TikTok creator @occultstylist who works in authenticating designer goods, said a customer recently brought in two Balenciaga City Bags for authentication, only for the items to reportedly turn out fake. She shared the story in a video that has gained 103,400 views and over 3,850 likes, saying the customer paid the required fees before the bags were examined.
She said in the video that she suspected something was wrong the moment she touched the bags, saying, “they legit felt like f–king cardboard.” When she asked the customer where the bags came from, the customer allegedly said, “oh, I got them from Japan,” and added, “I think I’m pretty confident they are” authentic, claiming to be a vintage reseller herself.
The authenticator said she then used her workplace’s technology to examine the bags further. According to her account, several details did not match up with genuine Balenciaga craftsmanship.
Zipper details and serial number placement raised red flags
The woman said in the video that the front zipper had “yellow gold teeth and a rose gold puller,” which she said did not match on an authentic bag. She also said that on the serial number tag, “the number one is on like a 35-degree angle,” which she pointed to as another sign the bags were not genuine.
She said these details led her to conclude the bags were fake. Reacting to the find, she said, “what happened to people giving a f–k about their craft?” She added that she used to work as a vintage reseller herself and said she would “spend hours upon hours researching these things to be knowledgeable on the business” she was engaging with, including reportedly spending time on the Purse Forum blog to learn how to authenticate items on her own.
The woman said that even if the customer receives a refund from the seller of the bags, she will not get her money back from the authentication service, saying the almost $200 fee applies “for authenticating it or not authenticating it.” Costly oversights like this have happened in other secondhand purchases too, like a woman who overlooked a number on a used Tesla’s dash.
The video then shifted to a broader point about people asking her for guidance on spirituality. She said she often gets messages asking, “How do I do this? Where do I go for that? Where do I learn?” She said individuals should seek out knowledge themselves “rather than feeling entitled to other people’s” knowledge that others “worked really hard to obtain.” She said, “I don’t f–king owe you anything. No one owes you anything.”
She said skills and knowledge are gained “through this process of discovery, of trial and error, of research,” adding, “It is not from me f–king telling you, or anyone telling you anything.” The woman also said she has received emails without basic courtesies, describing them as having “no greeting, no thank you, no if you don’t mind, just this expectation of resources to be given to you.” She said, “I’m not your AI. I’m not your f–king chatbot. Don’t speak to me like that.”
On-screen text in the video indicated the message was “specifically inspired by someone named Leila who emailed me this week.” Text at the top of the video also displayed a quote attributed to Kim Kardashian: “Get your effin a** up and work.”
The video drew a range of reactions in the comments section. One viewer wrote, “People have gotten really comfortable with putting as little effort into something as possible.” Another comment pointed to a pattern some buyers may follow, writing, “Someone people say they got it somewhere that has a really good vintage market (Japan, Paris etc) just so it seems like it’s more authentic.”
Other commenters shared distrust toward secondhand shopping in general. One wrote, “This is why I never buy second hand,” while another said, “Even stores themselves got caught selling replicas, it really doesn’t matter anymore.”
Published: Jul 21, 2026 06:50 am