Running a Business is an Emtional Investment

Sometimes when I received a message from a lovely customer, giving me a pat on the back, I felt like goose bumps were all over my body. 

May has been extremely difficult for me. I came back from my vacation on May 6, and received my very first order on May 7. It was a double flap Jumbo in black caviar with GHW, followed by another 9 orders within the coming week for original quality Chanel bags, 4 of which were for double flap Jumbo. It was tragic. This particular model was made wrong with 3 obvious mistakes. 5 returns, 1 bad review that almost ended my business in the forum. Headache, insomnia, nausea, bad temper, it's like doomsday for me. I asked these customers to return their purchases for a refund or an exchange, and sent the exchange order without even before I have receive the return. I believe no other seller will do this, but I have trust in my customers and am eager to get these issues resolved. Fortunately, I've handled these return cases well, and these customers went for exchanges and were extremely happy with the items they received for the second time. 

However, when I received the last piece of the return merchandise today, I felt very uncomfortable. The plastic wrapping on the chain strap was removed by the customer, and there is a well-acknowledged rule in the entire business that no return can be accepted if the plastic wrapping is removed. My worries were proved when I sent the bag to the factory for an exchange. They said no. I was almost begging them to take the bag back, as I only want an exchange, not a refund. Still a firm no. Then I had to sell the bag at a loss in the community. A long time customer (I would say she is a best friend as well), Lisa, PMed me that she is ready to take the bag, knowing the obvious flaws. This is not the first time she made me a favor. The other time was about a bag I sent, the lock got stuck from time to time, and she did not even tell me about the issue until I asked her for feedback of the order. Neither did she bother to send it back for an exchange.  This is something I feel extremely proud of. My customers, they are the biggest treasure ever since I ran this business on my own!

The other day, another client emailed me saying that buying a bag is not just a financial investment, but also emotional. It's true with dealing with customers. If you take them personally as a friend, you are gonna get exactly the same friendship from them. That's a law when you are doing any business. 

Good News: Free Shipping at Smart Handbags

As many of you gals are confused about how I calculate the shipping charge, I decide to make it simple by providing free shipping to some countries that most of my orders come from. I was actually thinking of the "Free Shipping" policy during the Mother's Day promotion, now it's time to make it happen.

Previously, I would charge a shipping cost but give a discount (usually $15 off) to cover the WU charges you need to pay. Take this multicolor Celine Mini Luggage for example, the listed price is $420 for the bag (and the Celine box plus shopping bag), and shipping this bag to Australia costs $38, so the total amount you need to pay is $420+$38-$15=$443.

Now, I am offering free shipping, but will not be able to give you the $15 discount any more, so the listed price is what you are gonna pay, $420 for the bag and the box + shopping bag. Easy math!

The following regions and countries are granted Free Shipping via EMS: Asia (the Philippines not included), America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Shipping to Europe, Africa and Latin America is only possible via DHL, which is way out of what my margin can go, so I am sorry that I will have to charge on shipping accordingly. I am still willing to give $15 off if you are ordering from these countries.

By the way, I am also giving discount on multiple purchases, say 10% on 2 items, 15% on 3 items, and 20% on 4+ items. This discount is applicable to all orders except the items that are on sale.

If by any chance you've decided to try Free Shipping for the first time with Smart Smith, this is a collection of his handbags: http://smarthandbags.v.yupoo.com/. Happy Shopping!

Genuine Vintage Chanel Zippers

The other day, one of my clients, Andrea, aka PancakeChild, said one of the vantage points of my Chanel bags is that mine has an EP zip, which is true to the authentic. EP zip is unknown to most of us. Sadly, I don't know enough of Chanel's range of zipper type, so I did some research on Chanel Zip alone, and it turned out to be very rewarding. Here is some information I found:

We are going to look at vintage zipper pulls, the following examples are some of the zipper pulls I have often come across from vintage Chanel bags from early 1980s to late 1990s. There are several variations, and if you have a vintage Chanel bag check against these pictures and if the zipper pull matches the below examples your bag is most likely to be authentic Chanel.

Company ‘DMC’ zipper pull with a rounded double ‘C’ pull tag:

Three circles triple C:

Quite common on the early 80’s style look for a circle with three ‘C’s inside the circle

OPTI DMC:

Another common zipper pull found on bags from the 1990s.

LAMPO

Lampo zippers are synonymous with vintage Chanel bags and are often found on the late 70s to early 80s bags.  Lampo is an Italian company and has been make accessory zips since 1887.

Sometimes you can find ‘LAMPO’ engraved on the main zipper pull. Interestingly you can find Lampo zips not only on vintage Chanel bags but also on vintage Louis Vuitton and sometimes Gucci and YSL bags. 

LAMPO 2: 

Sometimes you can tell a Lampo zip by its zipper pull it has a ‘bulbous’ shape, sometimes it may say ‘L’’ for Lampo on the reverse side sometimes its left blank with no ‘L’ stamping.
 
Reverse side of a ‘Lampo’ zip with initial ‘L’:

Another company that is synonymous with luxury brands are 'Eclair' Zips.  The first original zip was invented in the US in 1891.  But in 1924 the 'zip' was patented in France by the French company 'Eclair' and their Rouen based factory become the main supplier of quality zips to majority of Europe.  Often Eclair zips are used on late 70s or early 80s vintage Chanel bags and also on vintage Hermes bags.

Eclair zip on a vintage Hermes bag:

Eclair zip on a vintage Chanel:

Sometimes vintage Chanel bags have a 'plain slider' i.e a plain zipper pull with no company or trade markings - don't be alarmed this does not mean the bag is a 'fake' as long as it has a rounded double ‘C’ pull tag at the end it should be fine.

Early EP style zip with a rounded double ‘C’ pull tag.  EP zipper pulls are still being used on present day ‘modern’ Chanel bags. I have also found EP zips used on vintage Celine bags.  EP zips are part of the 'Eclair Prym' group - see orginal Eclair zip above, the French 'Eclair' group later merged with the German 'Prym' group in 1999.

Modern EP Zipper:

Example of a ‘modern’ day EP zipper as seen here on a authentic 2.55 caviar classic bag from the 2005 collection.  This style of EP zipper is usually found on authentic 2.55 classic such as black, biege, white caviar and lambskin flap bags.  The zipper pull usually have a thin leather pull tab please note that the leather pull tab should match the main bag base, i.e if the bag is caviar skin the leather pull tab should be caviar skin too!

YKK Zippers

YKK is a very common zipper make, they are found everywhere including even on some 'modern' day Chanel bags, the YKK zipper should be found on the following:

2005: Medium Red Caviar [seasonal]
2006: Large Coral Lambskin [seasonal]
2006-2007: Large Violet Lambskin [seasonal]
2006-2007: Large Bleu Fonce Lambskin [seasonal]