OK, you might not think that a blog about frugal living isn’t the best place for a post about how to buy designer handbags for less and to a certain extent, I agree. But….
The reason I’m sharing this post with you today is because, to me, being frugal is all about making the best of what you have and getting the best deals for everything you buy. If you want to buy a designer handbag and you can afford it then that’s brilliant and I want to show you where you can get designer handbags for less.
I’ve always had a weakness for handbags although I don’t make frivolous purchases anymore like I used to way back when. I used to buy a bag simply because I loved it and didn’t consider what it would go with and how often I would use it. Now I consider whether I’ll be able to get my money’s worth out of it before I hand over my cash!
I’m not going to try and justify my purchases (not that there are many to justify these days unfortunately) but I will say that if I know I’ll get a lot of use out of something and the quality of the bag means it will last longer than a cheaper bag then I *might* consider a more expensive purchase.
Also, I would say that there are some very different price points when you consider a designer handbag purchase – I would never consider buying a Chloe bag for example as you could easily spend £1000 plus on a small bag which I don’t think I could bring myself to spend on a handbag. There are definitely cheaper designer makes that I’m a bit partial to though so it’s all about knowing your budget and what you are willing to spend on something.
At a Designer Outlet
We regularly visit York Designer Outlet but last week we stopped at Bicester Designer Outlet which is in a whole other league! I bought a cheeky little Kate Spade bag reduced from £260 to £60 and I’m so pleased with it. I know I’ll get a lot of use out of it and I think £60 is a great price for a Kate Spade bag – I wouldn’t have paid the £260 for it but for what I paid, I’m very happy.
The photo really doesn’t do this justice at all by the way – it’s actually a really pretty duck egg blue colour!
Net a Porter
Net a Porter is completely not a site you would associate with the word frugal at all but occasionally, they have a good piece in their sale. I’m keeping an eye on a particular bag as I just can’t justify spending the money on it but I love it so if it goes in the sale then all bets are off. They had a bag similar to the one I’m after in the sale a few weeks ago but it wasn’t THE one so I left it. The sale is almost over for now so there’s just a couple of things left but it’s worth keeping an eye out if you’re in the market for a designer purchase.
TK Maxx
I’ve come across some great deals in TK Maxx lately although you’ll be pleased to know that I haven’t bought them all. 😉
My biggest purchase was a coach bag reduced from £480 to £120 which is more than I would have paid but Mr Frugal went back and bought it for me so I had no choice in the matter. It’s times like that when I’m torn between being grateful and wanting to hit him but I went with grateful this time as I love the bag.
I have no idea how true this is but a recent news article said that the best time to grab a bargain in TK Maxx is a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning but I usually get in on a Saturday morning
On holiday
We came across some great deals on handbags when we were in New York with some designers that you would see as being super expensive here just being a little expensive there. We saw some great reductions on Micheal Kors and Kate Spade in Bloomingdales but we wanted to save our spending money for having fun so we left them on the shelf.
Hardly Ever Worn It
HEWI is a site I often like to drool over as it sells second hand designer handbags – some used, some never used. All items are screened before someone is allowed to sell an item on there and payment isn’t released to the seller until you are happy that it is what it should be. There are some real vintage bargains on there as well as some that are still in the shops now but selling at less than they usually retail for as they’re second hand. I’ve never ordered from here as I’m waiting for a specific bag to be listed but I have signed up as I got a code of 20% off when I did. The only problem with this is I seem to have signed up for a daily email that sends me tempting but unaffordable offers every day so unless you want expensive prettiness in your inbox every day, make sure you untick whatever box I clearly ticked!
I’ve also bought a really lovely Orla Kiely bag in the sales before from a site called Achica who feature different brands from time to time at very reduced prices – my bag was reduced from £125 to £45 and is one of my most used bags!
Disclaimer: As a frugal blogger I really should remind you that there are much more sensible things to spend your money on and to remind you that you should never, ever, ever (in my opinion) buy a designer handbag (or anything else for that matter) unless you can afford it outright.
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