The Timeless Pieces Part I-YVES Muse

YVES Saint Laurent MUSE TOTE

I have been wanting to get this bag for some time now, and interestingly I found it from an unusual place. After been trying to work my bargaining hunt over EBAY, I realized, there are way too many counterfeit out there, it's almost not worth the shot. Anything too cheap or too good to be true, then you ran into those risks. Even ebay has great protection, still I feel going through the hassle is not worth it.

So I did more homework as I locked in on this bag... Next thing I know Bluefly have the large version at $1119 in black which is unheard of! But of course it's sold out. Then I stumbled upon the Oversized Dark Brown Muse at OVERSTOCK.COM. Yes overstock, famous for getting good sheets and other small furnitures. They are now carrying designer purses, Fendi, Prada and one Muse when I got there.

So I took the chance after reading the return policy. I ordered this bag. 

Retail at $1650- it was on sale for 20% off, I have an OMAIL exclusive deal which gave me $100 off (can't combine with BigCrumbs.com's 4% rebate, darn!), then with the overstock credit card, it will give you $20 off the statement and 6 month interest free. Oh I am not done yet... Free shipping, and 12% reward bucks from Overstock and another 8% overstock reward credit from using their credit card. Last, I had $15 reward from my previous purchases. Every penny count and I was close to even do the lemonade and cookie stand to raise more money for my bag! 

So as much as I still feel sinning to order this bag rather than putting the money into my Roth IRA, I am looking forward to receive it and cherish it for the rest of my life, if I do decide to keep it...

While doing all the research, I learned few tricks on spotting a fake YSL muse:

1. The zippers tell it all, the authentic YSL always have this Brass hardware with the vintage finish to their zipper pulls. In the back, there is the tired steps molding. 

2. Serial number: oversize muse always contains 153959, large muse contains 156464 

3. The hangtag and the key- key should be the vintage door key, and do not buy a bag if it misses it.

4. Always ask for the source of the bag. Avoid "it was given as a gift", or it's "vintage"

5. If anyone spends that much money including stupid me here, then they should all be smart enough to keep the dust bag and the authenticity card. Just like rolex without the box, it looses credibility and the resell value. And the card is always white. 

By far, this is the one of the most highly resold bag, yet able to obtain up to 80% of its original value based on my research.

With this, I will move on to my Part II of the timeless pieces next time.