Are you a young professional looking to purchase a new briefcase? It’s generally regarded that owning a briefcase helps in leaving a good impression and enables you to earn respect from fellow professional colleagues in the workplace.
Also, carrying a briefcase to work can show that you’re serious about your job and add prestige to your position. Thanks to its functionality and subdued yet appealing aesthetic value, having a briefcase is said to be a milestone for every young professional out there that’s aiming to make waves in the corporate world.
But how does one purchase the best briefcase? Here are some tips, consider it like a briefcase buying guide, to aid you in your quest of buying a great briefcase for your professional needs.
Choose Full Grain Leather
If you want to get the best bang out of your buck, it’s recommended that you go with a high-quality briefcase that comes in full-grain leather. Such a briefcase is believed to last longer and can save you a lot of money in the long run for you won’t need to plan on buying any replacements any time soon.
Different leather types come with a myriad of properties and price points depending on the needs of their would-be users. Many leather goods experts highly recommend the use of high-quality leather such as full-grain leather. But why? The best type of leather for your briefcase is full-grain because it’s higher quality and ages better. You should be able to see the type of leather on the product page, such as these leather briefcase bags from Von Baer. Other companies offer similar items as well.
Find The Right Briefcase Color
Briefcases come in a variety of colors to fit a number of occasions and working environments. The availability of color options makes briefcase buying an enjoyable experience because one can find a product that comes in a hue or shade that they dig for.
As a general rule though, corporate and career coaches advise briefcase buyers to choose a brown or black colored briefcase. These colors are said to be universal and can help build a professional look.
Before paying for your briefcase, ensure that its color integrates well with your career and the office look you don every workday.
Consider Laptop Friendliness
Laptops form an integral part of a young professional’s daily career tasks. Such individuals utilize laptops when working in the office or any other convenient place like at home. Due to the on-the-go mentality that many young professionals seem to embody today, make sure that a briefcase you’re planning to buy can allow its user to carry a laptop with ease wherever they go.
Besides, your laptop briefcase should be weather-resistant as well. This ensures your laptop and other essential gadgets aren’t easily affected by extreme weather conditions like high temperatures and heavy rainfall.
Select The Right Briefcase Size
Remote working set-up is said to have picked up steam as of late due to the global public health crisis plaguing the world today. It allows professionals to work from home or any other convenient place other than the office. This means that, apart from a laptop, a young professional like you will also need to carry other business documents with your briefcase when you decide to perform your job remotely.
Additionally, sometimes you might need to attend professional seminars and workshops in a distant location from your house where you’ll spend a few days or weeks away. During this situation, you’ll need to carry a handful of essential items like toothpaste and the like.
Hence, there’s a need to get the right briefcase size for all your professional needs. Your size selection should allow you to carry almost every necessary item when the situation calls for it. This helps avoid carrying more than one briefcase when attending to your professional duties. Assess your professional needs before settling on any briefcase size.
Consider The Weight
It’s highly recommended to find a lightweight briefcase and consider the weight of your carry-on bag.
Carrying a heavy bag may cause you to get tired even before reaching your working station. This can affect your cognitive wellbeing, thus leading to you possibly losing your concentration.
Furthermore, having to use an already heavy briefcase can be challenging if you need to put a lot of items inside it for work purposes.
Hence, you need to find a light-weighted briefcase you can carry with ease. This is important, especially if you spend a lot of time carrying your bag or moving from one place to another. Having less work-related worries may even help you relax after a whole day of work.
Compare Briefcase Costs
Most of the available briefcases provide almost similar services yet their costs might significantly differ. Buy a briefcase that’s within your budget. However, if you want a larger or high-quality briefcase, you should be ready to fish out more money out of your pocket.
At the same time, you need to understand that the cost of a briefcase doesn’t always reflect its quality. Some sellers attach high prices to low-quality briefcases to attract buyers’ attention and make them think that they’re getting a luxury item. Do research to determine if the price attached to a briefcase actually reflects its make and quality.
Determine The Briefcase’s Country Of Origin
Are you looking to buy a high-quality leather briefcase? If your answer is yes, you need to identify its country of origin first before deciding on a choice. Some countries are believed to produce higher-quality briefcases compared to others. Look around for pieces of information to find which countries are known to produce original and long-lasting leather briefcases. After that, buy your bag made from one of those countries.
Review The Seller’s Reputation
There are several briefcases sellers out there. Nevertheless, not all of them are genuine. Some are there to con you of your hard-earned money. Don’t settle on a company or store you just first clicked over the Internet. Conduct an investigation to find a reputable briefcase seller.
You can learn about the reputation of a specific briefcase seller by reading and analyzing online reviews. These are comments left by other professionals after buying their bags from a particular seller or interacting with them.
Online reviews can either be positive or negative. Positive reviews show that the briefcase seller in question is reputable. Consider buying your bag from such a company.
On the other hand, you must be worried about purchasing your professional briefcase from a seller with negative reviews. They indicate that most other buyers never got the chance to enjoy great products and services from your preferred seller. Steer away from them at all costs.
Sometimes you can make an order and receive the wrong item or a torn briefcase. This occurs especially when you purchase from an online store. That’s why apart from reputation, you also need to find a seller that provides a warranty.
A warranty is a written document by the seller promising to exchange or repair your briefcase if it fails to serve your interests. It’s advised that you carefully read and understand your seller’s warranty terms and conditions before buying from them.
Takeaway
Carrying a briefcase is the way to go if you want to appear professional and trustworthy while flaunting its rich history. It can help you to impress and gain respect from others. Planning to buy a briefcase soon? The briefcase buying guide above can help you out with your plan.