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Louis Vuitton New Microchip In Bags
Louis Vuitton date codes featured in their bags and small leather goods (SLG’s) are now a thing of the past. As of March 2021, new Louis Vuitton bags and leather goods will feature a microchip inside the lining of the bag with NO date code.
What are date codes? Date codes are small codes embossed into leather somewhere on an LV bag that enable customers to see where their bag was made (what country) as well as the week and year. To find out everything you need to know about Louis Vuitton date codes, discover the free LV date code checker here.
Whilst these codes aren’t unique to each bag or leather goods (which means they aren’t a way to authenticate a bag, they just help), they can be an indicator as to whether your designer bag is fake or real. So what does the new Louis Vuitton chip mean for LV lovers?
Louis Vuitton No Date Code in Bag – Is it fake?
No Date Code On Louis Vuitton Bag
There are a few reasons to why your Louis Vuitton bag might not feature a date code. To find out more, visit the full blog on Louis Vuitton date codes.
If you’ve recently purchased a new Louis Vuitton bag from a boutique, you might be wondering why your Louis Vuitton bag does not have a date code. As of March 2021, date codes are being phased out and all new purchases of the bags will feature a new microchip that cannot be seen.
Why Are Louis Vuitton Putting Microchips In Bags?
You might be wondering why are Louis Vuitton getting rid of date codes in bags and putting in microchips instead? The main reason the brand claim to be doing this is to help tackle the replica market.
With the brand being the most recognized luxury brand in the world, there are many bad actors in the world creating replicas and selling them as authentic. It’s understandable that the brand wants to try to gain some control over protecting its brand by using this technology to help fight counterfeit bags.
What Information Does The LV Chips Store?
You might be wondering what information does the chip in your new Louis Vuitton bag store exactly? Whilst we can’t know for sure, it’s likely that the information included will be:
- Where the bag was made (country and factory)
- Description of the bag
- Style Code of bag
- When the bag was sold
- Who the bag was sold to (customer details)
- The store/website the bag was purchased from and the sales associate
The chips may have more data on them, but it’s likely they’ll have all the information above. Similar to the information on a receipt.
Who can scan a new micro chip in Louis Vuitton bag?
Who exactly can scan one of these elusive new microchips hidden within the lining of your new LV bag? Not you.
The only people that have access to the Louis Vuitton microchip scanner which can read the microchips is Louis Vuitton employees. But don’t be tempted to take your latest pre-loved piece to a store to get it scanned, because they won’t.
Louis Vuitton sales associates aren’t there to authenticate your pre-loved purchase. They’re there to sell you a new Louis Vuitton bag that’s guaranteed to be authentic because you purchased it from them, silly! They do not have time to help you to authenticate your latest eBay purchase (although if you have a great relationship with a sales associate, maybe they will). You can’t blame them, they’d probably be inundated with requests and they wouldn’t be able to get their job done – but that begs the question. Who’s favour are the new microchips in? Yours? Debatable.
There is hope that the chips will be scannable in the future, similar to how Moncler is tackling the replica market. Once you scan the code, it takes you to the website which can confirm if your new Moncler jacket is authentic or fake. We’ll keep you updated (follow me on Instagram for updates).
How Will Chips in LV Bags Affect Resellers?
The day has come, after months of deliberation and soul-searching, you’ve decided that you’re ready to part with your beloved Louis Vuitton bag to fund a new purchase. This is one of the reasons we designer bag lovers don’t mind shelling out so much dollar on a great designer bag, the re-sale value. So how will the microchips affect the resale value of your must-loved monogram bags?
Sadly, since only Louis Vuitton associates can scan the chips (us mere mortals cannot – more on that in a minute), and you can’t take your bag in to be ‘scanned’, sadly this leaves pre-loved authenticators who help distinguish the real from the fake with one less way to identify a fake bag with no date code to review.
This could mean that Louis Vuitton bags with date codes may become more valuable as new owners can see where and when the bag was made for themselves. Unless the code scanner is opened up to the public (which would also open it up to the very industry LV is trying to tackle, the counterfeit market), sadly this information will be beyond our ability to see.
In summary – will the new microchips in Louis Vuitton bags affect the resale value of your designer bag? Most likely it won’t affect it too much, but some pre-loved fanatics may opt for bags with date codes as a preference.
