@JaneD: Part of it is probably that they tend to be specialty purses of a sort since I can't find anything I like at the department stores. The $5 purse from etsy was made out of a pillow from an anime convention. The previous one I had found in Leavenworth (German tourist trap) on sale...it was leather but the magnetic snap ripped off after a few months of constant use.
The rest? Probably
this.
@Sweetpea Backpacks are great, but don't they seem like overkill sometimes? Then again, I guess if you're carrying enough to fill most of the department store purses, maybe not!!