Not for me! (Online Clothes and Accessories Shops in general)

Member Name: jennikitten

Product:	Online Clothes and Accessories Shops in general
Date:	01/06/09 (30 review reads)
Rating:

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Online shopping in general is great for lower-priced things with fast delivery. However, I'm not a big fan of buying clothes online, for several reasons:

1. Trying them on
You can't try clothes on online, obviously, and this is a big factor to me these days what with watching money etc. I know I could return stuff, but that seems altogether like too much hassle to me, especially as I work full time and travel around the country fairly often. Some online shops will pay postage for you to return things, others won't, so this is another point to consider. I know where I work, the highest returned items are clothes.

2. Not as much choice as the high street/misleading pictures
Most high street websites are terrible for buying clothes and have very little choice. Some of them also shoot photos of clothes in a way that you can hardly see them properly. Also, often the photos either have a lot of touching up and editing or just look like they've been thrown around the room a bit. This is especially annoying when something is in a completely different colour in real life to how it appears onscreen.

3. Delivery/stock problems
This can work in reverse, because you can get things that aren't available offline, but most people who buy a lot online have usually experienced some issues with things mislabelled 'In stock' or have problems with delivery where things can take weeks or months to arrive.

4. Security
There is more of a security risk buying online, so I would only buy from shops I know to be genuine.

5. Sellers
If you are buying from a site such as ebay or etsy, with individual sellers, you can't always rely on them to deliver the goods, or that they are providing an accurate description.

However, if you know the websites to visit, you can often find clothes and accessories that aren't easily available for a more distinctive look. Even buying abroad can be cheaper than the high street occasionally! Especially as many places have seemed to rack up their prices.

Another alternative way of clothes/accessories shopping online is to buy vintage and second hand. Generally ebay is most popular for this, though you have to be careful about any problems with the garments and email the seller if you want more specifics. Also be wary of so-called 'designer' items being offered, unless they can be proved genuine. I would avoid sellers that give little information about the condition of the clothing.

I find the happy medium with buying clothes online is to try the clothes on in the shop first, then buy online to get cashback and a cheaper price. However, as this isn't always possible and I'm lazy, I don't go down this route so much, and generally just don't buy clothes and accessories online.

Summary: Online shopping is best left for electronics and books