How to Spot a Fake Marc Jacobs Purse

In this very informative guide, we shall describe a few details about an authentic Marc Jacobs purse that will help you weed out the fakes. This is in no way a complete and endorsed guide to every detail about an authentic Marc Jacobs purse, but we have provided enough relevant information to help you increase your chances of spotting a bogus Marc Jacobs purse. Combining the brand-specific information with the universal tells we all shall provide, this should keep you protected from the many Marc Jacobs purse knock offs in the market.

Zippers

One important tip about their zippers is if the zipper is blank and without a brand stamp, it is a fake. A Marc Jacobs purse has either Riri or Lampo zippers. They use Riri zippers on their classic bags and are the most commonly used zippers in the all the Marc Jacobs purse lines. Riri zippers should have a round head, and should not come to a “point.” There are some counterfeiters that use fake Riri or Lampo zippers, but there are usually distinguishable characteristics between the authentic and bogus ones.

Here are a few Riri points of reference:

The letters “i” on the Riri logo should not have a curved bottom edge. They should look like this: \. If you see a regular-shaped “i,” it is most likely a fake Marc Jacobs purse.
If you examine the top of the zipper head, you will see that it is a completely curved shape, and it does not come to a point above the brand name Riri.
On the bottom of the zipper just below the brand name, there should always be a number which is the size of the zipper used on the purse. For larger zippers, the size is M8 and for the small inner pockets, they use M4.

Lampo information: The Lampo brand is used on the East/West purses. There are several Marc Jacobs purse that carry the Lampo zipper. Some of the older models use the Lampo brand. Also used is the one with a lightning bolt below the brand name Lampo.

Tags and Serial Numbers

Older models of Marc Jacobs purses do not always have embossed serial numbers. The serial numbers are found in some of the inner pockets in the corner seam. They are black or white with black letters indicating the season and model numbers.

Not all Marc Jacobs purses have serial numbers. The older ones normally do not have them as with some signature models such as the MP, Stella and Sophia.
A Marc Jacobs product does not have a metal or leather tag hanging off of it. Moreover, the inside labels of the bags are metal and are never made of leather.
A Marc Jacobs purse should be stamped “Made in Italy” on the metal logo plate under the brand name or you can find it in the inner zippered pocket sewn inside. Some purses have it stamped on the leather near the lip of the bag.
The older signature models have metal nameplates in either gold or silver. The more recent ones have the brand name embossed on the leather.
The hang tags attached to the purse that indicates the style, price, model and color should always be fastened by a black string. The string is held together by a white plastic Marc Jacobs rectangular piece. Phony Marc Jacobs purses have been seen with tags hanging on a white string.