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Reputable seller, not so reputable after all

Discussion in 'PUBLIC Vintage Fashion - Ask Questions Get Answers' started by MoreWine, Jul 23, 2011.

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  1. MoreWine

    MoreWine Guest

    First I thought she had some amazing showroom in LA and she would (literally) have devoted her whole life to vintage. Hence the extensive amount of labels. Apparently there are some insanely fabulous vintage shops in LA, so I didn´t suspect much at first. I thought she was one of them.
    She said she travels a lot to find her pieces and buys from wealthy old ladies their vintage clothes, and as I usually believe what people say (until proven otherwise) I left it like that. And, I thought that a 600+ positive feedbacks there can´t be anything fishy going on. But people are so blind and forgiving... I once received a wedding gown for my shop, which was in horrible condition and as she offered me a refund so I could take it to the dry cleaner´s, AND even offered me free dresses. As I was running my new-found business I didn´t say no - which has bothered me ever since. If we all, who have been not-so-pleased with out purchases, would have left an honest feedback and not accept any bribes she would probably have a feedback score of 80%. I didn´t realize back then that she continues sending people damaged items if no one can stand up to her and leave an honest feedback!

    When I told her that we´re done, but not finished and there may be consequences from her actions, she probably copy-pasted her usual email to a furious customer as it seemed to be out of the context.

    One amusing thing; she said she had forgotten that I am a dealer as well, not just a customer. (After I told her that I may have spotted a 70s label on a skirt which she tried to sell as 60s)
    So basically for her it´s OK to scam customers, but not other dealers?

    I contacted Etsy support team about this. I am afraid it won´t sound very convincing as I am just a girl from Finland, but at least they can check our conversations and if, just if, someone has complained about her to Etsy they may really look into this.

    She is pretty good however, in what she does (but that doesn´t mean it would have anything to do with good vintage dealing or honesty). She can always say that yes, she got those "Chapmans" with labels on them, didn´t change any zippers and the customers lie. She probably has a plan for situations like this, a good attorney even etc. If her income is tied into the business she does, she probably will fight very hard for keeping things secure. But the good thing is, that truth tends to come out, at some point. Everyone makes mistakes, one day she may find out that she messed with the wrong customer.
     
  2. VintageWardrobe.ro

    VintageWardrobe.ro Registered Guest

    This is horrible.. it took me a while to understand who the person was, anyway... The 1920s dress on etsy is more than interesting with that '80s "made in India" pattern . It's just sad.
     
  3. The Vintage Merchant

    The Vintage Merchant Administrator Staff Member

    the more important thing that i have concerns about, is a seller buying misrepresented clothing and turning around and selling it to OTHERS under the pretense that it is a designer who it was SAID to be from, rather than what/who it really is.
     
  4. peaceful vintage

    peaceful vintage Administrator VFG Past President

    It is very disturbing and dissapointing that people will take advantage of others like this. In my opinion the seller shows beautiful photos and has lovely descriptions however I did notice several things that were fishy about the labels. One Ceil Chapman label of an active listing has looks like the ink bled from the letters. Other labels of listings are just laying on the fabric and not even sewn on. Isn't this a indicator that the label may not belong to the garment? I think there is probably a combination of some real stuff and some fake stuff. I also notice that some of the 50s dresses are too short to be 50s dresses without mention of alterations.

    It is just absolute greed though as the seller would still do well without adding bogus labels.

    One more thing that I noticed. The seller is offering an item that she purchased from me and she did not disclose the damage that I disclosed when I sold it.

    There will always be sellers like this. It is not right but it is up to buyers to be responsible and educate themselves before making purchases to ensure they receive what is described.

    Caryn
     
  5. Midge

    Midge Super Moderator Staff Member

    Oh my - what a horrible story! I would definitely report her to Etsy and do everything I could to stop her or at least make life a lot harder for her. Names of people like her should in my opinion be publicized, because really, people should know. I admit a "big name" is not the reason for me to buy a vintage garment, but of course I will look at something differently, and may be ready to pay more for it, if it's something I really want and it has a "name". After all, I tell myself that I may also expect superior quality from, say, a couture piece.

    Sadly, this kind of thing probably happens in every field of collecting. I collect Barbie and other fashion dolls too, and used to be a member on certain collector's internet forums, and before that, an e-mail group. I usually never had the money for extremely expensive and rare vintage dolls, and bought the few more expensive ones I have only at collectors' fairs (where I could hold them, touch them and inspect them for flaws and decide if the flaws mattered to me or not), I was always lucky. But I have seen enough stories of sellers trying to pass off reproduction dolls as vintage ones on ebay, or trying to pass less valuable vintage ones as rarer ones, and asking incredible prices. The rare Bild Lilli dolls (Barbie's "direct ancestor" so to speak) was also a doll that scammers tried to make business with. When I came across such auctions by accident, I did alert ebay to them. What happened in one story was that ebay closed the seller's account, and the same doll cropped up again on another auction site. When asked, the sellers in question would give evasive answers. Unless I know the seller, I would probably never buy an expensive vintage doll online - I am even touchier there than with vintage clothing, I'll admit to that.

    MoreWine, the funny thing is I had been thinking about trying to contact you. I remembered you're in Finland. Are you in Helsinki or around there? I'm going to Helsinki again next month, and would love to visit your shop if possible :D.

    Karin
     
  6. cactusandcattails

    cactusandcattails VFG Member VFG Past President

    Although we are here to discuss vintage, at some point, a thread becomes counterproductive.

    Comments to this thread are now closed.
     
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