wholesale

The clasp on one of the straps of my backpack broke， and today I stopped by to ask about getting it fixed; turns out they can do a small repair like that while you wait. So I ran home and got my bag， and made it back to the store by closing time; the guy put a new part on， at no charge.

Crumpler of Australias little shop in the you ass of ay (their words).  Great design， durable construction， and funky marketing make their bags a conversation starter just about every day.  I have the Luncheon， the Horseman， the Considerable Embarrassment， the Period Charmer， the....

Mixed Feelings About This Little Shop

NOTE: I noticed the star rating for this store is rather high， but now I see that those are explained by people adding high-star ratings because they want one of the bags， but not because they actually bought one and used one. That leaves a very misleading score， people.

In short， if you need a bag that LOOKS great， these are beautiful; if you need a bag that is functional and practical for life as a pedestrian， particularly in NYC， then they are barely acceptable， especially for the price. Just a small bag can set you back over $100， while a simple backpack with no compartments can cost over $200.  Just not worth it if you need it for more than aesthetics.

1. V little variety to choose from

2. Horrible sales staff - we were the only customers there. Person behind the counter stayed glued to her computer and ignored us. When we were discussing the bags， she rudely interrupts twice with an exasperated tell me what you are looking for and acts like we are imposing on her day. She tells us nothing about the products and shows us items that are complete opposite of our requirements. Needless to say - when you can get crumpler products online for attractive prices， its not worth visiting the store where you are clearly not welcome.

2) I dont have a trust fund， so I couldnt buy them all.

Excellent， patient， good-spirited employees here， and considering how disappointed Ive been with the bags， thats saying a lot.

The customer service is great! I couldnt get to the city right away so my camera bag was put on hold for me for two days and they even offered to call me when the camera strap I wanted was back in stock!  I just wish they would bring back Beer for Bags.  For now I can have some fun and tell everyone that my beloved camera lives in a green 5 Million Dollar Home and its strap is an Industry Disgrace.

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A little expensive， but they last.  Messenger bags， iPod holders...the needs for the modern gal or guy on the go.  And they all come emblazoned with that cute little crumpler guy.

Im always surprised by the questions/compliments I get onCrumpler Bagscrumpler bag my Crumpler bag. I didnt buy it for show， but for work. Their tote-styled bag fits my 15 MacBook Pro perfectly and is super sturdy and will likely not need repairing for a very long time.

Also， the store itself is awesome.  Some dude had to go into a store nearby that didnt allow dogs， so they watched his dog for him in the meantime.  That rules.

Great product but this store has two drawbacks:

The woman behind the register was very helpful， I told her what I needed and got the bags I wanted， and she wrote them down for me so I could check the other colors available online. The prices on their website can be a little cheaper ($10-15)， but I also found a bag that was $10 cheaper at the store before shipping.

1) I could not decide which bag to buy. Too many good choices.

I gave the store 5 stars because of its Beer for Bags sale. Once a year (I believe) you bring them a particular kind and amount of beer (for example a six pack of Pilsner Urquell) and they exchange it for a brand new bag.

and I take them with me everywhere.

Oh man.  Crumpler has got what is possibly the most attractive window display Ive ever seen.  Its like the downtown version of Bergdorf-at-Christmastime.  Every time I pass Crumpler I feel sad that I am so poor， but the window is so pretcrumpler bagty that I end up smiling anyway.

Return policy sucks， since you cannot get a refund.  You can get credit or exchange within two weeks of purchase. I was forced to spend more money in order to get a bag that was minimally acceptable.

I have to say if I didnt love my Crumpler bags enough， being able to get it repaired on the fly has just clinched it. Ill buy them any kind of beer they want!

I often stop in to see what new colors they have in stock， because my parents pharmacy is right next door (shameless plug: abcd.yelp.com/bi...). If youre looking for a functional bag at OK prices， this is a good place to check out.

The design of these bags are gorgeous， but their functionality is extremely limited.  Pockets unzip so that contents fall out; snaps are retracted into the design so that fingers twist uncomfortably and painfully to unsnap， or you have to take off the bag entirely to get to it.  Velcro dominates the design， which is fine until you realize just how horrible that sound is on a constant basis. Sleeves are sown in awkward ways that divide them into pockets that all bleed together and that make them useless.  Main compartments are either way too small， or so huge that theres no way of organizing anything.

Love the custom bags...Ive posted a picture of mine above. Note: mine was made in Australia， but I have no doubt the same can be made in NYC at this shop.

Gotta love that barter.

They do custom bags， but I havent bought one so I cant testify.

Update: I had the folks at the Crumpler store make a custom designed bag for my bf (xmas gift). The design was pretty complicated (take on Penny Arcade comic strip)， and they were really meticulous about everything. I was super impressed with the final result， and they finished the bag in less than 2 weeks!

I did not buy anything from Crumpler because:

Good stuff.  Tad on the pricey side， but whatever.  They have a great selection of messenger-style bags， though I wish they had a few more on the backpack side.  I ended up with a Yee Ross backpack， which I was a bit so-so on in the store but was pretty impressed when I got home.  TONS of pockets for the size.  Good design.

People who think Manhattan Portage bags are so five minutes ago， will love this store. Similar materials and range of functions (ipod holder to messenger bag to backpack) but each have a cute cartoon guy， come in a wider variety of colors， and are slightly more affordable.

Being the cheap， poverty-stricken shopper， I did manage to score the cutest， tiniest box of matches. I wonder if they still have those...

The bags are sturdy and well designed. They have a pretty specific aesthetic， and Ive found it can be kind of a love/hate thing.

Crumpler Bagscrumpler bag，I asked about the next Beer For Bags promotion， and he said they hadnt set a date for it yet.