The Best Handbag Stores

Tuesday, March 21st

2023 Handbag Store Reviews

Zappos

• Cost: From $22.50 to $2,400

While you might already be familiar with Zappos for their excellent shoe collection, their selection of handbags is also extensive. With over 500 in-stock listings, Zappos truly has something for every shopper and every budget.

47 different handbag designers

The largest selection of handbags at Zappos is in the "$200 and over" category, but there are also substantial offerings available at lower price points. They offer handbags made by an impressive 47 different designers including Lily Pulitzer, Fossil, Michael Kors, and Kate Spade, among many others.

13 ways to filter your listings

Listings can be filtered 13 different ways: subcategory, brand, price, color, materials, bottom width, product compatibility, strap or handle style, closures, features, pattern, theme, and accents. With all of those options, it's likely that you will be able to pinpoint the exact bag to fit your needs, or like many a night on Netflix, scroll mindlessly at the endless options until you finally find something you're cool with.

Free shipping

Zappos accepts online payments from most major credit cards and offers standard shipping (in 4-5 business days) at no cost. They also offer expedited shipping for an additional cost, but only for addresses in the contiguous United States. If you are shopping in Hawaii, Alaska, U.S. Territories, PO Boxes, or Military APO/FPO, the company kindly requests customers allow for additional shipping time. Unfortunately, Zappos doesn't offer international shipping at this time.

100% satisfaction guarantee

Zappos offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee and allows returns of any merchandise that has not been used and is in its original packaging within 365 days of purchase. You read that right, you can return something as long as you do it within a YEAR of the purchase date. That is incredible for busy folks that may need more than a month to get around to returning something. Exchanges are also offered. If you would like to exchange a product, you will receive an e-gift card containing the value of the product, minus shipping costs. If the company doesn't receive the exchanged merchandise within 14 days, the amount put on the e-gift card will be charged to the credit card on file.

Satisfied customers

Zappos has earned an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau and has been accredited by the BBB for almost 20 years. Many reviews of Zappos online thank the online retailer for fair prices and fantastic customer service.

Every occasion, every budget

This online retailer seems to have a handbag for every occasion and as we mentioned above, every budget. They also have an overwhelming amount of positive customer feedback. For that reason, Zappos remains at the top of our list of online handbag retailers.

Macy's

• Cost: From $7 to $776

Macy's is a widely recognized and trusted brand for quality merchandise and affordability in the department store game, and who doesn't love that Thanksgiving Day Parade?? Compared to its daughter company, Bloomingdale's, there are many more handbags at lower prices: their largest selection of handbags range in price from $100-$250.

Almost 5,000 handbags

The Macy's website is easy-to-use and searching for just the right handbag is simple. They offer a selection of almost 5,000 bags, so chances are they've got what you are looking for. The collection can be filtered by brand, style, color, pattern, material, size, price, and customer ratings. Unique filtering features include options to filter by current promotion, shipping and pickup options, as well as discount range, so, you can see which bags are being offered at the best prices.

Free shipping over $99

You should expect to receive your Macy's purchase 3-6 business days after you order when you select standard shipping, which is $10.95 for all purchases under $99. Free standard shipping is offered for purchases over $99. However Premium and Express shipping are also available for additional fees, only within the continental U.S. If an item is out-of-stock, it will be placed on back order and will ship as soon as it is available. Macy's will provide an expected shipping time at checkout. Some items eligible for same-day or next-day shipping and can be identified by using that filter.

Returns made easy

Macy's offers free returns for most products and online purchases can be returned by mail or in-store. If you don't have your original receipt, they can use the credit card you used to make your purchase, your return label, packing slip, order or shipping confirmation email or registry number. So, they have lots of options if, like us, you frequently toss your receipts out with the shipping box.

Strong reputation

How does Macy's stack up in the reputation department? Many customer reviews are positive, and commend the store on their wide selection of items as well as having great deals and promotions available on many products. Customer complaints are mostly due to the outsourcing of customer service and issues that arise from not being able to communicate well with folks that do not natively speak English.

