Cambridge Satchel Company is one of those companies that started out small and grew incredibly quickly. Known for just one thing, satchels, the company focuses on a few products and aces them. Satchels aren’t for everyone, but they marketed to their niche and it worked well. Got a laptop, books, or laptops? Enter the satchel. Luckily for me, I’m able to say that I’ve visited the Cambridge Satchel Company in person. I’m also now the proud owner of a Cambridge Satchel Bag, and I’ll share how I got one for 10% of the price!
Visiting the Cambridge Satchel Company in Cambridge
Obviously when I was in Cambridge I had to visit the Cambridge Satchel Company. You don’t go to the motherland and avoid it, right? This shop is their flagship store, and although it isn’t huge, it is still rather impressive. (And rather busy.) The wall of satchels and batchels (briefcase satchels) prominently showcases their infamous bags, and the shop is a fast walk away from King’s College and Gonville and Caius College (where the founder matriculated). It is an interesting mix of small and familiar, and impressive and grand. And that seems quite suitable when you know the history of the company.
According to the company, “In 2008, Julie famously started The Cambridge Company with her mother Freda at her kitchen table in Cambridge. There are references to Julie’s kitchen throughout the Cambridge shop, from the colour palette, to the table tops and the mismatched china displayed on the shelves.” I personally loved the pops of plaid, and ideally, I would have one of the plaid/Harris tweed satchels they are currently selling (as of autumn 2019). The shop does a fantastic job of putting all of the attention onto the bags, and I admit, it makes you want to buy about 4 of them.
I splurged a lot of the trip, but £150+ on a handbag was not in the cards for this trip. (And if I’m being honest, it was more the size and weight that limited me, rather than the price.) From all of the reviews I’ve read and watched, they are incredibly durable and keep their shape. However, given that I bought a new Longchamp and a Cath Kidston weekender on the trip already, I couldn’t quite bring myself to buy a satchel.
I did have to get myself something, though- I’m not made of stone. I figured that logically I should try and get something specific to the Cambridge store, rather than just anything. There were some Cambridge specific passport covers, but as much as I like them, I can’t see myself using one. The Cambridge specific satchels are absolutely gorgeous in person and almost swayed me. However, I still didn’t have the room to bring one home with me. Enter: the Saffiano Keyring in Navy Leather, with the Cambridge crest. At £15, it certainly wasn’t the cheapest keyring ever, but it is one of my favourite souvenirs. It also may be one of the most durable keyrings that I’ve ever owned in my life…
How to Save on a Cambridge Satchel Co Bag
Now to admit something potentially embarrassing: I’ve wanted a Cambridge Satchel Company bag for nearly a decade. I discovered them in 2010, and have been quietly hunting ever since. When I was first looking at them, I was an undergraduate student and not exactly flush with cash. And now that I have slightly more cash, the prices have risen considerably and along with it, the customs that I would have to pay to bring it into Canada.
The Cambridge Satchel Company has sold through a few different channels since 2008. I would say the two most notable were Modcloth and then partnerships with J Crew. I’ve always considered the J Crew bags, as they have many different colours and polka dot options. (From my understanding, Modcloth was just a distributer of the standard satchels.) However, most of the bags that I’ve seen available online are in the 11- and 12-inch sizes. Ideally I wanted the satchel to be able to take my Chromebook and notebooks and work on blogging things in a different environment. That meant that I was limited to 14- and 15-inch satchels, seemingly impossible to find for the J Crew models. And the last piece of the puzzle? I wanted one of the fun colours they were originally known for! Nowadays, the satchels are mostly in black, brown, and oxblood, but once upon a time, they had blues, greens, pinks, and more…
You will notice from these pictures that my beautiful satchel is… purple! So, how did I get this for £19? Yes, £19. Good old eBay, folks! I was looking on the August long weekend, as I periodically like to check. For some reason, I didn’t change it to “Buy It Now” only, and this beautiful satchel was listed for £20. The seller didn’t have a “Buy It Now” option, but they did have a “Best Offer” option. If you are new to eBay, you can end an auction early if your offer is accepted through “Buy It Now”. I offered £18 just to see if they would take anything, they countered at £19, and it was done! With shipping and customs included it was under £44 (under $75 CAD), making it my greatest eBay victory ever. It arrived in just over two weeks from the UK, and now I have my own satchel!
14-inch Cambridge Satchel Bag
As I said, I have the 14-inch purple Cambridge Satchel bag, and it is the perfect size and colour for me. The company has a helpful page on what can fit into each size satchel here. They don’t say that you can fit a laptop into the 14-inch, but my 13 inch Chromebook fits straight across without a sleeve, and diagonally across with. Being that I won’t be walking very far with it, it is perfect for my blogging Chromebook and notebooks. (If you wanted to use it as a purse/handbag, you would have more than enough room.) There are a few scuff marks on the bag, but given that they aren’t overly noticeable and that it is a satchel, I’m more than okay with it. I hate having to baby a handbag, and a few scuffs makes me feel better about it.
Do you have a Cambridge Satchel Company bag?
Cheers,
The Historian
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