The Louis Vuitton palm springs mini backpack is one of the most highly sought after bags by Louis Vuitton, with its practical size for essentials and miniature charm this bag has won the hearts of handbag lovers around the world. This miniature alternative to the full-sized palm springs backpack can be worn as a backpack, cross-body bag, or it can easily be carried with its top handle making it incredibly versatile.
However, due to this bag’s popularity, it’s no surprise that it has been duped and replicated by the black market of fakes. From easy to spot fakes to near-perfect copies of the LV palm springs mini backpack, you want to make sure you’re investing in the real thing so we hope this guide helps you to identify an authentic palm springs mini backpack vs a replica.
The only way to guarantee that your Louis Vuitton Palm Springs mini backpack is authentic is to purchase the bag from a Louis Vuitton boutique, however, they’re often sold out with long waiting lists. The second-hand market is, therefore, the best place to get one of these bags quickly if you cannot wait to get your hands on one, so follow our guide below to help you make sure you’re getting the real thing.
Remember, purchasing on a pre-loved market place such as eBay means you have great buyer protection, and in the event, the item you purchased isn’t as described or is clearly a replica, you’ll easily get a refund in full. Read eBays buyer protection policy here.
How to spot a fake LV Palm Springs Mini Backpack
When buying an authentic designer handbag online, there are plenty of signs based on the seller and the bag that can be picked up on as to whether the bag is genuine or a fake. Taking a look at this comparison in more detail, things like the packaging of the bag and dust bag were big give-aways that this PS mini backpack was a fake. Watch our real vs fake comparison in our latest video on YouTube below.
The best place to start when conducting your real vs fake research is to head to the Louis Vuitton website and review the pictures of the product zoomed in, then use this guide below to help you. If you’re ever unsure of a bag’s authenticity after you’ve purchased it, we highly recommend using a third party authentication service. For a minimal cost, you can get a professional’s opinion on the authenticity of your designer handbag.
Real Vs Fake Louis Vuitton Palm Springs Mini Bag Comparison Images
After completing this comparison with a fairly good replica Louis Vuitton Palm Springs mini backpack next to an authentic one, a few things stood out the most between the real and fake bag. These included the packaging, which was a big giveaway, as well as the quality of the materials used (the fake was more ‘plastic’ not leather), and the date code tab in the fake has the biggest difference vs the authentic one. We’ll review all of this in more detail below…
Fake Vs Real Louis Vuitton Packaging including Box and Dust Bags
If your Louis Vuitton bag comes with packaging, this can be a clear giveaway that the bag you have is a fake. However, please note that authentic packaging might have been purchased for a fake bag, and some bags won’t be sent with any original Louis Vuitton packaging. The packaging is only good for clearly identifying a fake, but it should not be used as a sure indicator that the bag is authentic, even if it looks correct.
The Fake PS Mini backpack we obtained comes in a neon-orange box (which is far too bright), which featured two ribbon handles. Louis Vuitton boxes mostly feature magnetic closures and do not have ribbon handles like this. Simply from this packaging alone, it’s clear the bag was a fake even without seeing it.
The next clear indicator was the dust bag of the fake Louis Vuitton Palm Springs mini backpack. This dust bag featured ‘Louis Vuitton’ but you can clearly see sloppy printing with the ink running / small splatters on the canvas of the dust bag. Louis Vuitton will always be printed very clearly on authentic dust bags. The colour of the fakes’ dust bag was also incorrect, with the fakes being too light and not as soft as an authentic Louis Vuitton dust bag.
Real Vs Fake Monogram Canvas
The LV Palm Springs mini backpack is made from Louis Vuitton’s famous monogram canvas. Sometimes the print and pattern on fake vs real bags can give a fake bag away easily, however, in this case, the prints were incredibly similar. The main difference in terms of the monogram canvas on this fake backpack vs the real one was that the real canvas was not as stiff, it was more of a ‘chocolate’ colour and the monogram print was brighter than the fakes. However, this would be hard to spot if you didn’t have a direct comparison of a real Louis Vuitton mini backpack.
