Mumsnet Talk

Currently on the diet from hell and refusing to buy any new clothing - to keep myself motivated I've started to spend my previous wine budget on Ebay and got into bargain hunting big time!

Current successes have included:
Genuine Hermes scarf - £65 [a little foxed but we'll see how it cleans up]
Cashmere sweaters - £12-22
Silk Joseph blouse - £16
Wrap London cardigan - £12.55
Hobbs leather handbag - £17.00

I'm mostly buying as new/excellent condition designer clothing in quality fabrics and building a capsule wardrobe.

Anyone else similarly afflicted?

Today I won a new Dior leather skirt for £10 - was listed as 'skirt', WTF! Other recent successes have been £1.99 Goldsigns and a £100 Matches voucher for less than £30.

i'm selling an original 80s Escada jacket right now for under a tenner! admittedly it's not immaculate though

I've been buying loads for years, totally obsessed.

Vivienne Westwood brand new dress, still on sale for £295
- got it for £60
Jimmy Choo new shoes - were £400, got them for £30
Anya Valorie, brand new -£150 (not cheap but 350 in the shop and I'd wanted it for years)
Gina red satin and rhinestone shoes, utterly gorgeous - have worn them loads - £23, again they were new and priced at £300

You can get new, silk 1940's stockings on eBay for under a tenner.

I have no idea why anyone shops anywhere else

Beautiful Coast dress for £10.20

Oh bugger, now I am jealous. Is the secret to relentlessly comb through the listings?

look for spelling mistakes and also use the 'tick' as brand name might not be in title..as in Amber's Dior skirt. When i was a Benefit (makeup) fan, i purchased virtually everything i wanted by looking up mispellings (therefore, less bidders and watchers) Sometimes i even sold it on, for 2 or 3 times the price!

eg benfit benifit benafit benefit's etc

Nope, you download the app and set up a ton of saved searches for the brands you like

It even notifies you when new stuff has been listed.

Not as designer as some of these bargains buy my best buy has been a monsoon winter coat with tags. I won it for 99p and saved on postage by collecting it as the seller was local

Lily & Lionel zebra scarf for £30.
Jigsaw skirt £2.20 - resold for £15 6 months later
Lots of vintage silk scarves for £2-£10.
Pure Collection silk shirt - £15
Cashmere jumpers, various bargains!

I've got some great bargains but I've also learnt some lessons - especially that there are a LOT of fakes out there, I now only buy brands that I know very well and know their labels/styles/fabrics etc and if the label isn't shown and I'm suspicious I ask for more pics - some sellers don't respond, others pretend their camera is broken. I never buy any clothes/shoes etc from overseas sellers and ask plenty of questions if I'm slightly suspicious.

Agreed @cassell re. fakes - I was very lucky with the Hermes - a 1962 less popular colourway - there are a couple of forums out there that will authenticate for you with loads of pix.

@Einsty - I trawl but try and limit to what I'm after, so if it's cashmere I'm only looking for cashmere and focus on that.

I also avoid many business sellers and focus more on private sellers - if you find one with one item to your taste, chances are that there will be one or two more things they're selling too.

Yves S L coat £50 inc delivery (heavy)
Basler dress £12
50s trilby £9
got burned on Viv W Red label trousers, though, they looked great until they started unravelling at the knees