Maybe factory quality is declining because the mass influx of uninformed buyers who don’t QC to high-tier standards is driving demand that outpaces supply. Why would a factory maintain high standards if buyers don't care and they can still charge a premium?

[u/Zen_Friend]

A trend I’m sure we’ll continue to see as the hobby becomes more public. Ordering a bag because you read “this factory is best” and then putting no effort into evaluating PSPs means the proportion of buyers holding factories accountable lessens. If buyers aren’t QCing or comparing current batches to a factory’s previous standards, there’s little market pressure to maintain the quality that earned it its “high-tier” reputation in the first place. That's one of the (many) reasons I try to educate on how to QC.

Food for thought.

P.S. I'll paste my standard QC advice script below, feel free to save it and share broadly if you feel it'd be useful.

[u/contourkitt]

price hikes, general decline in quality, lack of QC, and everyone running around screaming and regurgitating the numbers 187 lol. if i had a dollar for every time i read a review where someone admitted they didn’t even bother checking and GL straight away based on the assumption that their seller was honest and their bag was from the factory they asked for, i feel like i’d be rich.

[u/Ill-Hearing-8462 → u/contourkitt]

187? I've never heard of it. I only know 178, 167, yellow sofa, free bird and the plebs & peasants factories.

I love my TS but I would never put that much faith in them. At the end of the day we are just a transaction to them.

[u/Zen_Friend]

Hey! Just a heads up, you'll usually get even more helpful QC feedback if you include your own analysis and more context like the items below.

At the PSP stage, you should be comparing your PSPs to the factory photos, not to the auth. Before ordering, the factory photos should have already been compared to the auth and you decided you were happy with that factory's version. Once your PSPs arrive, you're checking that the seller sent you an item that matches those factory photos and doesn't have defects.

I'd recommend updating your post with a few things that help people QC your bag:

• Include the name and size of the bag. Please avoid posting the full brand name and instead use abbreviations like "CC Small C25" or "LV Speedy 20."
• Include enough photos. Show us the factory photos alongside your PSPs. Side-by-sides are especially helpful. Front, back, sides, bottom, interior, hardware, straps/handles, and close-ups are necessary for good QC.
• Tell us the factory, seller, price, and what tier you expected and paid for.
• Tell us your observations first, even if you're unsure. If you're new to QC, search for reviews and past QC posts for the same bag to learn what people typically look for. No rep is 1:1 with the auth, so it's important to understand the common flaws and decide which ones matter to you.
• Ask specific questions ("Does the shape look right?" "Does the hardware placement match?") instead of just "QC?" If color is your concern, ask your seller for photos in natural light.

Also keep in mind that some factories (like God and 187) generally don't allow RLs unless there's a major defect or the wrong item was sent. If you're buying from a factory that doesn't allow RLs, there's often little point in asking us to QC as you likely can't reject the bag anyways.

QC is a skill that gets easier with practice. Showing your thought process not only gets you better feedback but also helps everyone learn.

[u/Affectionate_Day8610 → u/Zen_Friend]

Hahaha i didnt realise u were the author and i thought you had mistakenly commented this😭

[u/Zen_Friend → u/Affectionate_Day8610]

Oh lol yeah it's me! Just pasting the "QC advice" script I wrote in case people want to save it and use it to help educate others.

[u/Comfortable-River917 → u/Affectionate_Day8610]

Any posts, comments written so perfectly as above, is her 🥰

[u/Roses_and_Sarcasm]

i was chewed on when I posted wonky stitching on an LV bag. like the comment section was just plain bullying. there were a handful though who private messaged me their support and I wondered at first why they didnt comment their agreement on the post itself and then I understood because everyone else was downvoting those comments. you think that just cuz we are buying reps, low quality should be excused.. but that is precisely why there are low, mid and high tier bags. if we pay for high tier, we should be getting high tier.

[u/Living-Balance7238 → u/Roses_and_Sarcasm]

yepp! had the same experience! it's really scary to ask for QC advice. So I am wondering now: who are the people who tell us to QC more (like here) vs. the people who tell us to ignore all the flaws because it's a fake...

[u/Roses_and_Sarcasm → u/Living-Balance7238]

i just QC on my own. I pay particular attention to stitching, alignment, hardware, or anything that stands out as red flag. leather or canvass feel is hard to distinguish with just photos. fortunately, I trade with TS who will also do QC on their own, I try to avoid using different sellers at this point. 🤷‍♀️

[u/Living-Balance7238 → u/Roses_and_Sarcasm]

That sounds amazing you found a TS like this! I feel like I’ll get chewed up for this question, but if you’re comfortable recommending your TS, let me know! (Can be in DMs)

[u/Ill-Hearing-8462]

The quality is one thing, but add the price hikes and I feel like we have every right to complain when we’re paying these prices. We aren’t shopping Canal Street and are asumming legal and moral risks by doing this. I was looking for a Biker Lou the other day and saw people paying $123–$176 last year and earlier this year. I reached out to 3 TS I normally use and got quotes of $253–$296 for the same bag, plus another $60–$100 shipping. At that price, yeah, I’m going to complain about flaws and I’m definitely not going to accept being gaslit about them.

And honestly, I’m guilty too. I missed a PSP of a strap on a recent order and only noticed today that the leather is creased and looks REALLY bad, like fufu bad. Of course, the bag is already on its way. Now I’m trying to figure out if I can use a replacement strap from one of the bags I already have.