It’s also worth highlighting that some people collect bags from a certain week and year (maybe a birthday, or landmark occasion) for sentimental value. With no date codes going forward, this is one thing collectors won’t be able to do anymore if they’re looking for a date in the past.
‘Black listing’ buyers that are known resellers is a common practice from Louis Vuitton which then stops that individual making any more purchases in-store, online or through client services.
Are the chips designed to stop resellers?
After the replica market, Louis Vuitton has another nemesis – resellers. What is a reseller? Someone who purchases a Louis Vuitton bag and then sells it on. There is a varying degree of a reseller, however.
Someone who has purchased a LV bag with no intention to use it themselves, but to re-sell is as quickly as possible for a profit is a reseller.
However, technically, even if you use your Louis Vuitton bag for decades and decide the bag no longer has a place in your growing collection, you’re still re-selling the bag.
So are the new microchips being put into the bags to help stop resellers? Whilst Louis Vuitton don’t addres this directly, reading between the lines the answer is most likely yes.
If bags regularly go back into a store and are scanned by LV employees, they’ll know if the bag has been re-sold. This could then be flagged on the system to monitor the original buyer. After enough data, they could easily mark the original buyer down as a re-seller and stop them from making future purchases.
Can Microchips Be Counterfitted?
The simple answer to this is, YES! Chips can easily be counterfeited, all the counterfeiter needs to know is what information is shown when a bag is scanned. They can also create their own apps (which could look like the real thing) to scam people.
If you’re buying a pre-loved Louis Vuitton bag and someone claims that the bag can be scanned by an app you can download to your phone, be very weary. Remember, the real LV app is not available to the public.
Can The Microchip In Louis Vuitton Bags Track You?
Moving into a technology-focused world, protecting your personal information and whereabouts from being collected and harvested by corporations is a new but very real threat. Which leads to the question, can these new microchips in your luxury goods track your location?
The answer here is – we don’t know.
It’s likely that the fashion house isn’t tracking your whereabouts once you leave the store with your new pride and joy. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not possible to do this. I’ll keep an eye on this for updates.
How To Find The Microchip In Louis Vuitton Bags
The microchips now featured in Louis Vuitton bags cannot be seen. They are within the lining of your new designer bag and therefore, cannot be found in most cases. When a sales associate at Louis Vuitton scan the bag they will identify roughly where the micro chip is located.
How to tell if LV Bag is Authentic?
Now that you’ve got your new pride and joy piece from Louis Vuitton, how can you tell if it’s authentic?
The only true was it to purchase your item from a Louis Vuitton store. Period.
If you buy a pre-loved Louis Vuitton (my favorite!), you need some great authenticators that have years of experience reviewing the brand, its materials, and features. Without a date code, authenticators have one less thing to look at when reviewing a bag – but that doesn’t take away from the details of the bag. From the fonts to the grain of leathers and canvas, a great authenticator can help you to distinguish a fake LV from a real one. Whilst the new microchips in the bags aren’t helpful to authenticators, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get a pre-loved Louis Vuitton bag checked, it means checking has never been more important.
Here is a list of the best designer bag authenticators, (you’re welcome).
Why Don’t Louis Vuitton Have Date Codes & Microchips?
There’s a lot of Louis Vuitton lovers (such as myself) who are happy that Louis Vuitton are trying to takle the fake market – no one wants to get stung with an expensive fake, after all. But it is hard to see how this helps the consumer purchasing a pre-loved LV bag.
Lots of the community would love to see microchips AND the date codes in their bags, even if just for a way to see when and where the bag was made. Sadly this currently isn’t the case, but if anyone from Louis Vuitton is reading this – please put in a word with the management!
Final Thoughts On The New LV Chips
After researching the new chips that are hidden away in your Louis Vuitton purchases after March 31st, 2021, I’ve got mixed feelings…
I’m all for fighting the counterfeit market as it’s definitely out of control and genuine buyers are being scammed for hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. However, I don’t see how this chip that no one (other than LV employees) can scan, or is willing to scan, is going to help buyers of pre-loved items.
This move actually makes buying any pre-loved item made after March 2021 harder to identify as authentic. This sadly means some people will now only purchase from the brand, and avoid pre-loved all together. But half the fun of building your luxury collection can be finding those rare unicorns that are no longer available or hunting down one with a date code that marks a special date.
We can only hope that Louis Vuitton will introduce a secure system so we can all easily identify an authentic LV bag in the future.