By Sara Beth Wald @SaraBethTimes

Why you should not pick Luxury Handbags

The right handbag can make or break an outfit. You wouldn’t put extra care into choosing just the right shoes, pants, shirt, and jacket, and then grab your dingy old backpack off the hook by the door. Details matter.

For many of us, a luxury, brand-name handbag is the perfect way to set off a carefully chosen outfit. There’s just something alluring about slipping a well-tailored sleeve through the handle of the perfect bag.

Unfortunately, if luxury handbags were easy to own, everyone would have one. For the average consumer, owning a Fendi or Chanel bag just isn’t realistic.

Nobody carries the same bag year after year. Fashion trends change quickly. You could invest in an expensive designer bag and it will be out of style after just one season.

But let’s say you made that leap and purchased a luxury handbag. You found a great deal online, and you just had to have it.

How do you know it’s real? The days when you could only find a knock-off at a street vendor or a guy selling bags out of the trunk of his car are far behind us.

The internet is an international marketplace for counterfeiters to sell their wares anonymously. Technological advances have turned counterfeiting into an art so that even the savviest shoppers can be fooled into thinking they are getting the real thing.

It can sometimes be very difficult to tell the difference unless you are trained at recognizing the smallest details.

Making, selling, and buying counterfeit products is highly illegal, no matter how pretty the store is where you bought it, or how professional their website appears.

Furthermore, counterfeiting is almost always supported by organized crime. It may seem innocent enough to buy a fake Louis Vuitton purse for the sake of fashion, but behind that bag is a long line of crimes. Your purchase may be funding a child sex ring or a terrorist organization.

In this day and age, we are more conscious than ever of where our products come from and how they are made. You want to be fashionable, but you also care about your values and budget.

My Small Store cares about these things, too. We want to see you look your best with your values and budget intact. That’s why we carefully select only top-quality products from companies with proven reputations in Fair Trade.

Even if you purchase an authentic luxury handbag from a reputable retailer, what happens when it falls out of your car into the mud? Or your dog uses it as a chew toy? Or you accidentally leave it in the booth at a restaurant, only to return and discover it’s long gone?

Buying designer fashion luxury handbags is a short-term investment. You end up spending a lot of money on items that quickly wear out or are easily stolen. We all have that friend who bought a luxury handbag but refuses to take it out of the closet, for fear it will get damaged.

Fashion is meant to be worn and enjoyed! What’s the fun of owning something you love if you never use it?

The truth is, in many cases, most people wouldn’t know the difference between a Tamara Mellon and a Senreve. Cute luxury handbags are cute handbags, whether it cost $35 or $1,500. You can get just as many compliments on a well-made, fashion-forward handbag from a lesser-known designer.

At My Small Store, we know it is possible to polish your look for a fraction of the cost. We are proud to only sell the best quality products from designers we love and respect.

We trust our vendors, and you can trust My Small Store. We promise if you try one of our handbags, you will not be disappointed.