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<p>I have a brown one that I feel the same about! Two of my Ds gave it to me for Christmas three years ago and I have used it everyday since. It’s still beautiful with no signs of wear. I love it because it’s big enough to fit all the crazy stuff I need to carry with me but it’s light-weight. I have some beautiful leather purses that I love, a Balenciaga and a Mark Jacobs, but they are so darn heavy, even before I put anything in them, that I rarely use them.</p>
<p>I have quite a few Coach bags but this is my favorite. Very lightweight. [Coach</a> :: Messenger Bags](<a href=“Styles For Men | COACH®”>Styles For Men | COACH®) Bleecker Nylite at the very bottom of page.</p>
<p>I agree that the old (15-20 years) are heavier, but they are also beautiful (and get more beautiful with wear…the leather mellows and gets a lovely sheen) the newer coach bags while still leather (I’m not a fan of the fabric ones…how would you clean them?) do not seem to have the same quality of leather and it does not get more beautiful with wear! They just look sort of dull…old is better (wine/purses/etc!)</p>
<p>My daughter-in-law has hand-washed her cloth Coach bags and they washed just fine. Mine does not look dirty so far.</p>
<p>I also have a plain black leather Coach shoulder bag in a classic style, but I think it’s too small for me now. I could use it for a special event, but not for everyday. I have two small cross-body Coach bags too, use those for farmer’s market shopping.</p>
<p>OK, I splurged & bought a small cross-body Coach bag that can also be worn over the shoulder. They did give me the 40% discount, no questions asked. It is a very nice purse that I think I’ll get good use out of. It is lightweight empty and even H thinks it’s very nice. I bought a “Kristen Leather Hippie.” Can’t figure out how to do a link to it. The price at the store is $338, but the on-line price was $258! I’m pretty unhappy that the store price was SO MUCH more than the on-line price. I could have had the 40% discount either at the store or on-line. That really is a HUGE markup! Will call customer service tomorrow about the price differential!</p>
<p>Here you go HImom [Coach</a> :: Search Results](<a href=“Shop Purses & Bags | COACH®”>Shop Purses & Bags | COACH®)</p>
<p>I think that is the link to your bag. Love it! What color did you get. I admit being partial to the silver but all the colors are great. My SIL has a bag with similar strap and I covet that purse but her’s is a little too much for my budget.</p>
<p>I’ve been carrying a JPK Paris bag. They are nylon like Longchamps and have leather and brass handles. They are pretty light but have a lining and pockets for my phone and sunglasses. I’ve been really happy with it.</p>
<p>Himom, I think the price difference was because the Kristin Hippie was deleted, which means that it was sent to the outlets. The discounted price online was about what the price would have been discounted to at the outlets.</p>
<p>Not only has the quality of Coach bags declined over the years, but the quality of most designer brands have declined as well. </p>
<p>Kate Spade has some very high quality bags at a nice price point. Whenever I am looking for a new handbag, I check for it on eBay. I have purchased many brand new with tags bags on ebay at a substantial discount. Both Kate Spade and Coach move their bags to the outlets after 4-6 months, so there is an opportunity to snag a deal while the bag is still in style.</p>
<p>HImom, very nice bag! </p>
<p>I am now at a point where I also want a light bag. I am willing to go with something other than leather for everyday as long as it is light! I came to this point after having purchased a fabric bag for summer travel. I really no longer want to carry around a heavy bag any longer because I find that light just feels so much better!</p>
<p>The one I got is only $258 on-line. I called today & they admitted they mark up their bags at their retail stores in Hawaii and Alaska. I told them that $80 is a HUGE markup and they said my only option is to buy on-line & return the other purse. No other options or adjustments are possible. It just came out about 3 months ago, so they said it isn’t at their factory outlets & won’t get there for a LONG time.</p>
<p>I got the black with silver hardware. It is very discouraging that they discriminate so badly against us in Hawaii and I told them that they will lose me & my family as customers and they just say, “Sorry for the inconvenience!” I point out it’s not an INCONVENIENCE, it’s having us in HI being ripped off by your organization and discriminated against in excess of the $40 shipping costs they also want to charge us.</p>
