Chantelle Znideric is an award winning celebrity stylist, personal shopper and fashion writer with a monthly fashion column and regularly contributions to the national press with fashion features, interviews, style advice, expert quotes and fashion tips. Chantelle will show you that it doesn't have to cost the earth to look a million dollars.
As a stylist I’ve bought and sold numerous items from eBay and it’s a great resource for fashionistas looking for that unique vintage coat or fabulous pair of nearly new Jimmy Choo shoes. It’s a myth that stylists only buy designer or from high-end boutiques but if you’re good at what you do you’ll sniff out quality one-off pieces from wherever.
It has been a learning process in terms of successful purchases and fortunately I’m not as naive now than when I first started using this site. I use eBay to buy new clothing, vintage items – anything and everything that catches my eye. In this economic downturn more people are becoming increasingly shopping savvy so if that means buying from eBay so be it – it’s those wise purchases that will get you noticed!
I have sold lots of nearly new and second hand stuff, it’s an easy way of making a bit of cash quickly! The listing process is fairly painless but I do find that it’s quite time consuming - you’ll find huge essays from some eBay sellers and others will just write a few lines.
Here are my top five tips for buying successfully on eBay:
- Look for items if they say ‘BNWT (Brand new with tags)’ or ‘NWT (New without tags)’. This is obvious that the item is brand new still with tags attached or new without tags / fairly new, therefore just worn once or twice.
- When searching for an item of clothing always enter the brand name in the search bar and the gender title; ‘ladies or men’, the more vague you are the more items eBay will list for you. However, if you know exactly what you are looking for you can type in a more specific description. Sometimes I will be more vague in my searching method so that I can browse through everything.
- Take care when buying designer items on eBay, my friends and I have bought from listings where the descriptions have been written cleverly to make us think that the item is genuine and has turned out to be completely fake! Sometimes sellers are so blatant about their item descriptions they don’t care about fellow eBayers. They will still often sell you something that isn’t genuine just so they can make a quick buck. Don’t take the item descriptions so literally. If you are unsure about the item or description email the seller before you place a bid, they should answer you within a day or so to put your mind at rest.
- If the images of the item are copied from a retailers website, such as the John Lewis website, it’s likely the merchandise is fake. But, if the price is too good to miss, you can always email the seller and ask them to send you some pictures of the actual item, so that you can see what it looks like for yourself.
- Be wary of people who don’t have a very high rating, this could cause problems when it comes to them paying you ... the experience could be quite painful. My mind is always at rest when I am buying from someone who has a high rating, this tells you that they use eBay a lot and also that they know the process well. You can always check the sellers’ feedback to also put your mind at rest.
