Reputable seller, not so reputable after all

emailed

 

Leena, could you email me privately as well? I think I've been dealing with her too. my email is [email protected]

thanks and sorry you had to find out this way that there are sellers of vintage happy to take advantage of people's emotions and passion for it. I think most of us love it so much and respect it so much for it's historical and sentimental significance that we'd never consider using it as a vehicle to scam people. truly sad.

Ang

 

I think I have figured out who it is. Unfortunately, I think she will keep doing it.

 

I am aware of who this seller is.

When I first started selling vintage clothing, I had a personal vintage site. It was very amateur and not put together well. I didn't know what I was doing and it showed. Luckily, I have learned a lot (thank you vfg!) and have since started a etsy shop.

When I had the other shop, this seller emailed me and offered to trade a dress for several of my best 50's dresses (the prom or evening style ones with full skirts). The one dress she offered me in exchange was supposedly a 1960's designer dress that she claimed was worth thousands of dollars. She sent me a picture of it. I recognized the photos immediately as her etsy shop. I wrote back asking, "if this dress is worth thousands of dollars why don't you sell it in your shop?" She responded by saying she doesn't sell 60's clothing, which didn't make any sense because she had several couture items from the 60's listed on her site.

The dresses she was interested in weren't designer-though they were pretty. I noticed on her site that nearly ALL of her items had one label or another and I didn't get it because she wanted to buy my non designer items (no label in them at all) and I didn't get how it is possible that every item she sells is designer? I think most sellers offer designer and non designer, because there is a lot of beautiful vintage and antique clothing out there that does not have labels.

Anyway, now it makes a lot more sense. I feel really sorry for anyone who has done business with her.

 

It seems that this is the seller who has the dress for sale that was recently sold on eBay with no mention of it being a high-end designer piece and no shot of the label. So there's really no way to know for sure whether or not this particular dress had one to begin with. There are several of these designer pieces in her shop and most of the labels have been sloppily sewn on, with the "wrong" color thread, and/or appear to be in odd places on the garment (hard to tell though, since there's not enough of the item showing in most of the label shots to always tell where on the dress it's located).

It seems rather odd, at least to me, that one seller would have so many pieces from this designer in stock....

 

I have been watching this seller for a year now. At first I just couldn't believe she was finding all of these amazing dresses with labels. I wondered aloud to my hubby on more than 1 occasion. Then I started to notice things - crazy hemlines, proportions out of whack. Then one day for fun I went and read her feedback. Although it is 100% positive - there is some interesting information buried in there. I agree - people must be afraid to actually leave a negative but they do write some interesting things.

NowI just watch her to see what a hot mess some of her dresses are. It is sad that this person continues to get away with things. We should all start reporting her items to etsy on a regular basis and see if enough complaints are lodged that they might do something.

I laughed at some of your posts - all the items are from a non-smoking home (like she knows), they are all perfect, they are all in mint condition, and they are all RARE. Give me a break.

 

This is really disturbing to me as a buyer :( Would you mind emailing me the name privately?

I had a really unpleasant experience about two months ago while shopping on a well-known antique/vintage site that's marketed as "upscale".

In this situation, the seller totally misrepresented the condition of a vintage couture ensemble, despite me asking very specific questions about the condition before agreeing to purchase (for a good deal of money too!). There were significant flaws & damage that were not disclosed (including some odd mixes of machine & hand sewing) and when I contacted him about the variance, he refused to accept a refund and insisted I had buyers remorse (which is rather funny, as I spend a significant amount of money on a regular basis for my vintage goodies!).

Fortunately, I documented all of our conversations and took good photos depicting the issues, and Paypal sided with me and returned all of my money. But it just goes to show that there are some very unscrupulous individuals out there - regardless of venue or the fact that they may stand behind a "big" name.

Thanks for the insightful posts - and Leena, I wish you the best in getting resolution.

Lisa

 

msgrossmyer, if you still have my email, would you clue me in? This is horrible!

 

done - you should have email

 

where is she getting all the labels from?

 

making them? some look a little off - too new or something...I wondered same thing

 

sweet hell I'm sick of the over-use of the term "couture".
Ang

 

Wow Leena, I am really sorry you were taken advantage of. I hope you are able to get some resolve and closure in at least knowing better now than even later.

Thank you for the heads up.

Caryn

 

We've been discussing this on our "Vintage Fashion Addicts" board on FB, and when I read the post (over there) I knew exactly who it was immediately!

She bought from me once, and I didn't follow through with where it went after that.

She HAS been doing this for years, and it's a sad statement on the vintage community when someone like this is amongst us. She should be stopped and I guess the best way is to inform the authorities.

 

Got it, Ms, thanks. How does someone get away with this?

 

Wasn't she under pretty serious investigation last year for this behavior? Or am I thinking of another one of the infamous sellers who has a "cult" following on eBay?

If the labels look off, they could be new, either made-to-order by a label company or printed off at home using printable fabric. I would guess printed at home.

 

How I wish this person could be named! As a vintage buyer, not really a seller, I cringe thinking about people spending their hard earned money on fakes and lies. Some sort of action needs to be taken!

 

I, too, think it's suspicious that so many dresses turn up with sought after and valuable labels. Some of them are sewn in the wrong places, with the wrong thread - but labels do come off and are sewn back on. I always remove my good labels before they go to the dry cleaner because I've lost a few there.

Laura, sadly there are a few unethical sellers who see ebay/etsy as a get-rich-quick scheme and there is little that can be done to stop them. Best to trade with people that you trust. I recently emailed a seller because her dresses are always very, very short and I wondered at a 1940s mini dress but she replied that it was probably worn by a short lady and the hem was original. A very, very short lady!

This is also why I offer refunds to my customers, for any reason - I want them to be happy with their new dress. All of my vintage is authentic and I restore them as close as I can to original, taking down hems, moving buttons and taking out seams if it will not damage the garment. I'm in good company here at the VFG - we share a love for real vintage and treat it with respect.

These unethical, nay fraudulent sellers will never stop until the authorities speak to them. Even then, there is little to stop them trading under a new name. Buyer Beware! Shop VFG.

Nicole

 

Nicole is right....and sadly, the sellers pulling these stunts are often coddled by the sites they sell on because after all, they're making them money too. It's tough to prove to the untrained eye that someone is using fake labels, or labels taken from damaged garments....however they get them. Especially when the host site's monitors aren't vintage specialists. Seriously, how many Ceils get put on eBay w/ damage sold for pennies? A person could just buy and buy, gank the labels and put them in another dress. It's mind blowing.

Until a law is broken, and it costs the host site....nothing will be done. And this person's clientele will keep buying away, oblivious to the truth. I'm not sure her clientele even wants to know, sadly.

Ang