After being burned (more than once) by bogus sellers online, I finally became much more shrewd about spotting a fake Louis Vuitton bag when I saw one.

My mistake was always that I would get excited about seeing a "great deal," then jump on it too quickly because I was afraid another buyer would snag it out from under me.

Eventually, I got fed up enough to learn some tips for spotting a fake Louis Vuitton purse just by looking for certain clues.

It is possible to find a great deal on an authentic designer bag that is gently used, but unless you know what to look for, you will become prey to the unscrupulous sellers hawking cheap knockoffs.

There are some pretty convincing knockoffs out there, so you need to learn how to identify a fake bag by closely examining the details, such as the lining color.

Spotting a fake Louis Vuitton bag usually involves doing some homework, so take a gander at LV's official website to look at the lining colors for each style of bag.

For instance, if you are looking at one of LV's popular Monogram Multicolore bags, the lining color will always be the same for that particular style.

A white Monogram Multicolore bag always has a raspberry lining, and the black multicolor bag always has a mushroom-grey lining. Anything different, it's a fake.

On an authentic Monogram bag, the LV logo will never be cut off at the seams. If the seam happens to run through one of the LV logos, it is always carefully matched up on the other side of the seam. This is a dead giveaway of a knockoff bag.

Many times, a fake Louis Vuitton bag will have at least one broken logo at the seams. Never trust the authenticity of a LV bag if the logos don't match up perfectly on both sides of each seam.

A Monogram Multicolore bag should never have a red LV logo. If you see this style of bag with a red LV thrown into the mix, the bag is a knockoff.

Louis Vuitton bags with red logos never made it into production so you will never see an authentic one that has a red LV. Fake bags often include red logos because the manufacturers assume that many buyers will not know the difference, and they are right.

Now that you do know the difference, there's one less person they can rip off with their cheap fakes.

Any authentic Louis Vuitton item will have a very circular "O" in the name. Counterfeit bags sometimes have an "O" more oval than round. If you see this, walk away because the bag is a fake.

Even though many knockoffs are getting harder to detect, this is a minor detail that is sometimes either overlooked or altered on purpose. Maybe the manufacturers think the oval "O" is more appealing or makes the item appear to be more authentic.

I don't know why they would alter the logo, but it is occasionally done this way for some reason.

Authentic Louis Vuitton bags have perfectly straight, symmetrical stitching. Any flaw or variation in the stitching is a telltale sign that the bag is counterfeit.

These are very high-quality, luxury bags, so attention is paid to even the most minute details. For example, if one side of the handle has six stitches, the other side will have six stitches, as well.

Before you shell out any money for a LV bag, carefully inspect it and count the stitches on both sides to make sure they are exactly even.

Louis Vuitton has been making Monogram Multicolore bags for many years, and they never vary the logo's color combinations on these bags.

If you are in doubt about a particular bag, go to the official Louis Vuitton website to compare the colors. If the colors are not exactly right, the bag is fake. For example, a black Monogram Multicolore bag always has one of these color combinations:

fuchsia, white, green/dark yellow, dark pink, dark purple/dark blue, chartreuse, light blue. Also, compare the bag with the ones on the LV site to make sure the actual color shades are spot-on, too.

Authentic Louis Vuitton sales, factory seconds, outlets, wholesalers and discounts do not exist. Let me repeat, you will never find a new, authentic Louis Vuitton item with a discounted price, under any circumstances.

This is why Louis Vuitton has maintained such a high value for so many years. Irregular and damaged items are destroyed, never sold to the public. When looking on eBay or anywhere else for a good deal, unless the item is pre-owned, a "good deal" cannot be found.

Any new, discounted LV bag you see for sale is fake.

Learn from my mistakes. Always do your homework before you purchase any Louis Vuitton bag online. Have you ever been burned buying a knockoff bag?