Fun shopping experience

Macy's offers a certain consistency of quality and deals that you might not find with competitor retailers. Although they don't offer free shipping on all merchandise, many of their handbags would ship free because they meet the $99 free shipping requirement. Overall, we think Macy's offers a fun, hassle-free shopping experience when you're looking for handbags.

Luggage Pros

• Cost: From $14.95 to $625

When you first start shopping online for handbags, you might not think that a store called "Luggage Pros" will have much to offer. Think again! There are several excellent reasons why this retailer might become your new go-to destination for purses, clutches, and more.

400 handbags to choose from

First, the website is easy to navigate and handbags are just one click away from the home screen. Keep in mind that their collection of handbags is rather small in comparison to some of the other online retailers. With just over 400 options, it may be a little more difficult to find exactly what you are looking for. The bags can be sorted by promotion, brand, handbags and wallets (style), price, color, size, weight, wheels, features, and materials.

Handbags not their focus

Its most common material offering is ballistic nylon (sounds like these bags are built to protect and serve!). While some of their offerings would be considered stylish, it seems that the overall goal of this site is to sell luggage, or travel bags, not so much your everyday handbag. While Luggage Pros doesn't offer as many big designer names as some of the other sites, they do offer Dooney and Bourke and TUNI.

Return process

Luggage Pros ships internationally and to all P.O. Boxes, military APO/DPO/FPO addresses or US Territories/Protectorates, however, these orders are not eligible for return. Luggage Pros is happy to accept returns of merchandise within the United States in their original condition, however, $4.95 will be deducted from the returned credit amount for each item returned. Exchanges, however are free. If items are not returned in the original box, there is an additional $15 reboxing fee. As with most other retailers, any personalized items will not be eligible for return.

Happy customers

Luggage Pros has received reviews complimenting their personalized service, great pricing, and easy return policy. Their selection of bags is somewhat small, but based on customer reviews and fair prices, we believe purchasing at Luggage Pros is a safe bet, earning them a spot towards the top of our rankings.

6pm

• Cost: From $8 to $750

When you first start shopping on 6pm, you might see some similarities to our highest-rated retailer of handbags, Zappos. That's because this store is, in fact, a sister site to Zappos.

13 ways to filter

The layout of their website is similarly-organized, with the ability to filter your selection in 13 different ways: subcategory, brand, price, color, materials, bottom width, product compatibility, strap or handle style, closures, features, pattern, theme, and accents.

4,000 different handbags

In most ways, Zappos is superior, except in the number of products available. 6pm boasts a whopping 4,000 different designs, so there is no doubt you'll find something you like.

Trends Boutique

Another helpful feature of their site is the "Trends Boutique" that highlights the most popular colors, prints, and styles available, so you can always stay at the height of fashion, if that's your thing!

You can't be too picky

One downside is that they offer discounted items, so, while they have a lot of offerings, they may only have 1-2 of each item in stock or may not have the exact color you are looking for. You may not find the exact Coach bag you've been pining after, but you'll at least find that bag in a different color, or a different Coach bag, or a bag of a different brand, but the right size and color. On "deal sites" you can't be too picky. But again, with 4,000 options, you're bound to find a bag to fit your style.

Free shipping over $50

6pm accepts online payments from most major credit cards and for any order over $50, standard shipping is free ($3.95 if less than $50). They also offer expedited shipping for an additional cost, but, like their sister company, Zappos, only for addresses in the contiguous United States. Additional shipping time is required for PO Boxes, or Military APO/FPO as well as Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. Territories.

Pay to return

6pm allows returns within a 30-day window, and the merchandise must be in its original condition and packaging. The biggest issue we encountered with 6pm is that customers are responsible for all return shipping costs. This was a problem for many reviewers who were sent incorrect or defective products (more than one customer stated that they received merchandise that appeared worn and scuffed), but told they would need to pay the return costs.

