Found the handbag of your dreams online? You are not alone.

It's a bag-crazy world out there; humans have never been this obsessed with handbags. Everyday, thousands of consumers worldwide are harnessing the power of the internet to search for their dream handbag. Whether it be a $15 clutch from Target or a $8,000 Hermès Birkin bag on eBay, more and more people are using the internet to buy the bag of their dreams.

The question is, do people know their seller well?

From plagiarized copy and stolen images to counterfeit bags and failure to provide refunds, many buyers are being fooled daily by fraudulent online merchants.

Before you or anyone else buy a high-ticket handbag online, be sure to know your seller well.

Sincerely,

Team Know Your Seller


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Hermes Galleria, Haley's Couture, Sac Exotique, Worth Avenue Online

All information found on this website are current and valid as of Friday, July 28, 2006. We invite you to check some of the sources and references on this website. All of the information provided came from third-party sources and we have saved them for "documentation purposes". Hermes Galleria, Haley's Couture, Sac Exotique and Worth Avenue Online may change some of the information in order to protect their interests.

The Matthews couple have it going: an "office" in Palm Beach, Florida, a "store" in Paris, France, several online websites, a book entitled "Handbags of the Fabulous" and of course, the Hermes Birkin t-shirt. At first glance, it all looks credible. But who would've suspected that Michael Matthew Jr. and Roslynn N. Gaiter Matthew have a very illegal (and very fake) Hermes Birkin bag operation under the radar?

Here are several things you may want to know:

Company Profile

Hermes Galleria (www.hermesgalleria.com), Sac Exotique (www.sacexotique.com) and Haley's Couture Galleria (www.haleyscouture) are all fictitious trade names. They are not registered with the State of Florida. Instead, the Matthews are operating under the wing of Michael Matthew, Jr.'s publishing company, "Early Rise Publications, LLC" (www.earlyrisepublications.com).

According to the State of Florida Division of Corporations, Early Rise Publications, LLC was registered on May 16, 2006 by Michael Matthew, Jr. [View source] Click the screenshot below to enlarge.

Hermes Galleria, Sac Exotique and Haley's Couture Galleria claim that they've been in business for "5 years". If that's the case, how come they're operating under the wing of "Early Rise Publications, LLC" (as mentioned on their websites)? Early Rise Publications was registered with the State of Florida on May 16, 2006. Perhaps they've been operating under other unregistered business names?

Don't be fooled by their "Palm Beach" office. Their office address, 350 S.County Rd, Ste 102-134, Palm Beach, FL 33480 is a mail receiving service provided by MAILBOX OF PALM BEACH (www.mailboxofpalmbeach.com) [View Source]

Here's what it said on the "Mailbox of Palm Beach" website: "Enjoy the benefits that a prestigious location can provide for you. Our unique services offer you a "Palm Beach Address" that is known around the world and we in turn handle all the details for you. So, if you want your business to reside in Palm Beach and still have the freedom to be any place else, we can do it for you."

Also, there's another address filed with the State of Florida:


Could this be the extremely fabulous home address of Birkin resellers Michael and Roslynn Matthew? We found a satellite photo of their fabulous "home", courtesy of Google Maps. Do they live in a condo? [View Source]




The Non-Existent Paris Office

Hermes Galleria, Sac Exotique and Haley's Couture Galleria claimed they have a boutique in Paris at 68 rue du Faubourg St. Honore. A search online revealed that the address they provided is the Roberto Cavalli boutique. In addition, the Parisian boutique address belongs to Regus Business Centers, who provides "virtual offices" all over the world. [View Source]

There is NO Haley's Couture Galleria boutique in Paris. Michael and Roslynn Matthews pay around $250 a month to have a virtual address in the city of lights.

Here's a photo of the building's exterior...

Domain Names

Here's our finding on their domain names. Their service provider concealed contact information using "private registrations".

www.hermesgalleria.com - purchased on October 6, 2003

www.haleyscouture.com - purchased on December 31, 2005 (Pathetic if they spent their New Year's Eve online. *kidding* No offense to internet geeks out there!)

www.sacexotique.com - purchased on April 24, 2006

www.earlyrisepublications.com - purchased on April 30, 2006

***You decide if they have been operating for 5 years as they claim to do so.***

Handbags of the Fabulous

Hermes Galleria, Sac Exotique, Haley's Couture Galleria and Early Rise Publications, LLC owner Roslynn N. Gaiter Matthew released a book entitled "Handbags of the Fabulous". They also promote this book extensively on their websites, in addition to eBay, Amazon.com, etc.

Clearly Roslynn doesn't practice what she preaches on her book. Click the link below for an in-depth account of a buyer who got scammed by Roslynn and her group of companies. A buyer who lives internationally (that's right!) paid more or less $6,750 of their hard-earned cash for what they thought was a genuine Hermes Birkin bag.

http://haleyscouturefakes.blogspot.com

Imagine the shock and horror when the Birkin bag turned out to be FAKE!

The buyer even went to Hermes in Hong Kong to have them officially authenticate the bag and the sales staff pretty much kicked them off the store. They won't even let them look at scarves!

To this date, Haley's Couture refuse to refund the buyer's money. They even have the nerve to ask the buyer to send the fake bag. How can the buyer trust Haley's Couture when they sent her a fake bag in the first place?

We investigated the case further and came out with shocking information...

"Handbags of the Fabulous" author Roslynn N. Gaiter Matthew filed for a personal Chapter-7 Bankruptcy on March 2005 with the bankruptcy court of Baltimore, MD. Her joint bankruptcy was discharged on the same year. The case number is 0438829ESD. This is a matter of public information.

Roslynn also have a charged-off signature loan amounting to $17,500 in addition to an unpaid and charged-off account with MBNA America totalling $6,700.

She moved several times across the state of Maryland between 2003 and 2005 before finally settling down in Florida for a fresh start.

It's none of our business to judge her financial position (albeit a public record). However, she's been given a clean slate -- and she used that clean slate to scam unsuspecting people.


eBay

Roslynn N. Gaiter Matthew is currently listed on eBay as "worth*avenue*online". [View Source]. They sell various Birkin-related items on that account, including but not limited to, their Handbags of the Fabulous book, the "Got a Birkin?" t-shirt and of course, FAKE BIRKIN BAGS!

We feel absolutely sorry for eBay member "Member147897" who bought a $6,100 Birkin Bag from "worth*avenue*online" on this auction. [View Source]. This buyer bought a "2003 TOGO LEATHER BIRKIN" with year "G" STAMP -- the SAME *fake* birkin bag they sold to another buyer (except it was stamped year H).

Only Roslynn knows the truth. Only Roslynn knows how many people got scammed with her fake Birkin handbags and how many thousands of dollars she got out of her devious operation.

Note to Roslynn: STOP SCAMMING PEOPLE.
Note to Buyers: Before you invest several thousands of dollars on handbags online, KNOW YOUR SELLER.


Team Know Your Seller