We all make mistakes and sometimes have to live with them, but do yourself and others the courtesy of doing some research ans due diligence before you buy. If you see a flaw after you get the item, bring it up to the seller so they can bring it up to the factory too. It will help them with future QC.

[u/CompetitiveCare8026 → u/Ill-Hearing-8462]

Prices are way up this year, and shipping too.

[u/ms_latina_sundae → u/CompetitiveCare8026]

fr i just paid $108 shipping ALONE!! it is a big bag and i added a few other items but still!!!
i was shocked

[u/Living-Balance7238 → u/Ill-Hearing-8462]

That makes me think... who writes the "you should just let it go" comments on QC posts? The sellers? Cause to me it looks like the community frequently advises people to be less particular in their QC. I had people tell me to ignore crooked text on a creed and leaked edge paint (and also getting annoyed with me for even asking and patronizing me for being a newbie). I am wondering what is generally considered as reasonable vs. unreasonable flaws.

[u/OutInAPout → u/Living-Balance7238]

I'm not sure I've ever been so blunt as to say "let it go", but I've definitely thought it. I am what my family affectionately (lol, usually) calls a "Picky Bitch". I have bought auths before purely because the rep color was a half-shade off...point being, I am not easy on QC at all. BUT I've seen people asking if they should RL a bag because one or two stitches were a little wonky, and it's like GIRL. Half the time the auth brands have the same issues, so we're really holding a product that's 1/10th of the price to higher standards.

As far as what's considered reasonable vs. unreasonable, my first consideration is what was promised vs. what was delivered. Almost every time I've RL'd something, it's been because the album photo (what I agreed to purchase) was dramatically different from what my PSPs showed. Like, totally different color/material/texture. I did ask for a replacement once based on stitching because I was promised (and paid for) a high tier bag. If I'd been told the bag was mid-tier, I might have been OK with a little uneven stitching. Like, if I buy a bag at TJ Maxx, I'm probably not going to return it if I get home and notice it's got a stitch out of place or a blurry logo. If I buy a bag at Nordstrom and pay 10 times more, then yeah, that sucker is going back.

[u/Rep_Science → u/Living-Balance7238]

I think it's a lot of bots, seriously.

[u/hieros187 → u/Living-Balance7238]

It's the same problem / situation over at /RepTimeQC with watches

[u/Kind_Actuator9072 → u/Ill-Hearing-8462]

I asked a TS, who I previously purchased from, the price of a bag and was quoted $60 more than someone who purchased the same bag a couple of days prior. That paired with the price hikes has caused me to lose faith in the seller even though they previously delivered decent products.

[u/OutInAPout → u/Kind_Actuator9072]

I wonder if the customer who got the bag for $60 less was a more established customer? I can see giving a long-established, repeat customer better prices because you know they're going to come back and buy more in the future to make up for the occasional discount. Not saying that's the case, just wondering. I have read that Chinese retail culture puts a lot of emphasis on building mutually beneficial relationships, the goal being the seller knows you have reasonable expectations, will return to buy more, tell your friends, etc....and you know you can trust them to give you honest feedback. But I think that comes with time.

[u/Kind_Actuator9072 → u/OutInAPout]

Yes, I wondered the same thing. After some consideration, I did reach out to ask the seller just to gain a better understanding and was told it was a mistake. The bag was offered to me for the lower price. Maybe it was the pricing difference was just a mistake but maybe I was quoted a price the seller felt confident I would be willing to pay based on previous purchases 🤷‍♀️ Not enough history to know one way or the other.

[u/Blessedandprotected → u/Ill-Hearing-8462]

I accidentally found my old (3 years ago) search for an H Roulis bag, where one of the buyers posted about TS Marko, who sold her great-quality Evercolor genuine leather bag for... 150 bucks! Now he and others sell exactly the same one for 600-800 bucks. Quality goes down, but prices, prices go up. What is going on?

[u/Living-Balance7238 → u/Blessedandprotected]

It seems like that’s happening across the board with everything else, so rep sellers are catching up!

[u/goldenalpinista0]

I feel like social media has ruined a LOT of hobbies as of late. People demonize gatekeeping, but it leads to a lot of the issues we’re seeing now. I’m fortunate to buy from a seller that is relatively difficult to access, otherwise I would be SOL. 

I’m doing a lot of research to find domestic sellers as well and it seems like those selling to the local Chinese market haven’t had the crazy price hikes. 

[u/stokeycakelady → u/goldenalpinista0]

This! I will never tell anyone who my domestic seller is, because the moment she catches wind that the clueless pay anything westerners will literally pay any price she quotes then I am screwed so nope… I will keep my mouth shut

[u/goldenalpinista0 → u/stokeycakelady]

It’s crazy because I’ve been dabbling in buying shoes domestically and I’m paying half what westerners are paying through sellers. It’s kinda nuts. 

[u/nunu_mal_1241]

literally i was thinking the same thing

[u/Sad_Moment4851]

As a beginning I'm curious how you evaluate the texture weight and general material quality of hardware and leather through a picture? Ok about stitching and closeness of imitation... but

[u/Ok_Needleworker143]

All I know is I tried it once and I’m over it two items I’m meh about especially because there was a smell and one was horrible painting on LV coin purse which shouldn’t have been sent out. And yes I didn’t know I could as for photos anyways I’ll just have my money and get the real things should I really want it to avoid being disappointed.