Palm Springs Mini Leather Tab Comparison
The Louis Vuitton Palm Springs mini backpack features a small black leather tab on the front small pocket of the bag. This tab is a good way to spot a fake. An authentic bags’ tab will feature ‘® Louis Vuitton’ with the ® positioned above the Louis Vuitton. The tab should be made from leather and the embossing of the logo should be clear.
Here you can see the difference between the real and fake tabs, the fake isn’t embossed as clearly, it is bunched closer together and the tab feels much more ‘plastic’, with the edging of the tab featuring a glazed finish on the replica.
Strap Comparison
The PS mini backpack comes with two long, adjustable and removable straps. Overall, the straps of these two bags were incredibly similar, however, looking more closely we can see some differences.
The main difference is the material the straps are made from, with the real one having real leather straps and the fake bag having plastic straps. The fakes don’t dangle softly like leather, and the hardware is more of a ‘fake’ bright gold colour compared to the authentic bags’ straps. Another point to note is the stitching, the stitching on the real bag is smaller and much closer to the edges, which is testament to the brands quality and craftsmanship.
Hardware comparison
One of the key ways that authenticators use to authenticate a designer handbag is by looking at the hardware of the bag. So now we’ll take a closer look at the zippers and strap hardware on the palm springs mini backpack.
Zipper
Other than the colour of the zipper is slightly shinier and a brighter ‘fake’ gold, the zippers were nearly identical on both of these bags. However, the zipper on the fake when opening and closing the bag felt different and wasn’t as smooth as the authentic bags. Although, it’s worth noting the zippers even on authentic bags can feel different in terms of how easy they are to zip open and close, and this varies slightly from bag to bag.
Straps
Now let’s take a look at the hardware on the straps. The hardware should be stamped with ‘Louis Vuitton’ but you can see this on both the fake and real bag. The main giveaway, again, is the brighter and more ‘fake gold’ appearance of the hardware on the replica bag.
Date code comparison
The biggest giveaway of this fake palm springs mini was definitely the date code inside of the bag. All Louis Vuitton bags (from 1980 onwards) feature a ‘date code’ stamp. A date code is not unique to the Louis Vuitton bag, but it indicates where it was made and when see our Louis Vuitton date code checker here to check your code and learn more about what the code means.
The real palm springs mini backpack date code is featured inside the internal pocket of the bag on a leather tab, with the code printed in a gold foil. The fake bags date code tab was oversized, hardly legible and on a fake plastic tab with glazed edging, which is not correct.
‘Made in’ leather tab
Inside the lining of the bag, there should be a Louis Vuitton ‘made in’ leather rectangle stitched into the bag. This should read ‘®, Louis Vuitton, Paris, made in Spain’ (the county may differ).
The country that this says the bag was made in should be consistent with the date code information. To find out what your date code means, visit our free Louis Vuitton date code checker here. This country will be the same as the date code, otherwise, this is an obvious sign of a fake.
The details should be embossed clearly into the leather. However, depending on the age of the bag this embossing, due to the leather softening, can make them harder to read over time.
Lining Comparison
Another good giveaway on this fake palm springs mini backpack was the black cotton lining. The lining was excessive and didn’t sit flush to the sides of the backpack very well on the fake. The authentic backpacks’ lining fit much more neatly inside of the bag without ‘excess’ fabric.
Where to buy an Authentic Louis Vuitton Palm Springs Mini Backpack
If you’re looking to purchase a pre-loved Louis Vuitton Palm Springs mini backpack, or even a new one but can’t get one directly from Louis Vuitton, always purchase from a reputable seller, such as Handbagholic. You can browse our range of authentic designer handbags here. Buying from a reputable seller keeps you safer, and the seller will generally have many years of handling authentic designer handbags. All designer handbags at Handagholic will be authenticated by a third-party authenticator and come with a certificate to confirm this.
There’s no denying that eBay is the biggest marketplace on earth for pre-loved goods, especially designer handbags. If you’re looking to purchase a designer handbag on eBay only purchase from a seller with lots of positive feedback and don’t be afraid to ask for more images or get them to answer any questions you may have. There can be some amazing bargains and access to limited edition designs that you can no longer purchase.
Follow our guide here on how to avoid buying fake designer goods on eBay *COMING SOON*.
