Buyer Beware! : A Small Guide to Navigating Second hand or Online buying

Hello Lovelies~

 A few weeks ago I bought a skirt from a lovely gal in Australia and it has a fully shirred waist. I thought, 'Perfect! A Brand skirt with a fully shirred waist should fit me.', so I asked the seller and she said it had a 42'' inch waist, which is great, because mine is 41'' inches  (( 12'' inches less than I was when I started loosing weight ^_^ Yay me! ))

I've waited for weeks and it arrived this morning and I rushed to put it on, but I ran into a small snag. You see....while my waist is 41'' inches, my chest hips are 49'' inches and my chest is 50'' inches. ^^;  It was rather comical honestly and I laughed about it before I went to work.

 I'm going to take it to a seamstress and have her put in a back bustle for the skirt, but this experience has taught me something I always knew, but rarely thought about, it's two words really and they are, 'Buyer Beware!'.

I thought today I would share with you the small check list I go through when buying online, be it from Etsy, E-bay, or the EGL Sales Comm. I call it the 3Ps.

PROOF

 When looking at photos, the less professional the the better. This doesn't mean blurry, grainy, or shot with no lighting, but I look for pictures that show true to life coloring and personal possessions, or pictures of the seller wearing or displaying the item being sold.

When buying from the EGL Sales Comm I like to see the original Stock photo of all sold items and proof photos.

PICTURES

 I consider Proof and Pictures to be different. When I want pictures I want want to see the clothing or accessories in different lighting, pictures of all imperfections from small snags to any discoloring of the fabric.

 The more pictures that are taken of the item being sold, the more I get to know it before I buy it.

See what your buying from all angles, not just one.

PRICE

 Look at the asking price in relation to the item and everything you know about it. If you are buying a pair of shoes that sold new for $200 and the seller is only asking $45 with shipping, ask yourself why. Yes, you've seen the pictures of a scuff or two and maybe the back heels have a few scratches, but that wouldn't lower the price that much.

Find out how old the item is, how many other owners it's had, how often it was worn, things like that.

 There are other things I look for, but these are the three major ones. Now there are times when an item will pass all check points and still turn out wrong, but it's rare and things happen.

So Be aware of what you're buying and go through a checklist of your own before pressing the 'Pay Now' button.

 Happy Shopping!