Where Can I Buy a Crossbody Bag?

Crossbody bags might be one of the most popular types of bags right now with the business chic being the popular trend. They’re an elegant companion that enables easy carrying options and plenty of protection for laptops and fragile items that purses and other bags might not. With such high demand, it should come as no shock that they can be found almost anywhere. But a lot of us still ask ourselves “Where can I buy a crossbody bag”?

Whether you’re looking online or visiting a brick-and-mortar store, there are plenty of places where you can find yourself an excellent crossbody bag. The only tough part of the process is narrowing down and determining where you want to buy it.

While you might be limited with physical store locations near you, however, you are unlimited with options when it comes to online shops. So, if you are already here, we assume that you value our opinion and therefore we can proceed with our guidance to help you find your next crossbody bag.

Learn About Quality

Before we even go down this road, it’s crucial that we mention this very important point. You have to learn about the quality of leather bags. To best do that, you have to read our guide How To Identify Good Quality Leather Bag. This short, but nonetheless very important guide, will teach the basics that every leather buyer must know before spending his or her hard-earned money.

But we will try to give you a quick summary in case you are short on time.

If you visit a brick-and-mortar store, you have to pay attention to the following attributes of a bag:

1. Smell
2. Surface structure
3. Touch
4. Edges
5. Oil and water test
6. Price

In short, real leather has that distinguishable smell that fake or even low quality (bonded leather) lack. The surface of good quality leather will most likely have some tiny imperfections, even hardly visible, such as tiny scratches, insect bites, etc. Those are by no means a bad thing.

Then there is a touch test. Real full grain leather will have a soft and warm feel to it, while faux leather or even “genuine leather” plastic bags have a hard, well-structured, smooth and cold feel to it. So, don’t be fooled by an amazingly smooth surface, because it’s the dyes, and not the leather, that feels like that.

Going further, check out the edges. The smoother the edges, the less likely the bag is made out of good leather.

While you might not be able to do an oil and water test in any store, which could result in you being arrested for property destruction, given the chance try it out. Real leather products will absorb water and oils, while low quality or fake leather products will not. The oil and water will simply slide off of such bags. It’s an easy and simple test to try on your free time.

Finally, price is the only attribute that can be applied while shopping online as well. If you think it’s too cheap to be of great quality, then you are perhaps right. Real leather has to cost some money, as there are no easy workarounds. Some of the leather products manufactured in far East Asia might bring the price tag down a bit, but there are limits as well.

Check out our article How Much Does Leather Cost?, as it will give you a better understanding at what to expect when shopping for a leather bag either online or in a brick-and-mortar store.

So, as you can see, you really gamble to some extent while purchasing a bag online, because you cannot touch and feel it in any way. Therefore, you will have to take a seller’s word for it. Of course, given the returns system of today, you are quite well-protected, but it’s still a hassle to send the bag back and wait for a refund.

Online

Easily the more common choice in the modern world, online shopping might be your best bet to finding high-quality crossbody bags. There are countless websites around that specialize in crossbody bags, including us, Domini Leather with our extensive collection. Bellow you can find some of our best-selling crossbody bags.

Advantages

Online shopping puts a world of endless choices in the palm of your hands. You can choose from endless possibilities and can even customize almost any product. The online world is stacked with countless professional and not-so-much stores that offer unrivaled quantity in terms of what they sell. As far as crossbody bags, finding the one that you have ever dreamt of is a possibility quite easily achieved.

Another advantageous factor of shopping online could be the price. Well, at least to some extent. Most websites don’t have physical stores for which they have to pay rent, salaries for sales-people, other charges and taxes related to running local businesses. Therefore, it is truly possible to find the same exact bag of the same exact manufacturer online a little bit cheaper than in your local boutique.

Disadvantages

With a world of possibilities comes a couple of scams. There will always be websites out there with ill-intent, seeking to sell fake leather bags under the guise of reality. Luckily, they  can be easily spotted if you know what to look for. For example, prices tend to be way too low, starting to sound too good to be true. Which, if you haven’t learned already, is always the case.

Also, as covered in the paragraph about quality, you will never really know what you are buying. You could, of course, choose only known and trusted brands. However, if the brand is too known, you will be paying a hefty premium just for the name, which, in our opinion, is simply silly. You should always focus on the quality and design of your liking, and not some brand name.

Brick-and-Mortar Store

While online stores dominate the modern shopping-scape, there are plenty of reasons to check out a local brick-and-mortar bag store. From in-house leather products to a higher quality, there are many advantages of the physical stores.

Advantages

With a physical store, the guarantees of quality and genuine materials are much higher. If a store is selling scam items, their lifespan is going to be much shorter. Therefore, it’s easier to ensure that you get the real leather crossbody bags from an actual brick-and-mortar store. In many cases, such stores might even make the leather bags in house.

Other advantages that physical stores bring takes us back to the quality paragraph above. By touching, smelling and feeling the bags as well as talking directly with a store owner, who undoubtedly knows a lot about leather, you will most likely get a high-quality leather bag. Well, unless your budget is around 50USD for a large crossbody bag, in such case there is no way you can get something of value. But having a possibility to really ensure the quality that you seek, you might as well opt-in for an in-store shopping.

Thirdly, supporting your local economy is just so better in the long run for your quality of life. You, your kids and your family will be able to better enjoy local life when there are more local business running and actually surviving. So, unless you find nothing that you really like in your local stores, then turn to the internet.

Disadvantages

Your area might not have cool brick-and-mortar stores selling bags that you are looking for. Thus having plenty of options online seems like a smart thing to do.

Further, the prices of identical leather bags might be somewhat different. Physical stores, as mentioned above, have to pay a lot of more charges including rent, salaries, taxes and so on to stay afloat. Therefore, it’s normal that they increase their margins slightly to cover those costs.

But it’s not necessarily a disadvantage. Because for those extra twenty bucks that you spend in your local shop you might get a nice conversation, advice or a future friend.

Final Words

Whatever is your current situation, in today’s world full of surplus, you will get yourself an excellent crossbody bag. Therefore, such a question as where can I buy a crossbody bag becomes a silly one. Whether you are looking for one online or in your local shop, just make sure you follow the abovementioned tips about the quality, and you will be golden.

If you are in a hurry, then you can check out our collections of crossbody bags for men and women. They were all made from real leather. Some where made from lower quality split leather, and others were made from full out full grain leather. The price will be a great indicator for which is which.

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