making 90’s style handbags and wallets highly popular again. Styles such as the Fendi baguette, Prada nylon, and Louis Vuitton croissant handbags are just some of the popular handbags today. Especially if you are into the vintage trend.
There are many reasons to consider making your next designer handbag purchase a preloved handbag. However, we will delve into a few below:
1. Sustainability
In today’s society, fast fashion is very popular for many reasons. This means many of us are buying items more often creating many tons of textile waste. The Round Up organization has conducted some research and here are some staggering facts they shared:
- The world produces around 92 million tons of textile waste yearly.
- 60% of new clothing materials being used are actually made of plastic.
- Production of textiles produces 42 million tons of textile waste yearly and 9% of microplastic waste (yearly) which typically ends up in our oceans.
So what does this mean and why is it important? This means collectively, we need to work together to make more conscious purchasing decisions. This will help curb our overconsumption and waste issues. This is why choosing to shop preloved designer handbags, wallets, and accessories is a good choice as it is socially responsible.
It helps by:
- Preventing items from ending up in the landfill (extending their life)
- Reducing your carbon footprint
- Saving resources like water and energy
If you would like to delve deeper into this topic, check out the article at: https://theroundup.org/textile-waste-statistics/
2. Saving Money
By choosing to purchase preloved and vintage designer handbags, you get to save money! Since the bags have had a previous life and depending on condition, you can save anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a couple thousand.
However, that does not mean you are not getting the best. Often times, you can find newer styles to vintage gems on the preloved handbag market. So if you are looking to enter the world of luxury handbags, wallets, and accessories without breaking the bank, I would definitely recommend checking out the preloved designer handbag market.
Are Secondhand Designer Bags an Investment?
We always suggest choosing timeless pieces and ones that you will want to keep in your closet for a long time. However, should you choose to sell your preloved designer handbag or wallet, you will like get back a good portion of what you spent.
In some cases you will get more because many designer brands do price increases for their brand new items. These increases often affect the preloved handbag market as well (increase) which means you will be able to request more for reselling.
3. Finding Rare Items
One of the coolest things about purchasing preloved designer handbags and wallets is how rare they can be. You often get that adrenaline rush when you see a luxury piece you have never seen before.
Often times, this means it is from a limited edition collection or it’s a vintage piece. Which to be honest are my favourite! I love vintage or limited edition collections because this means you likely will not see many other people wearing the item. My personal favourite is vintage Louis Vuitton!
I like many of the modern styles. However, I do not particularly like seeing everyone wearing the same items. So I love the idea of shopping vintage for this reason. It makes the hunt for a preloved handbag or wallet that much more fun as well.
Additionally, when you purchase vintage designer handbags and wallets, this means you get to own a piece of luxury history- which to me, is pretty cool!
4. Being Able to Replicate Modern Looks
An additional bonus of shopping preloved designer handbags and wallets is finding items that closely resemble current collections. We have noticed that many luxury brands recycle collections that were previously popular. For example the Gucci bamboo collection, specifically the Gucci top handle bag. Gucci recently re- released this bag and now it retails for nearly $7000. If you shop on the preloved handbag market, you can easily find a gently used vintage Gucci bamboo bag for less than half of that amount.
Louis Vuitton is also no stranger to this sales technique. They recently launched their remix denim collection which contains bags that were once popular. For the most part, all they changed was the material- in some cases different sizes.
In this collection, they relaunched the croissant bag, the papillon bag, and the pleaty bag (to name a few). On the preloved handbag market, these Louis Vuitton handbags can be found gently used in the canvas material. So if you love the style but are not keen on a denim bag, check out our curated collection here. If we do not have it in stock, you can place a custom order here.
Christian Dior has also done this similarly. They used to use a patterned print which they called the “trotter” print. However they have since renamed the print to “oblique”. To be honest, there really isn’t a difference. So this is another instance where you would be able to get the designer look by shopping preloved designer handbags.
Below is a picture of a vintage preloved Dior trotter clutch from our shop. It is available for $450. Click here to see more details!
Whereas, currently on the Dior website, you can purchase a very similar bag called the Montaigne pouch for $1400. They also have other styles which resemble the preloved version.
Christian Dior second hand bags are also a timeless brand that has remained relevant and will continue to over years to come.
If you are new to the preloved designer handbag and wallet world, and don’t know where or how to shop for them. I would highly suggest checking out our recent blog post about how to protect your luxury purchase here
Spoiler alert: La Collection Élégance is a trusted place to shop preloved designer handbags, wallets, and accessories because all of our purchases come with a certificate of authenticity and have been checked multiple times before it reaches your hands. This way you can shop with confidence.
We also do personal shopping if you are after an item and you don’t see it in our shop. All you have to do is fill out our personal shopping form here And we will follow up with next steps.
You can check out reviews from our previous clients here and see for yourself :) I look forward to helping you source your next preloved designer handbag, wallet, or accessory- happy shopping!
