October Little Black Bag

Time for a Little Black Bag unboxing!  I ended up with three items in my bag for October.  At one point I had six, but I combined a few things here and there and on my sixth day I figured it would be better to combine two items for a bag I wanted instead of getting stuck with two that I didn't, so that's how I ended up with three.

The overall value of my bag wasn't very high ($126 according to LBB's retail prices), but that was mostly because I really wanted two items that were worth $20 and $18.  I've wanted the Kikkerland Duck Speaker since the first time I ever opened a Little Black Bag, but I was unable to trade for it that time and ended up cancelling my bag.  When I saw that they brought it back I was going to try my hardest to trade for it!

I love this speaker!  It's so cute.  He's a little smaller than I imagined, but the sound quality is surprisingly good.  It has a rechargeable battery, and when I got it it was charged enough to last through three songs.  I tried recharging it over the weekend but it didn't work, so I'm still trying to figure that out.  The first time I tried plugging the USB into the back of my outlet iPhone charger and with the switch in the "off" position, so I'm guessing that it needs to be in the "on" position to charge.  There are no instructions, though, so I'm not really sure.  Either way, I'm glad I got it.  Most people were probably trying to get $90 handbags, but I just wanted the $20 duck speaker.

The other bird item I got was the Sicura Italian Designs Bird Catchall, which retails for $18.  At first I thought I would take it to work to hold the paperclips and other miscellaneous things floating around my desk, but I ended up putting it on my bookshelf.  It's decently heavy, I just wish the cup was a little bit deeper.  Overall I'm happy with it, though, because it's just so pretty.

My third item is my "big" item, the $88 Olivia+Joy Swanky Structured Satchel.  I wanted to get a camel/tan bag because I don't have any in that color, and I loved the shape and design of this bag.  I was a little disappointed with it when I got it, though, because I noticed a lot of little imperfections.  It doesn't look like an $88 bag at all; it seems very poorly made.  I'm currently emailing with LBB to see about an exchange, or at least an explanation on the poor quality, so we'll see how that goes.  I mostly just want to know why a supposedly new bag would have so many nicks, cuts, and scratches on it.  It's really a pretty bag from far away, but the more I examined it up-close the more tears I found along the outside.  Aside from that, I do like the bag.  It's the perfect size for me because I like bigger purses, but it's not so huge that I feel like I'm carrying around 10 lbs of things.  The outer zipper pocket is perfect for my phone and my work I.D. badge, and the inside is nice and roomy as well.  I would have been upset if I paid the full $88 for this bag, but even if LBB isn't able to give me an exchange (I noticed the imperfections after using it for a day), I'm just hoping that they might be able to shed some light on the situation.

Edit: I finally made a video!  It's pretty lame compared to other unboxing videos out there, but it'll give you an idea of what the items are like if you prefer videos to photos.  Once I get a better camera (I shot this with my iPhone) I plan to do better unboxing videos.

Bottom Line: I give this bag an 8 out of 10.  I love my two bird items, I'm okay with the handbag.  I still am obsessed with LBB and when it's my trading week I'm glued to the computer.  I'm not allowing myself to open another bag until at least mid-November, but I'm really excited for when that time rolls around!  Want to give it a try?  I'd be grateful if you signed up through my referral link.

Check out more photos of my items, along with some of the imperfections on the handbag, after the cut.

These are some of the images I sent to LBB's customer service about the tears and scratches on the bag.  They aren't high quality or anything because I just took them with my point-and-shoot, but you'll get the idea!

*Disclaimer: I purchased this bag with my own money and was not asked to review it.  I was not compensated for this review in any way and the honest opinions here are entirely my own.