Many assume that the only place to get well-maintained, highly desirable vintage handbags is at a local boutique. Although most vintage dealers tend to specialize in créme of the crop merchandise, they also charge a hefty premium.

Often the owners of these shops find hidden gems on eBay, jack up the price and resell the items. If you like the thrill of bargain hunting, bypass the markup and get the authentic handbag of your dreams online.

This site makes the hunt as easy as possible. You can browse vintage auctions by brand, style, and color. So get to it, check out the menu above and see what you can dig up!

Auctions Closing Soon on eBay

COACH 9976 VINTAGE RARE NAVY LEATHER HANDBAG PURSE s

6 Bids

US $10.50

17m

VINTAGE COACH NAVY BLUE LEATHER HANDLE PORTFOLIO

5 Bids

US $9.50

20m

Vintage Etienne Aigner leather purse Navy EUC

0 Bid

US $14.99

20m

vintage COACH handbag brown leather 9293 PURSE glam BAG

0 Bid

US $39.99

21m

vintage COACH handbag brown leather 9930 PURSE glam BAG

0 Bid

US $39.99

21m

1

Born: Reigate, England, 1946

‘Quality is like coffee. Once you’ve tried the real thing, you can’t go back to instant,’ said Margaret Howell. Quality is the cornerstone of her business and her collections always centre on the eternals: white shirt, trenchcoat and classic trousers. She is one of the few female designers with flair for designing both mens- and womenswear, and she also designs household, gardening and children’s merchandise.

Born: Elmira, New York, USA, 1952

The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation was founded in New York in 1992 and it is a label that appeals to young and old. In the best traditions of American design, where business, design and marketing are mutually compatible, Hilfiger is an unashamed marketing magnate, who knows his customers and what they want – relaxed, comfortable sportswear. He expanded his line in 1994 with tailoring.

Founded by Thierry Hermès in 1837

Thierry Hermès established himself as a master craftsman with a workshop in rue Basse du Rampart, Paris, making harnesses to sell to the carriage-makers of the Champs Elysées. Saddlery was added in 1879 and the business moved to 24 Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, where the flagship shop still stands. Thierry's grandsons, Adolphe and Emile-Maurice, spread the Hermès name wordwide, supplying the Imperial Court of Russia and clients in South America. After the First World War and the demise of the horse-drawn carriage, Hermès made small leather goods - wallets, handbags and luggage. In 1922 Emile-Maurice bought his brother's share of the business and the building. Leather goods were soon followed by clothing, costume jewellery, diaries and silk squares printed with original designs, the first of which appeared in 1937. In the late 1950s a fragrance division was launched.

Born: Paris, France, 1899
Died: Paris, France, 1967

In the 1920s Jacques Heim managed his parents' fur fashion house and started a couture branch before opening his own couture house in 1930. Heim is considered more of a marketer than a designer, who was able to adapt and survive in a fickle business for almost 40 years. He launched a diffusion line in 1950 and was elected president of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne in 1958. Heim held the position until 1962, when he upset his fellow designers by disclosing their collections to the American press before the agreed date. His business closed two years after his death in 1969.

Born: Los Angeles, California, USA, 1907
Died: Los Angeles, California, USA, 1981

Meticulous, bilingual and mesmeric, Edith Head was a prolific and revered designer, who became the first female to run a costume department in the history of Hollywood.

Born: Honiton, England, 1901
Died: Windsor, England, 1979

In 1939 Vogue made the following assessment of royal couturier Norman Hartnell: `He discovered the lost arts of femininity, and in the arid angularity of the `twenties, he launched a new, de luxe woman, poised, svelte and soignée: subtle rather than snappy.'

Born: Gravesend, England, 1948

`The only way you can change the system is from within,' said Katharine Hamnett in Vogue in 1987. `The next era of conquest is to go into the boardroom wearing a smarter suit than the chairman.' Hamnett is a diplomat's daughter, who was educated at the genteel Cheltenham Ladies College and spent the swinging sixties at the centre of fashion activity, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. She was co-founder of Tuttabanken Sportswear in 1970, and when the business folded she designed freelance in New York, Paris, Rome and London, finally founding Katharine Hamnett Limited in 1979 with a £500 loan. She survived bankruptcy and fashion fracas to branch into menswear in 1982. Her style was always sportswear - jumpsuits made from parachute silk, for example - but it was fashion with a political slant which made her name. In 1983 Hamnett launched her `Choose Life' T-shirt collection, which was a milestone in the cross-fertilization of fashion and politics. Already a staunch supporter of the Greenham Common women and environmental issues, Hamnett was photographed meeting the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, at a Downing Street reception in her `58% don't want Pershing' T-shirt. This was a seminal moment in British fashion and the ultimate photo opportunity, resulting in the image of the decade. Other slogans included `Stop Killing Whales', `Education Not Missiles', `Stop Acid Rain', `Preserve the Rain Forest' and `Worldwide Nuclear Ban Now', which were all printed in huge capital letters on white T-shirts - a clever ploy to encourage copyists - the British profits from which went towards stopping child abuse. The following year, she received the British Designer of the Year Award and in 1988 the British Knitting and Clothing Export Council Award for Export. In October 1990 she made her Paris debut and launched Hamnett Active and the environmental Green Cotton campaign at the same time.

Born: Des Moines, Iowa, USA, 1932
Died: San Francisco, California, USA, 1990

Roy Halston was New York's most visible party animal during the 1970s and one of the key players in Andy Warhol's infamous diaries. He was a born socialite, fabulous designer and a public relations' dream, who knew the power of the celebrity endorsement. His favourite phrase: `You're only as good as the people you dress.'

Born: Florence, Italy, 1881
Died: Milan, Italy, 1953

Gucci was originally a leather goods company founded by Guccio Gucci in Florence in 1922. Gucci, who worked as the maître d' at the Savoy in London from 1915 before returning to Florence, knew the importance of service and good quality. He invented the signature interlocking Gs and the red and green trim. In recent years the Gucci label has enjoyed a renaissance of gargantuan proportions. The design director,Tom Ford, appointed in 1994, has pulled off what every financier dreams of: reinvigorating an established house while retaining its identity.

Born: Carcassonne, France, 1917

One of the few designers to have worked at the house of Vionnet, the undisputed queen of perfect cutting, Jacques Griffe, first learnt how to sew and construct clothes under the instruction of his mother. He later trained with a tailor and worked in a couture house before joining Vionnet in 1936. After the Second World War he assisted Edward Molyneux and eventually opened his own house with the encouragement of Vionnet. Despite his earlier training in the art of couture, Griffe could adapt to the mass market and he opened a boutique and also designed a ready-to-wear range, both of which were commercial successes. Nan Kempner, American socialite and front-row fixture, wore a Jacques Griffe dress for her coming out. Later on, she incorporated it into her wedding dress.