I am giving up online shopping for clothes

[Mynameistallullah]

I've fallen for a shitty fashion website which looked legit to me. Prices were too good to be true though which should have been a big old 🚩.

I am usually quite cautious but this looked like orthopedic footwear type stuff. If it had been heavily discounted chanel or something I'd never have fallen for it, but this was comfortable, sensible footwear 🤓, which I needed for work. That's how they got me tbh as I was loath to spend a lot of money on not very attractive, sensible shoes for work...

Got the shipping notification today and noticed they're shipping from China which was another 🚩. Googled reviews and ugh, not good. Looked up their returns policy and also not good. So I'm basically an idiot 😂 😢

Anyway, I've decided I'm not buying from any more online shops. Fuck's sake.

I started another thread earlier and it wouldn't post because it had the name of the shop in the title and it got filtered out, so that's another 🚩

Just posting for a small rant and to declare my abstention from online shopping 🧐

Fascinating that without any experience at all you assume that everything bought online must be cheap!

My online shopping over the past twenty years has been nothing like the bad experiences related here. Given that I had forty years of frequenting physical shops beforehand, I have no difficulty assessing fabric, stitching, quality of cut and depth of colour from the meticulous photos and videos I expect on the sites I buy from. With clothes there are usually detailed measurements for each garment size, so it’s quite rare that I make a mistake. I’ve bought shoes costing multiples of the price of Clark’s online, and been tremendously satisfied. If the size is wrong I send them back and exchange them for the correct size. It’s fun to explore shops when travelling, but in the UK I almost never use physical shops for clothes shopping.

But I admit I’ve never strayed into dodgy sites selling suspiciously cheap AI manufactured imports!

Totally agree - I’m normally quite savvy but been caught twice in last month - bought some fit flop sandals on eBay - UK seller and enough good reviews
Turned out to be a shill site shipping through Ireland (not NI) the items were fake, shipped from china - took forever to arrive - cost me £12 to return and I’ve had no refund so out of pocket over £50

If I buy shoes from Clarks or trousers from John Lewis, it'll be a bit more expensive, but they'll be a good product.

Clarks and John Lewis both have online shops.

I'm responding to the OP and her experience. Mainly. If it's very cheap, it's not likely to be something you'd get at Vestiaire.

Yes. That's the point. It's not an overseas discount store.

I'm going to get absocrap into a conversation today. Love it!

Can you not just limit online shopping to a handful of trusted retailers?

Oh I think it might be similar to what happened with me. Only to return mine they had to go back to Germany, from memory. When I wanted to return they were trying to put me off, I mean very thoughtful to say don't pay the postage for them to have to go all the way, kind of thing.
But just saying we will refund you part of the cost, I said no and I think they pushed further, and in the end they finally gave me details to return 🤦‍♀️
It would have softened the blow lol if the footwear had actually been decent. I have various foot problems, and so I thought they looked good.
It was like walking barefoot so they went straight back in through box.

Yes avoid such sites.
And if you do order from online then at least use the official ones/better known.

Its the wild west unfortunately.
Pay with paypal or a credit card if over £50 so you have some protection.
Always stick to UK based shops.
That said many lie on the likes of Ebay and are actually in China. But ebay has protection for buyers.

I've given up too, nothing is ever a size that tallies with another retailer so in some online shops I'm a 14/16 and in others I'm more a size 18. I can't be bothered with returns either. I used to like Everything £5 but they've recently changed to far higher prices.

I now just use secondhand shops. Where I live there are a few right opposite my pub where I live. In fact my DCs are volunteering in one that takes on teens with autism and/or anxiety. They're doing so well from it. The amount of very good names I can find is shocking.

I particularly like M&S stuff, it's well made, sizes are excellent too. Where I work long hours front of house I like to look good but prefer practical clothes that I can bung in the washing machine. Their jeans are great and comfy too.

I have been lured by the Sheit absocrap a few times, to my shame and regret. But even my online shopping experience with decent shops has also been a bit rubbish and I'm forever sending things back as they just aren't as good as they looked, or they just plain don't fit. I hate real life shopping as well, so that's a bummer all round. But I must join in with the Etsy disappointment, having used them in the past to buy quirky individual presents from independent little craft businesses, and now it's being very much infiltrated with absocrap. Even to the point of non-physical things you would think you couldn't go wrong with. I wanted a dxf cutting file so I could make a bichon frise dog plaque thing on my waterjet machine for my friend, paid for it, received the file, and it's completely unusable. No returns. Argh.

Yes, I think I'm going to do this and also limit it to shops where I can order online but return in person at a store. Or go in person, secondhand etc. Basically no more new to me sites online. And still avoid the big nasties like Sheit and a tem...poo (so crude, sorry, but I saw the pp say sheit and just went with the theme)

I'm so happy about absocrap 😂. Almost worth the £50...almost

I buy thing's from Shein. I check the size guide and measure myself with an inch tape to get the right size. I have got tops and shirts from them. I like to see and try on trousers.
Friends of mine have bought shoes and runners from Shein and gone up a size and were happy with them. Shein have a number of brand names on their site and have more expensive ranges that are higher quality.

I think that if something that claims to have x brand or looks like X brands for sale at £30 but the same x brand is £90 in the shop it to good to be true. I have a good look at the website and see if has a business address and where the items are shipped from.
Look up online by putting the address in Google so see if the company is at that address.
In regards to shoes pavers and hotter both have online website and often have offers on shoes. Friends of mine have bought from here and had no problems. M & M direct also do shoes, sports gear ect and it's good value.

I think that online shopping can give you more options clothes wise especially if you're a plus size and then buying from reputable websites in the sales can save you money as well.

The other one was a dress from Freya London - purporting to be another U.K. based company supposedly offering a full refund policy - dress was terrible quality, colour and fabric not as described - was supposed to be 2XL and looked to be around a size 14, they offered a 40% discount which I refused have now opened up a PayPal dispute on both items

Some of the photos online are just not good enough. Or the descriptions. Eg I had a look at a jumper on Sezane, £135, has wool and something else. How much of each is anyone’s guess. Or I want to know length. Or if it’s a V neck, how does it look on a model. Don’t give just 2 photos of back and front of the item. If they can’t be bothered with photos and descriptions, I can’t trust them with my money either. Sorry, that turned a bit ranty.

Always stick to UK based shops.

What I used to love, pre-Brexit, was the limitless opportunity to buy clothes online from fabulous European stores. Now the complications with customs duties are so onerous that some places have stopped delivering to the UK altogether. Thankfully a few places include duties in the price of items, but still, shopping options have been massively reduced.

@ANagsHead that’s so true. We recently had an item from the EU delivered to address abroad and collected when we visited a couple of weeks later. The faff of having it sent to the UK wasn’t worth it. It was a book, so obviously nothing we needed to send back.

The possibilities are endless, absotrash, absogreat, absobrilliant, absolove...

Hopefully there will be a trend back to in person shopping

I never said that everything online must be cheap. I think you have the wrong poster.
I said that I like to look and feel the product before I buy. Personal choice.