A Calpak Review: Low Quality, High Prices, and Censorship
The Purchase
In December 2023, I was in the market for some new luggage. I saw an ad on Instagram for a brand called Calpak - some influencers that I followed liked the post, so I decided to check them out. They were offering a special, and their products had some great reviews. In fact, there was hardly a 3-, 2-, or 1-star review in sight, if at all. So, I decided to make a purchase.
I ended up purchasing the Evry Starter Bundle in Chocolate and the Luke Duffel in Chocolate. The starter bundle retailed for $545 and was on sale for $299, featuring 1 carry-On, 1 large check-in, the 5-piece packing cube set, and 1 luggage tag. The duffel retailed for $128. The promotion gave me $85 off, so both items together ended up totaling $365.09.
First Impressions
Upon receiving my order, I opened up the bundle first. My first thought was that it was extremely light and cheap-feeling. The casing just felt super thin and that it wouldn’t hold up at all in any rough standards, and I think we all know how the airport staff handles baggage. I opened up the large suitcase, with it just barely grazing up against the stone wall in my house. When I flipped it over, it was scratched. Let me again emphasize how it barely even touched the wall and was already scratched. I touched the wall again extremely lightly to make sure I hadn’t, in fact, pressed it too hard into the wall. Another scratch. I was shocked. And just to confirm my opinions, I had my dad take a look at the luggage, as well. He was not impressed.
As for the duffel bag, I had a similar thought: extremely cheap feeling. It also wasn’t very large. It advertises being able to fit a 15” laptop, which I’m not sure how you’d fit a computer that large in the bag. But again, my main issue with how incredibly cheap it felt. The $138 price point is beyond insane to me and not worth it at all.
The Reviews
I returned both items and immediately left 1-star reviews. Months later, my reviews are nowhere to be found on Calpak’s website. Once again, I was shocked, because I realized I had likely been bamboozled. How many other low reviews have people left, but not been permitted to post on the website? No wonder the reviews are so high on these items - Calpak is censoring them.
I immediately tried searching for anyone discussing this topic, which Reddit is a good place to look for this kind of discourse. Nothing on Reddit. I haven’t seen anyone discuss the alleged review-censoring. In fact, the Reddit users seemed to like Calpak, which was even more confusing.
Marshalls
Shortly after, I decided to take a look at Marshalls for some luggage. Guess what I found? Calpak. The fact that Calpak is able to be sold at Marshalls at a lower price but still for profit suggests something, doesn’t it? Maybe that the prices on Calpak’s website are severely inflated. Now, the luggage I found at Marshalls wasn’t the same exact kind — the Evry — as I had purchased from the website. But still. Who would purchase from the website for those prices when you could just go to Marshalls?
I didn’t end up purchasing the luggage I found at Marshalls, but I did find more options later at TJ Maxx. They had a bigger, better stock, and I did end up buying the ones I found. I don’t know the name of the set I purchased, but it has a much sturdier casing with some grit to it. I bought the carry-on, medium-sized, and large suitcases. The carry-on and medium-size were $80 each, and the large suitcase was $100. So that comes out to $260 for the set of three suitcases, plus tax, making it still less than $300. Remember, the original set I purchased didn’t even include the medium-sized luggage in it, so this set I made myself at TJ Maxx had more in it and was cheaper!
Conclusion
If I were you, I would tread very lightly on the Calpak website. Don’t let the high-rated reviews influence you too much, as we can guess they have censored the low reviews and that that’s the reason why there aren’t any — NOT because the product is just that amazing. Instead, if you’re interested in purchasing something from the brand, check your local Marshalls or TJ Maxx. You’re likely to get a way better deal there. Plus, if the quality doesn’t end up holding up, you can relax as you’ve spent way less money on it than if you purchased from the website. You can also get a good feel for the products there, if you still prefer to buy online. That way, you can at least see some of the quality of the brand in person, first.