Fashionphile's Founder on How to Spot a Superfake Birkin (with Sarah Davis)

Superfakes have never been better and counterfeiters have never been smarter — so how can consumers buy secondhand luxury with confidence? Sarah Davis started Fashionphile on eBay in 1999, while she was in law school. Resale has exploded since: Her company now employs more than 350 people and authenticates roughly 1,500 luxury bags a day. Sarah reveals how she turned luxury authentication into an almost CIA-like operation, what gives away a fake Birkin bag, and how a $35,000 machine can tell if a Cartier Love bracelet is real or not. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 02:00 Law school, eBay, and the Fashionphile origin story 15:00 A real Chanel, a fake one — can you tell? 21:00 Fake bags bought at real stores 23:30 "Your dupe isn't cute" 26:30 The $75 fee that killed the counterfeits 29:30 The $35,000 machine that catches fake Birkins 44:30 Where resale goes next Subscribe to the Back Row newsletter: https://www.backrow.net/subscribe Follow Back Row: @backrow · Follow Amy: @instamyodell · Follow Sarah: @justsarahdavis · Shop Fashionphile: @fashionphile Edited by Chrissi Harris. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices