Starting my (small) Louis Vuitton Collection

My little collection; mini pochette, pochette accessoires, Deauville, Saumur 30, Saumur 35, Sologne and a bandeau.

When I was about seventeen, I saw a woman on the street wearing a beautiful bag with a (to me) really appealing logo print. I didn't know what brand it was, only that I wanted one too. I coudln't find these bags anywhere in the stores so after a while, me and a friend chased down a woman who was wearing one. I asked here where what bag it was and where she'd bought it and she told me she got it abroad and that it was a Louis Vuittton. Finally I knew! I typed the name into Google and found several hits of celebrities wearing these bags and I also immediately saw that I couldn't afford one of my own.


So, this was my first encounter with Louis Vuitton. After that point, I always looked at the LV website to see if they had anything I could afford, but they never did. The last couple of years I didn't think too much about it, because I was a student and those bags were wáy out of my reach. But recently, my love for LV was sparked again when I practically became addicted to the 'my bag collection' on Youtube. And finally, after ten years, I decided that I wanted one of those small collections for myself. Some of the girls on youtube have massive collections and I just don't have a clue of how they can afford it. To me they don't really seem like millionairs, but who know, maybe they are. But since my budget isn't the one of a millionair, I have to be a bit more creative. And of course, eBay turned out to be a great (and possibly the cheapest) source to look for LV bags. Are there any cons for buying on eBay? Yes! You always run the risk of getting a fake or a bag that isn't exactly like the one in the ad. I have put a lot of hours in training myself to spot fakes and I can say I'm pretty good at it now. So even if you try to eliminate the risks, they're still there. For instance, one of my bags turned out to have cracks in the canvas. That sucked, because now LV will never repair the item. 
          
So if you want to start your own collection, good luck! But do know that there's always that risk of a disappointment..