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“I just have to try to keep my prices low by not making such a profit,” Levitas says.

She buys pieces from small companies, ranging from $18 to about $200 wholesale, prices she says her customers will not balk at.

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Bigger stores, with bigger budgets, don’t have to be so nitpicky.

Saks Fifth Avenue, for example, has four handbag buyers to shop for 54 stores, and most are concerned about presenting a “point-of-view” for each store, says Moore of Saks.

“Of course, we’d like to have a touch of everything in every store,” he says, “but that’s not realistic.”

So large flagship Saks stores, such as in Washington, New York and Houston, have selections that are broad, varied and “fairly high-end,” Moore says. Medium-sized stores, say in St. Louis or Columbus, Ohio, have somewhat of a more casual feel, with fewer choices. Small stores, such as in Santa Barbara, Calif., or Greenwich, Conn., have scaled-down, more personalized perspectives.

“Greenwich is pretty much all designer,” Moore says, “and Fort Myers, [Fla.], is more casual, very young and fresh.”

Bigger stores also buy bags much further in advance than specialty shops. While buyers from boutiques are looking to stock for fall, Saks’ buyers are ordering for next spring.

And department store buyers rarely, if ever, put in orders at accessories trade shows. Instead, they see what’s new there and may make appointments to order from showrooms - organized representatives of various labels.

Levitas visits showrooms, as well, of labels she knows best, where sales reps work more closely with her to tailor her selections for her customers.

But that is for another day.

On this day, she will shop the shows, up and down the aisles, hunting for the perfect handbag.

And she won’t get back on the bus for Baltimore until she’s found it.

New York // It’s 6 a.m. on a Monday and Emily Levitas, owner of Gotta Have Bags in Hampden, is on a bus, headed for the accessories trade show in New York. There, she will scout out the designs of hundreds of handbag manufacturers and artisans and decide which will and which won’t make the cut.

She has armed herself with only a few tools: a map of the booths in the mammoth exhibition site, a pen, comfortable shoes and a keen eye for beauty, usefulness and style.

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Like hundreds of others who will descend on the trade show on this day, Levitas is a hunter of sorts, on the prowl for the must-have of the season - handbags.

“It’s a big category right now,” Lincoln Moore, vice president and divisional merchandise manager at Saks Fifth Avenue, says of handbags. “It’s kind of the customers’ signposts.”

Handbags are so important these days that it makes Levitas’ job that much more important. But her work is often unrecognized by most everyday shoppers.

Buyers do the preliminary shopping, picking the items that you one day will pick and choose from.

At two of the more popular fairs, attended by hundreds of exhibitors, Levitas spots a few unusual pieces to put in her shop window, to draw in customers, such as an across-the-body pouch, from new designer Sobella, with a detachable strap that can be made into a necklace. But she also sees style in basics: black satchels, brown hobos, clutches, dainty evening bags.

For Levitas, that style-spotting talent is part experience - from nearly 40 years in the handbag business - and part gut feeling.

“I am very opinionated about what I like and don’t like,” says Levitas, who had a partner, Linda Segal, to bounce ideas off of, but is now sole buyer since Segal’s death last fall. “If I don’t see anything by just scanning, I won’t go in [to a booth].”

And in six hours, Levitas does pass up many a booth, for various reasons: too expensive, too dowdy, too cheap-looking, too glitzy.

Multiple times a year, she does this, spending hours on her feet, scouring exhibition booths for new inventory to fill her small boutique. Through the day, she breaks only once for a half-hour lunch.

“I have to see everything there is to see,” says Levitas. “I can’t miss anything. And I don’t have a lot of time.”

At the trade shows, buyers converge on each small booth and instantly go to work.

Levitas is astoundingly decisive, despite salespeople’s sugary spiels. And she has no poker face.

She turns up her nose. Frowns her face. If she loves something, she coos.

Hour after hour. Handbag after handbag. Walking, peering, weighing, feeling.

At the Tocca booth, many bags were about $220 wholesale - the price buyers pay for merchandise - which means they’d cost her customers twice that or more.

Levitas liked the bags, but bit her bottom lip at the price, and left the booth without buying.

At Y&S, she picks up a hobo bag and puts it back.

“Everybody’s got a hobo,” she says.

It is said, to be successful in selling, you must be passionate about what you sell. This is easy if you love designer handbags and fashion. Fashion is a huge industry. Wholesale designer handbags and fashion is also quickly becoming a very large and profitable industry.

But as good as it sounds, there are many things to know before you jump in and become a designer handbag wholesaler.

The most important issue you must understand is the manufacturing and distribution channels of the top designers. The production of designer handbags is almost a top-secret event. With the heavy competition between the designers to offer the latest and hottest trends for the up coming season, handbag manufacturers keep quite about their production runs, the quantity they will produce and orders must be placed two or three seasons in advance just to get any product. What does this mean to you, the wholesaler? It means that you cannot call up GUCCI or Hermes and ask for a couple hundred bags and expect to not get laughed at (in Italian of French of course). It also means that the top designer handbag manufacturers only supply their product to large retailers, small boutiques and maybe a website with an exclusive contract.

So where do all the handbags that you see for sale online come from? Well, that is the key to getting into the wholesale designer handbag business. Most of the bags come from intentional or unintentional overstock by the small to medium size boutiques oversees. They will sell off their surplus of last season’s handbags to distributors who will then sell them to wholesalers. It is your goal to find these distributors.

