Topshop = quality but at a price (topshop.co.uk)

Member Name: candyfloss89

Product:	topshop.co.uk
Date:	07/07/09 (169 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: nice products, quirky signature pieces, iconic fashion brand, offers student discount, free returns

Disadvantages: high prices, not as much variety as there could be, weird sizing system

So recently I decided to order from Topshop.co.uk for the first time. I'm a student and so usually I find their prizes far too steep. However, I orered during a 50% off summer sale, knowing that this would probably be the only time I'd ever be able to afford the brand!

EASY TO USE
Yes the website is easy to use. Clothing categories are listed down the lefthand side and they are split into subcategories as well which makes things easier. However, You cannot sort by colour, price or size which is a bit annoying since Topshop is expensive anyway so I'd like to be able to filter out the high priced items.
The clothes are displayed well. Pictures show the garment laid out and then displayed on mannequins which is useful. The zoon feature allows you to zoom right into the clothes so you can closely examine what you're buying.

CHOICE
Is there a lot of choice on offer?
Yes there is quite a lot of choice avaliable. For example, in the dresses section if you chose the "view all" option, rather than chosing to view seperate subcatagories like "strappy" and "sleeveless", you will find 6 pages of results which is a fairly good choice. However, compared to the likes of ASOS and Boohoo, six pages really isn't that much and more variety would be welcome!
However, I do like the fact that they have a petite section which is quite common nowdays but annoyingly, some clothes stores still don't have a petite range.

PRICE RANGE
Even during the sales it isn't cheap. You're lucky if you can find anything under £20, even if it does have 50% knocked off. Average prices during sales are round about £22 to £25 which is standard price in other shops that dont even have a sale on at the time! Dresses are particulary expensive, most of them being about £50. However, you are paying for quality and Sometimes it's worth splashing out to get something that's going to last.

ADVANTAGES
They offer 10% student discount which is a big bonus since many websites can't offer me this perk. Because clothes are generally expensive on Topshop, a 10% is actually really handy!

I've recently had to return an item to Topshop and found that they made this process really easy. You only have to log into your account and "request a return" online to be given a return number. Orders come with a freepost prepaid returns label so your not having to pay post and packaging to send it back which is really useful.

DISADVANTAGES
Jean sizes are odd, instead of the usual size 8, size 10 etc, you get sizes like W2530, W2834 and W3234. I'm not familar with these kind of sizes and I find it really confusing when it comes to ordering, even the size guide doesnt clearly explain what these sizes mean. I'm used to shops that list sizes as size 10 or 12 and think this is a much simpler and more well known system. Similary, the shoes are listed in international sizes like 36, 37, 38 etc. It's annoying to have to find a shoe size conversion chart online if your not familar with these sizes.

As mentioned already in the review, prices are not cheap even during sale time you're not going to find any huge savings. Yes it's good quality nice clothing but New Look and ASOS offer quality for a cheaper price. This, coupled with the fact that you're not able to search and filter items by price is a major irritation.

Summary: Top fashion for those who can afford it!