<p>Oh well, I’ll stay away from them. So sad!</p>
<p>Gee…you should have let me know…someone on the mainland could have gotten you that purse at a store, and shipped it in a Fixed Rate USPS Priority Mail box for $15…still saving you some money!!</p>
<p>I’m just shocked at the huge price difference. I could have waited or bought on-line IF I had known. I foolishly didn’t realize they discriminated so badly against us in HI. I wrote a letter to the president of the company, enclosing information and asking for a price adjustment. Will see if I get a response & what it is. If not, they’ve lost me & my extended family & friends as customers. :(</p>
<p>Oh well, it IS a nice purse but not as nice now with the HUGE mark-up.</p>
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<p>The price at MY Coach store is the same. Yes, shipping is less expensive on the east coast…but the costs are the same. Even buying online you would still have saved money. So would <em>I</em>. </p>
<p>I know you wish the in store price was the same as the online price but it’s not…and that is the case for LOTS of things…not just Coach. Shipping to HI is more expensive most of the time, isn’t it?</p>
<p>Your store is also $338 for that purse? Some stores don’t charge as much of a markup as others. That’s one of the reasons Costco in Honolulu makes more than ANY OTHER store in the world. They keep the markup MUCH more reasonable. $80 is a significant markup on an item that was otherwise $258. That’s almost 1/3 of the lower price!</p>
<p>Coach isn’t worth what it charges, same with all other handbag brands. They will charge what the market will bear. If you won’t buy from them, there will be other 10 customers who will. If not, they will lower the price.</p>
<p>Well, they’ve lost another slew of customers with me & my extended family and friends unless they do something pretty dramatic at this point. 
We do like and buy many nice things, including attractive handbags & accessories. There are many others to choose among that aren’t trying to rip off folks living in our state so extremely.</p>
<p>I don’t understand why people in HI don’t believe they should be paying for higher prices for certain goods, and that includes cell phone services, just because you are part of US. There is cost of shipping and high cost of real estate. In essence, in order for HI residents to pay same prices for goods as people on main land, someone would need to subsidize those costs. I personally do not believe Coach is ripping people off by charging higher prices in HI. I bet you appliances are more expensive in HI. At least your could order online to get a cheaper price if you are willing to pay for shipping. If you lived outside of US, you couldn’t even do that.</p>
<p>I’ve been very happy with my Coach, Brighton, and Clark purses. Many of the Brighton purses come with lifetime cleaning (and perhaps repair). I’ve been to the Brighton factory in Calif and they do the cleaning and repair work there as well.</p>
<p>oldfort, Coach pricing in HI has little to do with costs of shipping/real eastate (RE is expensive in Rodeo Drive and Manhattan, too), but it is mostly due to the fact that hordes of tourists can and are willing to pay the premium prices (which are apparently lower than prices in Japan and the rest of Asia), as you said in your earlier post. LV, Chanel and Gucci have HI pricing on some items and some “exclusives” only sold in HI; surprisingly, some LV’s HI prices used to be a bit lower than mainland prices (by $30-$70). DH wanted to buy me a big gift in HI, so I researched this issue. 
Ended up with a Kooba WOC purse bought at a local Nordie’s.</p>
<p>Agree with BB. Didn’t realize the markup until AFTER I had purchased (don’t often shop for purchases or high end accessories). My sister (who is much more into shopping for such items) says she has known about the mark up & never buys from Coach because of it. There are TONS of places in the US with high real estate–NY, SF, Rodeo Drive in LA & others, not only HI. Shipping is only a small part of the equation as well. Don’t like feeling ripped off–that’s the bottom line for me & many in our state. Oh well, another manufacturer to cross off my growing list.</p>
<p>BB, how can you be so sure that higher cost of Coach in HI isn’t due to shipping or real estate? HIgh cost of real estate in NYC and LA are probably offset by higher traffic and bigger volume of sale, especially for higher end goods. I wouldn’t imagine the Japanese who go to HI would be scooping up Coach. My friends are still finding Prada to be cheaper in HI than NYC, for whatever reason.</p>
<p>I guess I don’t understand why HImom feels she is getting ripped off, why they have to have exact same price at every location.</p>