To find reputable, honest dealers who distribute authentic merchandise is tricky. There are a couple of things to consider.

**Most dealers that sell designers from Italy, France and England are not found in the US. It only makes sense. They need to have a close relationship with the boutiques, and very rarely the manufacturers themselves, that supply them with their overstock. So become familiar with what country the handbags you want to sell were originally produced.

**Learn the language. You will need to learn a little Italian or French. Just enough to understand colors, styles and shapes of the handbags when you are given an inventory list. It would also be good to know enough to at least say hello and what your intentions are when initially contacting the dealer. Learning the language is also extremely helpful when conducting searches on the internet. Don’t limit your search to pages here in the US, search google and yahoo in Italian and French as well.

**Contact as many dealers as possible. This will help to validate which ones are honest and have an interest in a business relationship. Once you have received the inventory/price list from several dealers, cross reverence them. Are the prices similar? Are the quantities on hand reasonable? This is important to gage if the dealer is selling authentic merchandise. If he has 600 of a particular bag, chances are they are not real. It is not reasonable, given the means in which he most likely purchases his stock and the production methods of the manufacturing, that he would have so many of one style.

**Understand all terms of sale prior to placing an order. It is not uncommon that the dealer will want a deposit on your order. You will usually commit 30% up front and pay the remainder when the items have shipped. Many dealers will only accept bank transfers. This is where becoming a designer handbag wholesaler takes a great deal of faith. A bank transfer offers no protection from the dealer taking your money and never shipping product. If he was dishonest and took the funds, but shipped nothing, you could have very little recourse. Unlike a money order or credit card purchase, there is no 3rd party protection. At the least, make sure you have the dealers phone number, complete business address and email address.

Of course, like with all start-up business, there are many, many more things to consider. But to make your search for the right distributor easier, we highly recommend going to ModaImports.com. Unlike the many lists and directories that claim to offer true sources for authentic designer handbags, ModaImports.com has used, or contacted, all of the sources on their Supplier Database.

If you have a passion for fashion and are looking to start your own lucrative business, wholesale authentic designer handbags is a great business opportunity.

Real or fake? This question is asked of a lot of things: paintings, jewelry, bosoms and yes, handbags. Whether your Louis Vuitton is real or fake is your business, isn’t it?

Well, yes and no. Obviously, if your LV is real, you will probably eagerly correct anyone that hints that it is not. After all, you paid good money for the bag, and might even be appalled that someone would assume it is a replica.

On the other hand, if your bag were a replica, would you really tell people that it is a fake? Would you tell them by purchasing a replica, instead of the real thing, that you knowingly took money away from the designers that created the real bag? Would you mention that the money you spent for the bag possibly went to terrorist organizations. Or that the manufactures of your fake bag could have used their handbag business to transport thousands of dollars worth of cocaine into the country? I doubt you would mention any of these things to an inquisitive acquaintance.

I know it sounds harsh, but knowingly buying a replica bag is wrong. (Note: buying replica handbags is not illegal but selling them is.)

Designers like Gucci, Kate Spade, Chanel and Hermes charge so much for their product because they are highly sought after and they are made from quality materials. Many bags by these designers are made by hand. Also, these designers spend millions on advertising, customer care, quality assurance and customs. By buying a replica, you are taking directly from these designers.

Buying replicas also takes from the US economy. Companies that sell replica handbags often do so as cash based, tax free business. If you have bought a replica handbag before, think back, did you pay tax for on the purchase. Probably not.

We all know that authentic designer handbags are pricey, but that doesn’t mean you should buy a knock-off. Just because something is out of your price range is no reason to rip off the company that manufactures the product.

Real or replica…which is right for you? I don’t really see you have a choice. Always buy real.

Speaking of colors, last fall it was all about sage greens. This year the color of the season seems to be brown. Brown is everywhere – suede jackets, pin-stripes pants, skirts and scarves. Add to that splashes of other fall colors like the ones mentioned above, mellow purple, fuschia, orange, etc. and you have the perfect Fall 2005 look. Here is a quick preview of this year’s fall fashions for those looking to update their wardrobes.

The Look: Old-world inspired. Think elegant sepia photographs from the 1940s and 50s. Casual yet sophisticated.

The Trends:

- Tweed skirts, pants (full length and cropped) and culottes in brown plaid or pinstripes. Also making quite a debut are knit jersey gauchos. Very comfy but cool casual.

- Shirts and blouses in floral prints in mellow fall colors. Nothing too overstated.

- Solid color sweaters (no diamond argyle prints like last year). And thanks to Martha Stewart who donned one on her homecoming trip from prison, ponchos! Stick to solid colors, experimenting with designs can get tricky.

- Knee high boots (everyone can carry these off).

- Animal print scarves, faux fur collars (so cool, I just love these)

- Large hobo handbags (must have, anyway). Also, texture is really in - suede, metal, houndstooth prints, anything out of the ordinary.

- Silk kurtis or Indian style tunics in large floral prints in blocks of fall colors.

- Embellished belts – with tassels, ribbons, sequins, etc.

- Fedora hats (if you like that extra touch of elegance). Some celebrities are also donning big floppy suede hats as well.

- Hairdos – neat, coiffed, styled, tied back, you get the picture.