- the gucci tag on the inside is leather with gucci made in italy neatly engraved on the outside. On the reverse side of the tag, there is the serial number engraved neatly, not printed. The engraving is neat and not smudged or blurry. Smudged and blurry = fake.

- the leather is sleek and well put together. Fake ones have knock-off poor put together leather that will pucker and wrinkle

- the stitching that is the trim around the bag is rich in color (black or dark brown, or matching the main color of the bag exactly! My bag is black and the threading is black), not white or yellow or another cheap thread that knock offs use.

- gucci will NOT have a large or medium size dangle charm on the bag like dooney bourke does.

- the color of the thread used to sew the straps should blend in with the straps. It should not be black or white or an off-color from the leather. The thread should not be loose on the straps and the straps should not be pucklering on the outsides. Look closely!

- if having the signature logo, the Gs will be distinct in thread or in color from the background. They will not be painted on or painted on the thread.

- the color stripes in the middle of the bag will never be off colors. Rich royal purple, orange, green, etc. will be seen on real bags with studs that have no signs of glue or clumsy stitching. After all, you are paying for fine craftsmanship, so it will be finely crafted!

- the inside of the bag should not show strips of cloth that has been cut, like when someone sews something together, there is extra cloth that is left over before the item is turned inside-out to hide it. Gucci will never have this. Their bags have fine lining on the inside that show no signs of sloppiness. The quality of cloth or sometimes bare leather on the inside of the bag should give you a hint that it is real or fake. There will never be left over strips of leather on the inside of the purse. No top designer purse does that.

Hope that helped! Good luck!