Luxury Staff Sale & Outlet Marks Explained

A circled G on a Gucci tag. An S stamped inside a Chanel or Hermès bag. A tiny V next to a Louis Vuitton heat stamp. A star inside a Bottega Veneta bag. Does that mean the bag is fake? - Not necessarily.

Luxury brands sometimes add special markings to items sold through employee sales, outlets, special sales, or non-retail programs. These marks may appear on leather labels, serial tags, hardware, or even fabric labels. The problem is that there is no single marking system used by every brand. Even within the same brand, the mark can change depending on the product or production period.

Here are some common examples you may see when buying pre-owned luxury items.

Bottega Veneta

Bottega Veneta special-sale items can show several different markings. In the first example, we can see a five-star stamp pressed close to the country-of-origin label. Another example is much easier to understand: the word “OUTLET” is printed directly on the white label. You may also see a circled “BV” on the lining of some items. For smaller leather goods, such as wallets, the special-sale mark may appear in a different interior position.

Christian Dior

Dior staff-sale markings can also appear in different forms. Quite often, you will find a small punched hole on the leather tag. This type of mark is commonly linked to employee-sale items. There are other Dior pieces that show different added marks. For example, you may see a circled “T” near the logo stamp, or a small punched dot close to the serial code or logo label.

Celine

On Celine pieces, special-sale markings may also appear around the country-of-origin stamp. Two examples show an additional “F” stamped near the origin marking, while another features a “V” enclosed in a circle. Because these characters are separate from the standard brand and origin information, they can look out of place if you are unfamiliar with special-distribution pieces.

Gucci

Gucci has some of the most varied markings in this guide. In one example, an “S”, which stands for sales, is stamped on the serial number label. Another Gucci logo label has one corner cut off. More heavily altered labels can also appear on special-sale items. For example, you may also see a colored marker line drawn across the logo stamp. Sometimes the same type of colored line can be drawn across the serial-number section.

What Does the Circled G Mean on Gucci Tags?

The circled “G” is one of the better-known Gucci outlet markings. In the pictures shown here, the circled G can appear both on the logo leather tag and on the serial number side. This mark is commonly associated with Gucci outlet merchandise. That does not mean the bag is fake. It usually tells you something about where the item was originally sold.

Why Is There a Hole on the Gucci Leather Tag?

If you see a small punched hole through the interior Gucci leather tag, that usually means the Gucci items were sold through outlets, special sales, or other non-standard retail channels. It works in a similar way to other Gucci sale markings, such as the circled G: it helps distinguish the item from a regular full-price boutique purchase.

Saint Laurent

Saint Laurent special-sale pieces may sometimes show colored ink around the interior logo stamp. In the first picture, you can see yellow marker applied directly over the letter “A” in the Saint Laurent logo. The second picture shows what happens after someone tries to remove it. Most of the color is gone, but small traces of ink are still visible. There is also a much more obvious mark: “STAFF SALE” stamped directly onto the interior logo label, which clearly indicates that the item was distributed through a staff-sale channel.

LOEWE

LOEWE special-sale markings can appear in several different places. In our examples, you can see a five-star stamp close to the serial code (2nd from the left). Sometimes the star stamp is placed some distance away from the main code (1st from the left), so it can be easy to miss. Another example shows a “C” stamped (3rd from the left) below the code.

These markings are not limited to bags. On the LOEWE clothing label shown here (4th from the left), the inside of the letter “O” has been colored with a marker. All these cases tell us that the location of special-sale markings can change depending on the product category.

Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton also has several special-sale markings that can confuse secondhand buyers. In the first example, you can see three flower motifs (left image) used as a special marking. Another example has the words “NOT FOR SALE” (right image) printed below the country of origin.

Small Dot Next to “PARIS”

Some Louis Vuitton pieces have a small dot stamped beside the word “PARIS” on the logo stamp. The examples shown here include products made in France, Italy, and Spain. The placement is very subtle, so it can easily be missed.

Circled P and Circled V Stamps

Another example shows a circled “P” near the top-right corner of the interior stamp. A US-made Louis Vuitton piece shown here has a circled “V” on the logo label. The circled V is one of the better-known markings associated with Louis Vuitton employee purchases. However, Louis Vuitton has used different marking methods over time, so one symbol should never be treated as a universal rule.

Chanel

Chanel uses several different special-distribution markings. A common example is a capital “S” stamped on the logo label. Sometimes, though, the S is much less noticeable, appearing next to the metal closure.

In other cases, you can see a “NOT FOR SALE” stamp (left image) across the interior logo label. Another has an S written in colored marker (middle image). You may also see a number, such as the “8” (right image) shown in one of these examples, stamped on the interior label.

“WITH COMPLIMENTS OF CHANEL”

A piece marked “WITH COMPLIMENTS OF” is different from a normal staff-sale item. This wording usually indicates that the item was given as a complimentary or promotional piece, rather than sold through the normal retail channel. These items can still be genuine Chanel products, but their original distribution is different from a regular boutique purchase.

Hermès: What Does the S Stamp Mean?

Hermès is one of the brands where special-sale markings are especially well known. In the examples shown here, you can see an “S” with additional numbers, or sometimes just an “S” stamped near or under the “Hermès Paris Made in France” marking.

The S is commonly associated with Hermès sale or employee-sale pieces. The exact numbers and placement may vary. It is also important not to confuse the S with other Hermès symbols. For example, an Hermès special-order bag uses a horseshoe stamp, not an S. So an extra symbol on an Hermès bag does not automatically mean the same thing.

Read this guide to learn more about Hermès’ special stamps: https://legitapp.com/blog/why-do-some-hermes-birkin-bags-have-special-stamps

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