Return labels expensive

Additionally, many negative reviews claim that the return labels were expensive: for instance, an order that originally cost $40 would have cost $33 to return, which is pretty steep in our opinion. When responding to these reviews about the return policy, almost every customer service agent replies, "We are a deals site and in an effort to keep our pricing as low as possible, we do not offer prepaid labels." 6pm does not currently process exchanges.

Pay for it in the end

To sum it up, you know how you feel about JetBlue and Allegiant and all of those smaller, value airlines: the ticket itself is super cheap, but then they tack on fees for picking your seat or a carry-on bag? That's 6pm. 6pm is the value airline of the handbag game. They offer less expensive rates, but you may end up paying for it in the end.

Bloomingdale's

• Cost: From $11 to $2,900

Bloomingdale's offers high-end merchandise at high-end prices. Although their least expensive bag is listed at $11.00, when filtering their handbags for price, the lowest price point is "Under $500," so that should give some indication of the average price of a bag. If you are looking for a specific designer bag, Bloomingdale's is your place, but if you are trying to keep to a budget, you may want to look elsewhere.

Designer handbags

Navigating their website was pretty simple, as a link to handbags is listed on their homepage. When you come to the handbag landing page, there is a lot going on! There are links to hot trends, best sellers, and popular designers. Bloomingdale's carries a large selection of designer handbags and luxury purses, and they even offer an online style expert to help you find your perfect bag. However, when we clicked the icon to talk to our style expert, at around 7:45 p.m., we received a message stating that they were unavailable, but that we could send a message and they would get back to us in a couple of hours. It seems like a nice service, it just may not be readily available when you need it.

Quick shipping

Bloomingdale's usually processes and ships in-stock merchandise within 2 business days when you select standard shipping; however Premium and Express shipping are also available and those orders will be processed the same day and arrive the next day, as long as the order is made before 5 p.m. If you back order an item, you will receive an expected shipping time at checkout or in a follow-up communication. Bloomingdale's also offers in-store pickup and same-day delivery if you live near one of their retail stores.

Impressive return policy

Bloomingdale's allows an impressive 365 days for customers to return most unwanted items as long as they are still in saleable condition. Final sale merchandise, which Bloomingdale's calls "The Final Offer items" must be returned within 30 days, but we still think that is a pretty good deal since most retailers slap an "all sales final" tag on clearance items. They offer free returns on online merchandise every day, which is a step above many of the smaller retailers we've reviewed. Since they are a larger store, they can afford to offer free returns.

Online shopping complaints

Customer reviews we read online were chiefly negative. Of the reviews we saw on third-party sites, 15% were good and 80% were bad, with the other 5% being just okay. Some customers raved about the great online selection and even complimented the customer service reps they spoke with when handling issues with their online orders, but for the most part, we saw complimentary comments primarily about in-store experiences. All of the complaints were directed toward online shopping experiences, and what were the most repeated offenses? Canceling orders without notifying the customers and rude, condescending customer service agents.

Room to improve

Bloomingdale's offers a great selection of handbags, but they are a department store and not a discount site, so you are going to pay full price for a high-end bag. Their return and shipping policies are better than a lot of other online handbag retailers because they are a large store and can afford it. But, what made us rank Bloomingdale's towards the middle of the pack is primarily the poor customer service reviews for online purchasing. Most people praised the in-store operations, but had negative experiences when purchasing online. With many options available for your online shopping pleasure, a store like Bloomingdale's could step up their game to make it more likely that they will earn your business.

eBags

• Cost: From $12.95 to $900

With a name like eBags, you might be wondering how this retailer fares when it comes to shopping for your favorite designer crossbody, a new purse for the holidays, or something lightweight for everyday use. Let's see how they measure up against the competition.

Not as easy

As we were looking specifically for handbags, navigating the eBags website was not as easy as many others in this category. There isn't an easily accessible icon or drop down menu to take you to handbags. We had to use the website's search engine in order to find their handbag section. Their collection of handbags is just over 3,500, so there is definitely a lot to choose from. The bags can be sorted by category, color, brand, material, features, size, customer rating, customer opinions, price, gender, end use, trend, device type, and sports fan gear.

