I am writing to tell about my personal experience with The Purse Forum and specifically the expert authenticator "Bababebi." I had purchased many high end bags in the past, known as Hermes bags. I had several Birkins and Kelly bags in my possession. I decided to sell them due to the fact that I indeed had an obsession with the bags and the brand itself and I knew it was time to let some go. I listed the bags on eBay to sell and listed many detailed photos of the bags as well as copies of my original receipts. I had several people interested in buying from me because these bags are coveted and very difficult to obtain unless you have had the very good luck of finding an Hermes Sales Associate that would build a relationship with you. This ususally takes spending a LOT of money at their boutiques. Some of the buyers asked how they would know if it were indeed authentic and I said, look at the photos and the receipts, clearly this can not be a knock off. Knock off bags are of terrible quality with no attention to detail. I know- I've seen some in person before due to my poor friends attempts to get what I have.
One particular individual went to a well known luxury bag discussion site known as The Purse Forum to get opinions on the authenticity of my bags. I was sent the discussion after my buyer chose not to buy my bag due to the fact that it was "FAKE." Are you kidding me? This conversation on their website was ridiculous and so unprofessional, it was hard to believe that anyone would take these people seriously. My listing was posted to ask if it was indeed authentic and without any hesitation or further query at all, about 5 of these known professionals shot it down stating it was a counterfeit. They did not attempt to look at the detailed photos, they did not view my very original receipts posted or perfect stitching done by craftsman. Absolutely ZERO attempt to truly authenticate. I did MY research even more and saw that these women, "Mistikat" AKA Evvie, shut a TON of people down, including very legit re-sellers stating that they are selling fake bags, eliminitating many possible customers and sales due to their quick response. Let me tell you what I found out. When these women did say that a bag was authentic, it turned out that they had some affiliation with the listing on eBay.
They were SELF-PROMOTING!!!! They were stating that TRULY AUTHENTIC HIGH END BAGS were fake, but PROMOTING listings that were their OWN listings or their friends in order to make a profit. I know, because I did a ton of research and found out that the original owners of these listings were in fact The Purse Forum Master Posters. A friend of mine purchased one of their bags and was obviously given their personal information in the sale, and realized it was in fact a member of The Purse Forum. LET ME CONTINUE- The expert authenticator in which they all suggest using: Bababebi aka Dimity Giles, is actually no EXPERT AT ALL. She and her husband are members of the Purse Forum, and they use different posting names of course so no one knows it is indeed them, and they refer everyone to use them to authenticate bags. They are NOT professionals even though they claim they are. AND- get this- They charge A HEAVY FEE to "authenticate" your bag. Interesting, right? Make a website, get followers then self promote on ebay and your own personal website to make MONEY. Anybody can do this, but the fact is, they are not legit and they DENY REAL BAGS ARE REAL. You cannot take their opinion to be an expert one. No one honestly really knows if a bag is authentic or not unless they get it DIRECTLY from an Hermes boutique, right? RIGHT.
If you are going to buy from somebody that sells, make sure you know your bags. Cheap imitiations come from third world countries and have shitty leaather, fake locks and keys, terrible stitiching and they do not promote French Handmade Quality. This posting is to educate those that are using The Purse Forum to authenticate real bags or using Bababebi the authenticator and are getting LIED to just to self promote themselves and get rich. I feel so badly for those individuals that are getting shut down or suspended from ebay just based off a few old hags opinions, it is not fair and they have to be stopped. These women and men are clearly making a good living off of self promotion of their own handbags, while making false claims about very authentic bags and promoting an authenticator who really is NO AUTHENTICATOR. Anyone can create a website and say they are a professional and then charge a LOT of money typing up a bullshit Microsoft Word report stating a bag is fake. Really? Am I the only one that has realized this huge ring of RIP OFF???? I truly wish there was a site that actually gave good information on bags, with honesty and integrity that did not self-promote and shut down those sellers that are just trying to make an honest living selling their AUTHENTIC bags. Please people do not be fooled by these individuals. Do your research, they are wishy washy and promote their own bags for their own profit. Unfortunately I had to find this out the hard way but thank God I did. Since then, I have successfully sold my AUTHENTIC bags through an alternative way not using eBay or The Purse Forum.
Eleanor- an authentic bag lover & owner