The short answer on Lulu Backpack is below, and the honest version is that it depends on two or three things rather than one. Price splits into materials, labour, volume and brand margin, and only the first two are visible in the product. Small production runs cost more per unit, which is why a lesser-known label can be dearer than a famous one. Leather darkens where your hand sits, which is not damage; it is the bag settling. The groups below run from the decision that matters most to the ones you make afterwards.

What decides this is capacity, closure and strap drop. Everything else is preference. Two from the first group show the range: Betsey Johnson's CLEAR BACKPACK DOTS at $98, and agjeans.com's Milan Backpack at $245. The first is the easy entry point; the second is where the money goes. A strap drop under 22cm will not clear a winter coat. Unlined canvas is lighter but shows every mark; treat it before first use. A higher price mostly buys materials and finishing, and occasionally it buys nothing at all.

One structured bag does more work than three soft ones. Match the bag to the day, not the outfit. From the second group, Antler USA's Discovery 28L Backpack in Dark Forest Green ($195) is the one that earns its place, because it works in more than one context without being restyled. The third group is smaller and deliberately narrower, bags, for the decisions you make after the main one. None of this needs the whole group. One piece from each is usually enough.

There are 20 bags here from 13 brands, $46 to $495, all in stock when this was written. We would not buy all of them, and neither should you. Eddie Bauer's 20L Venture Backpack at $46 is the low-risk way in, and A.P.C.'s Trek 20 Backpack at $495 only makes sense if this is a category you already use constantly. On lulu backpack specifically: the difference between the top and the bottom of this list is real but smaller than the price gap suggests. Nothing here is included because it is famous, and price is not used as a proxy for quality anywhere on this page. If you take one thing away: the piece you reach for on a rushed morning is the one that was worth the money.