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Footwear has a label detailing the material - it's on the buyer to know whether it's leather or synthetic. Everyone knows it's up to the buyer of something on EBay to determine whether a product is authentic or not....
True, but a seller can be banned for selling counterfeit goods. I used to sell a lot of Ralph Lauren stuff on ebay, I would buy it at 80% or 90% off at outlet stores and I would usually price it just a bit cheaper than anyone else and some of the other sellers reported me for selling counterfeit goods- (obviously just to get rid of the competition) and each time it happened I had to send ebay photos and receipts from the store where I purchased the merchandise
Call me old fashioned, but prefer shopping in person. Yes, I drive my car and actually go into a store. Find best deals, what I like, what fits, etc. Not some bargain online that is a ripoff. For example, found a dress at Nordstrom Rack for 90% off then an additional 25%. Found what I liked, my size, and a good deal. Not to mention it was a little black dress that never goes out of style.
That's great if you live in an urban area with many stores and decent selection...try that in a town of 100,000 with dying malls and no department stores left except for Kohl's and Walmart - neither of which are really legitimate dept. store quality I'd expect.
In general, I find most merchandise to be of very poor quality, even name-brand, designer goods. This is why we need to make our own stuff!
I'd have to pay someone else to make stuff for me ... I'm about as handy as a 3 year old. I'm just glad for the trend of duct tape with cool colors & patterns; because anything I try to make or fix will inevitably require duct tape.
I've been wondering about the quality of established brands for a while; ever since I started seeing stores like Walmart offering Wrangler, Levi's, Dickies, Clark's & Dr. Scholl's...
Sometimes they are offered at half of the price I might see at BigR or even their own outlet stores so I have to wonder; are they the "same"?
My son's dad spent 4 hours yesterday just trying to get some Steel-toe workboots & found name brands at Walmart that were unacceptable due to synthetic materials (he's a welder; you don't want to melt your shoes onto your feet) & weak soles.
I guess one way to get around this is to shop stores that, for the most part, have a solid reputation for selling quality products and who will stand behind what they sell. LL Bean, Lands End, J Crew, and Brooks Brothers come to mind. Yes, they tend to be much pricier than other places. Purchase classics and then take care of what you have bought. I have dresses, shoes, coats, etc., from all of the merchants I listed that have been with me for 15+ years and are still in fantastic shape. My best to you!
I did a lot of shopping over the Xmas season , and a lot of returning merchandise . The quality level of some of the higher priced items I purchased is appalling.
Leather (?) Boots from Floreshiem - Made with what looks and feels like synthetic leather. To add insult to injury, the sole is made from imitation wood. The kind that is found on discount furniture. You cannot sew material onto it nor can you nail protectors to it. the material will CRACK in two if you do.
High End rolling duffle bags by Ogio- Retails around $269 - They sent the wrong color and the hardware (handle , zippers) feel extremely feeble. The nylon they used is ok but nothing I haven't felt before in much lower priced bags.
Counterfeit Ralph Lauren jacket from Ebay- The *Jacket was sent to me in a little envelope. How does a size XXL for a 5' 10" inch tall grown man fit into an Envelope ? Low quality counterfeit that's how.
The books from Amazon are great and the star of the show is THE SWEATERS I PURCHASED FROM THE UK for $100. Amazing quality.
To end on a low note.....I bought more junk and paid more for it then I ever could have imagined. I keep telling myself this is probably the worst time in decades for retail quality wise, yet I continue to swipe my card.
Love online shopping but the majority of this junk I wouldn't buy if it was on the shelf. On the other hand it NEVER is on the shelf. You go to a store these days and there is hardly anything there...so you wind up winging a blind buy to at least have the chance to get what you need.
I've got too much junk as it is. Maybe this is a wake up call for me.
I live out in the boondocks and do a lot of online shopping because I can't spend most of a day driving somewhere to buy a shower curtain or a pair of socks.
I find that LL Bean still has pretty good quality for most things, but it's not as good as 15 years ago. Lands End, where I've bought most of my clothes for most of my life, now sells the same lousy quality, lousy fabric, lousy construction garbage that you can find in any discount store, starting back when they were taken over by Sears. They're a huge disappointment.
As for Amazon, other than books, DVD's, and a few other things, their quality and service has become rapidly diluted with junk over the past 5 years.
I don't understand why formerly successful companies take a business model that worked and make changes that only serve to drive away loyal customers.
I guess I take a somewhat backward approach to online shopping, which I use mostly for clothing. Since I know the quality will be iffy I ONLY buy at 50-90% off prices, figuring I'll get a season or three of wear and then toss it. Usually it's out of style by then anyway so not a big deal. If I need to make a quality purchase I tend to do that at a brick and mortar.
That's great if you live in an urban area with many stores and decent selection...try that in a town of 100,000 with dying malls and no department stores left except for Kohl's and Walmart - neither of which are really legitimate dept. store quality I'd expect.
I know this may not sound like an ideal solution, but why not go the mail catalog route? Me, my mother and sister live in NYC where we have more retail than you can shake a stick at, but we buy via mail order all the time.
Call me old fashioned, but prefer shopping in person. Yes, I drive my car and actually go into a store. Find best deals, what I like, what fits, etc. Not some bargain online that is a ripoff. For example, found a dress at Nordstrom Rack for 90% off then an additional 25%. Found what I liked, my size, and a good deal. Not to mention it was a little black dress that never goes out of style.
Quote:
Originally Posted by reneeh63
That's great if you live in an urban area with many stores and decent selection...try that in a town of 100,000 with dying malls and no department stores left except for Kohl's and Walmart - neither of which are really legitimate dept. store quality I'd expect.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EastFlatbush
I know this may not sound like an ideal solution, but why not go the mail catalog route? Me, my mother and sister live in NYC where we have more retail than you can shake a stick at, but we buy via mail order all the time.
But of course! What I'm saying is that of course buying in person you can feel the thickness of the cashmere...whatever. But online/mail order (same difference) is sometimes the only option so you buy and you have to be prepared to return 25-33% of everything.
Believe me, I was buying mail order 40 years ago when everything took 4-8 weeks...I know "mail order".
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