Ebay for wedding dresses.

lisajane8482

Has anyone got any experience buying a dress from China on ebay?

I am currently thinking of buying one, they have good feedback and I know the dress will most likely not be an exact replica of the picture but with our wedding being on a budget I thought money saved on the dress could be spent on the recpetion.

What are peoples experiences/advice.

sophsnan

My sil ordered a prom dress from one of these sites and it came back very small neice is only size 6 or 8. Why not looked at some of the pre loved wedding dresses on ebay at least you know the sizes should be ok

SugarSpun

I got my dress custom made on ebay, it was absolutely perfect and completely stunning - and £90 delivered, as opposed to the £980 a similar dress would have cost in a shop. I think if you're planning quite a plain dress or in love with a style rather than a particular dress then ebay's a great idea, but if you've found one you love with detailed embroidery and a particular designer dress then look for a secondhand one because the ebay version won't be as good.

Edit: here's my dress (not the best picture but at least you can see the fit):

White_Sapphire

You can get a bargain this way, but there are so many horror stories of brides who received dresses not fit for purpose, that didn't fit, in cheap fabric, and basically looking nothing like the picture. They never get their money back because these companies simply don't care, as long as they get your money.

It's a big risk - if you're going to go for it, do it in plenty of time so that you can get a replacement if needed, and can afford to lose your money.

There are other ways to get a dress for a bargain price - preloved or ebay (click the 'used' box to eliminate the Chinese copies), sample sales at bridal shops, buying a prom or bridesmaid's dress in white or ivory... Have a look through some of the threads on here to see what other people have done.

x

soolin

Remember if buying a dress from the far east it will attract duty and taxes, as well as a handling charge on arrival in the UK . Remember also that if it is not as described you will need to return it fully tracked at your own expense to get a refund- but should that happen then ask on the ebay board for a suitable courier as RM do not offer a suitable service and a courier will be cheaper anyway.

Apart from the loss on return postage, there is no need to lose any other money as long as you remember all the normal rules for buyer protection when using ebay. People forget some of those rules when buying something so emotive, but basically you only have 45 days from date of paypal payment to make a claim.

shellsuit

If you can afford to lose the money should it be awful/not arrive/be the wrong size etc, then go for it.

If you can't afford to lose any money, I'd have a look on eBay for a new sample or 2nd hand dress.

My dress should have been £995 yet I paid £179 on ebay for it as it was a sample/last season style.

It_is_me

Hi,

Don’t do it!

I am getting married on the 1st October, and I decided to get a dress from China. It arrived after the 6 week delivery period, on the face of it was OK, but a closer look showed it was just awful. The bodice was a thicker material to the skirt part, because of this it was a brighter white and you could see a visible difference even from a distance. The lace was very poor quality and there were red glue marks all over it. I had planned on taking it to a tailor to fit it properly to me, but as soon as I had it I just hated it. There is no way I could have worn it for our wedding.

As I received it 6 weeks before my wedding I still had time to get another dress, thank god. I wished someone had stopped me, the anxiety and upset this dress caused was horrendous. For every positive ebay feedback there must be hundreds of negative remarks that can not be left. As my dress was delivered over the 45 day Ebay guarantee there is no way I can leave feedback (no way that I can find anyway) so effectively bad remarks can not be left. I have also not received a refund yet either!

They are only £80 - £90 for a reason. I am not one for spending a fortune on 1 day, but this experience has tought me that you must pay a reasonable sum for the important items (Dress, food etc) cut corners else where. Get a dress you have tried on first!

double_mummy

lisa do you know the name of the seller we might have some one who has actually bought from them

curlylou1986

Hi, i have read lots of bad experiences from buying on ebay from China, but myself have been lucky with my experience with buying from there.
We didnt have a lot of money to get me a dress, plus being pregnant meant was difficult to be measured.
I got my dress from this seller -
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360239656500&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

I paid for it to be customed - so sent my measurements in, i also opted for the corset style back (allowing for bump to grow) so paid for that option too. All in all my dress was good - it obviosuly isnt like ones from shops and this was a plain design so cant comment on the detailing but i was really happy with it in the end.

not the best picture either but can sort of see -

lisajane8482

Thanks for you replies.

The seller is Silk_story88.


I checked feedback for the item number and they all seem to be good and I'm not expecting the dress to look exactly like the one pictured, especially for £65.

I'm not getting married until 2013 and thought that if I got it soon and worst came to worst i would have to look fo a different dress.

I have started looking at secondhand ones too now though.

I tried to add a picture but I'm not allowed

The photo is on flickr paste this at the end [EMAIL="photos/57090721@N08/6147131224/in/photostream/"]photos/57090721@N08/6147131224/in/photostream/[/EMAIL]

lisajane8482

P.S.

sugarspun and curlylou, your dresses are gorgeous, I hope if I do buy from China I', as lucky as you two were