Customer ratings explained

Customer rating and customer opinion seemed to be the same thing, so we did a bit of digging. Customer rating refers to how many stars customers give each item; customer opinions are more like high school superlatives, such as "most organized" and "most stylish" (neither of which we won in our high school yearbook). End use refers to what most people use the bag for, such as college, travel, or work. So, they do have some good ways to help you look for exactly what you need.

Lack of designer bags

One of the biggest ways eBags differs from the other online retailers we reviewed is their lack of designer bags. All of the other retailers had bags by impressive designers available, but eBags is clearly more for the shopper that is less interested in the label, and more interested in if the bag looks nice and serves its purpose, which we totally get! Many of the bags are attractive, and have an attractive price tag as well. One perk they offer is a lifetime warranty on any of their eBags brand merchandise. There is also a drop down menu offering information about warranties for other brands sold by the company, which is a nice touch.

Easy return policy

eBags is currently not shipping to any country other than the United States and does not ship to P.O. Boxes, military APO/DPO/FPO addresses or US Territories/Protectorates. Additionally, not all shipping options are available to Hawaii and Alaska. eBags claims to have an easy return policy, which is true. It is easy to return their products. Customers are able to return the merchandise within 30 days, but like many other deal sites, there is a fee for the return. While you are not required to pay the shipping cost, there is a flat fee of $7.95 per item returned, not per transaction. So, if you purchased 3 bags and were unhappy with all three, you'd receive the amount you paid back, minus $23.85. So, in a world where big retailers offer free returns, it's hard to make a purchase with a retailer that penalizes the consumer for returning merchandise.

Customer complaints

eBags is accredited by the Better Business Bureau and has an A- rating, with 69 complaints filed against them. Customer reviews relayed poor quality of customer service and receiving phony emails about deals only to find the price of the item that was on sale had recently had a price hike, so the price was the same as before the so called "discount." Another customer wrote that she was charged to return a bag that smelled like it had been in a fire. Sure, everyone wants the hottest deals, but a literal fire isn't quite what we had in mind!

Good prices, poor customer service

eBags, like many of the other websites we evaluated, seems great on the surface, but, in general, has received bad customer service feedback. Their selection of bags and the prices are good, but, based on customer reviews and their less-than-customer-friendly return policy, you'll be taking a gamble compared with rival stores offering handbags.

Shoes

• Cost: From $18.95 to $527

Shoes is an online retailer that offers shoes (shocker), handbags, and accessories. This online store has a pretty good selection of affordable handbags: they offer just over 1,000 different listings, most of which fall in the $35-150 price range.

Eclectic bags

However, very few of their offered brands are household names. Some brands they carry include, Frye, Anuschka, and Sakroots (which was the only one we recognized). The bags are very eclectic and many feature beautiful and unique hand-painted designs. Selections can be filtered by category, color, brand, price, shipping options, material, and features. Similar to eBags, Shoes caters more to the shopper that is less interested in designer labels, and more interested in functionality.

Free shipping

Shoes offers free USPS ground shipping to all customers in the United States, but customers should expect to allow 3-10 business days for their packages to arrive. They also offer free exchanges and easy returns, although they do deduct a $6.95 restocking fee on all returned products. Shoes also offers a 100% price guarantee. If you find a product for less somewhere else, they will match the price, and claim that they will even refund you the difference if they lower the price of a product you purchased on their website.

Negative customer reviews

Despite the policies listed on their website, the reviews about returning products are overwhelmingly negative. Multiple customers stated that they sent back products that were defective or simply the wrong item, but were told by customer service that they couldn't be returned because they were not resellable - obviously not if the product was defective in the first place. One customer even wrote that a customer service rep told her "you bought it, it's your problem now." So, yeah, not stellar service.

Knock-offs

Not surprisingly, Shoes was not accredited by the Better Business Bureau at the time of our review. Also, based on the reviews we found on many third-party websites, Shoes does not seem to be a reliable retailer. 80% of the reviews we found were negative and pleaded with other consumers not to waste their time with the company. Reviews also relayed poor quality of customer service and, while this isn't directly related to handbag sales, there were a few instances of selling knock-off shoes, which we felt should be mentioned.

