Kate Spade Outlet finds

I think of myself as a very stingy/frugal person but of course I have my low EQ moments and indulge from time to time. But I am a sucker for great deals. Initially, a trip to the outlet store would always end up with me buying a thing or two. But then, the proximity of the outlets and with nothing better to do, frequent trips resulted to no purchases at times. In fact, I have ended up comparing prices depending on the season and with other stores. A lot of times, I feel that weekend deals are traps because the price don't really vary much but just gives you the impression of so. I probably should elaborate more on a separate post. For this one, I will try to focus on some observations I've had of bag purchases from Kate Spade.

Not that I have a lot of Kate Spade purses but for some reason I thought their outlet items looked a little on the cheap side. It was for this reason I read up on some brands producing items specifically for outlets which never sees the day on their regular boutiques. With the number of outlet stores around and the number of people shopping at any given time, it is indeed hard to believe that all discounted items came from boutique clearances. Since then, it felt a little less of a bargain shopping at the outlets especially at Kate Spade because I thought I really was not getting any discount. The money is more for the brand name (bragging rights) than the make and quality (at a discount). Nonetheless, this didn't stop me from constantly perusing their deals but I mostly zoned in on the clearance items. To me, that's where the real deals are, the rest are just deal traps. 

But then, one time, this sales lady recommended this specific bag I was trying to decide on, more than the other. Other than it looked nicer, she said it was from their Kate Spade boutique. After that experience, I am more on the lookout for real deals from their Outlet stores of boutique finds more than anything else. So far, here's what I got as a basis for identifying if it's a made-for-outlet purse or the boutique ones.

Boutique purses:

1. The spade symbol outside the bag is made of metal.

2. The inside of the bag has cute prints for its lining.

3. Again, there is a spade symbol that is again made of metal inside the bag.

4. One bag which I ordered online (not from the surprise store), actually came with a dustbag.

Outlet purses:

1. The Kate Spade brand is printed only (which I am tempted to try if I can scratch them out...) or a solid metal (this I am not 100% sure).

2. The inside lining is black (the two I got so far), with the words Kate Spade somewhat embossed. Makes sense from a mass production standpoint to bring the cost down.

3. Inside the bag there is no spade symbol made of metal, instead is a cheaper version of a stitched patch or something to that effect.

4. No dust bags so far from my outlet hauls (whether boutique or not).

I honestly prefer to buy if I can manage to find a really good deal of boutique versions of the bags than outlets because I feel the value for money is more in there. For me, the discount is not misleading because it was really sold at one point for the listed price unlike the outlet stores who only probably post the "MSRP's" as more suggestions and as a marketing ploy. However, to some, Kate Spade is Kate Spade so as long as the price is less then 60% off the "MSRP" then that's already good.