Look elsewhere

Overall, the selection and prices of handbags at Shoes is okay, but they include very few well-known and trusted brands. The biggest reason for their low rating is the huge disconnect between their stated return/exchange policy and the actual experiences of their customers. You're more likely to get a handbag you love - and one that's authentic - with another retailer.

Moda Queen

• Cost: From $255 to $32,000

According to online handbags retailer Moda Queen, they are a Premier Yahoo! Store and the leading online designer outlet. They sell overstocked and discontinued styles of brands like Prada, Fendi, Gucci, and Marc Jacobs, supposedly with 100% authenticity.

Only 68 handbags

While there are many impressive designer brands available, the number of offerings is seriously lacking. When you look at competing online stores that offer thousands of options, 68 listings is slim pickings.

Website easy but outdated

The website is easy to navigate, but could use an update as it looks a bit outdated. Listings can be filtered by brand, size, alphabetical order, and price.

Pricing deals

If you are looking for low prices on designer bags, you'll find some pretty good deals, as most of the bags have at least a small discount. Although, when we say small, we mean small. A couple of their bags are marked down by only $5, but some are marked down by more than 50%. Since their bags are overstocked and discontinued, we assume that their prices are based on demand, rather than a site-wide percentage off of all bags. While there are some good deals, there are also bags exorbitantly priced at $22,000 and $32,000. It is hard to put a solid price point label on the website because both the price range and average discount range are so large.

Hand selected reviews

Probably to combat the many complaints and poor reviews elsewhere on the internet, there are many positive testimonials on the website from customers as far reaching as Thailand and Malaysia. One woman said she was wary of purchasing a designer handbag over the internet, but that after speaking to a sales representative from Moda Queen on the phone, she felt more secure. So, they must have some stellar customer service reps on hand - or they've just hand-selected the reviews that would make them look more reputable.

Advanced security

Moda Queen accepts online payments from most major credit cards and boasts that they use the most advanced security available. Your card will be charged not at the time of order, but when your order is ready to be shipped. Lastly, they charge 9.75% sales tax, but only to Californians (as if that place isn't already more expensive)! We guess that's a little bonus for all of the other states though, since no sales tax is taken at all from the other 49.

Free shipping

Moda Queen uses UPS to ship their goods, and offers free standard shipping - however, your package will arrive in up to 10 days. So, in a world of free same-day shipping from many big-name online retailers, that deal isn't super great. If you need your handbag sooner, they also offer other shipping options for an additional fee.

100% satisfaction guarantee

Moda Queen uses ALL CAPS to communicate that their company has a 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEE, so you know they mean business. All joking aside, if you are unhappy with your purchase, you are able to return the merchandise within 30 days of the package being delivered, and the refund will be issued within 7 business days minus a 10% restocking fee. The customer is responsible for the return shipping and handling costs, and the website suggests insuring your return package for the full value, as the company does not take responsibility for lost or damaged packages. There is an additional restocking fee for any merchandise that comes back with missing or damaged pieces. Exchanges may be made within 14 days of delivery with a $15 processing fee. Exchanges are not permitted for international customers, but returns are.

Beware the knock-offs

Moda Queen is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau and has a B- rating for failure to respond to a complaint. Although the details of the complaint were not on the BBB website, you don't have to look far to find more complaints. When we went to do our research, most of the reviews we read included the words "scam," "fake," and "do not recommend." Ouch. One customer reported that she took the Fendi bag she purchased from Moda Queen into a Fendi retail store when the zipper broke and the Fendi representatives recognized that the bag was indeed a knock-off.

At the bottom

Overall, it seems like by shopping at Moda Queen, you'll be taking a risk to spend quite a bit of money on a bag that may or may not be authentic. Unfortunately, this retailer continues to be at the bottom of our rankings among retailers of Handbags.