Buying a wedding dress from China via Ebay?

**Isadora** · May 31st, 2008, 02:38 PM

Has anyone done this? Are they decent quality? It seems too good to be true. The dresses themselves are cheap, but you get hit with a $200 postage fee. Still reasonable though I guess.

**Phteven** · May 31st, 2008, 02:54 PM

It doesn't cost $200 to ship a dress from China. I buy handbags from the US and shipping is usally about US$50 - that includes insurance and tracking.
The reason that they charge so much postage is to avoid the fees (which is a listing violation) and reduce their exposure to refunds. The problem with this is that if you need to get a refund on the dress you won't be able to get a refund for the shipping so they will get the dress back plus keep all the 'shipping' money.
I would avoid it if I were you. It's better to pay the proper price for shipping so that you're better protected and I tend to steer clear of people who seem a bit dodgy.

**Miss K** · May 31st, 2008, 03:35 PM

My SIL brought one off ebay and by the sounds from the same person as the postage was that much she recieved it and was a pretty good delivery time the thread in the dress itself was coming undone and the fabric was REALLY fine crappy quality it looked beautiful in the picture and it is nice now though she is quite disappointed that she has to take the dress to get some better stitching and a better quality underlay IYKWIM? I would personally get something that is within australia that you can actually go and try on

sometimes it costs you more than what you paid for the dress if you need to fix it or buy a whole new dress

**Ginger** · May 31st, 2008, 06:46 PM

hayley -i agree with the others, i think the postage sounds way too much.

**MrsBump** · May 31st, 2008, 07:37 PM

There are some really great sites where you can buy dresses second hand, and from your area. Im not sure if you can post it here. I will PM you...

**tiggerlinda** · May 31st, 2008, 07:47 PM

Hayley keep and eye out I got a new one from a Bridal shop closing down on ebay and it was great

**AnyDream** · June 1st, 2008, 12:59 PM

Hayley, I think it sounds dodgey as. How can you dispute it if it arrives and it's a "lemon:?? I think the danger here is it could be really nasty cheapo synthetic fabric, instead of the good fabric which is what you pay for in a good gown. I reckon you're better off trying to get one in Australia, even better in your area and asking to see it before you bid (so you know what the fabric is like, how it feels and how it sits/falls).

BTW I bought a very simple but gorgeous dress off the rack for $400 (that was a few years ago) so you can get some bargains if you look around.

**Rumpleteaser** · June 1st, 2008, 07:54 PM

We did this for our bridesmaid dresses. They were OK, Mum needed to replace a zipper in one of them. I don't think I would do it for a wedding dress though, getting the sizing correct was difficult. If you did I would also suggest you factor in the cost of seeing a dressmaker for alterations.

**Isadora** · June 1st, 2008, 09:14 PM

Oh bum I knew it was too good to be true lol! Thanks for all the suggestions ladies, I think my best bet as you all say is to buy a dress within Aus that I can actually try on. Someone suggested to me today to find a style I like and take it to a dressmaker to see if its any cheaper that way. I dont want to go over the top and spend a bomb iykwim. Thanks to the ladies who pmed me with info!

**Danni** · June 1st, 2008, 09:49 PM

I bought my dress off ebay and I think it came from Hong Kong??? Maybe it was china....i cant remember!

I paid about $300 all up and it was absolutely amazing. It was a hundred times better in real life and had so much minor detail. To buy something similar here, it would have cost thousands for sure.

Just ensure you send them your accurate measurements and it will fit perfectly. Mine fit like a glove and I sold it for more than I paid for it!!

**Phteven** · June 1st, 2008, 10:22 PM

Hayley, I'm sure you could get a great dress off ebay but make sure that you check their feedback carefully. If you put their username in Toolhaus.org it will give you all their neg and withdrawn feedback so if they have a history of ripping people off or selling dodgy merchandise you'll be able to spot it easily.
And if you pay a fair price for postage and pay via paypal with your CC you're better protected if there are dramas.

smiles4u · June 1st, 2008, 10:56 PM

I purchased a heavy evening dress about 2years ago from China & it cost me for postage $18AUS

It arrived in about 14 days !!!!!!

... The dress turned out to be of very poor quality, ... considering I have travelled China & I have seen the beautiful high quality fabric's that they can have especially in silk

Be careful as I got ripped off another time in the Seller having advertised the dress as silk & it turned out to be polyester

**Danni** · June 2nd, 2008, 08:13 AM

yes i forgot to mention that their feedback is very important. And go into the feedback and see if there are other people buying wedding dresses off them rather than electronics! lol

great tip there dach!

**AngelPunks** · June 2nd, 2008, 01:36 PM

a girlfriend ordered the bridal party dresses plus hers off ebay - so far one had arrived & the sizing is wrong so the order has been cancelled for the whole 4 dresses, she has had costs plus the postage refunded.

Personally I don't think it is worth it

dennypann · November 25th, 2008, 10:29 AM

Hi Mabello,

I am looking to buy a wedding dress off ebay too. Can you remember which company or ebay signon you got the dress from? I have seen one I would love, but don't want to fall into the trap some of the other forum members have fallen into.

Cheers

**Aimz** · November 25th, 2008, 10:40 AM

Just thought I would share my experience...

My best friend bought her wedding dress from eBay and it was a disaster to say the least.

The beads weren't sewn on - they were GLUED on

... and there were still remnants of glue from the glue gun on the material. The stitching was done in such a rush that it started to come undone just by her holding it against her body.

She tried to get her money back but the seller was no longer listed.

She ended up getting a dress made for more than the China dress but at least it was good quality!! It's your wedding day - skimp on anything BUT the dress

**Beckibee** · November 25th, 2008, 07:58 PM

Wow, well I once tried to sell my wedding gown on Ebay but didn't get anywhere, so if nothing else I'm learning what not to do as far as Ebay sales go.

**Maruschke** · November 25th, 2008, 08:03 PM

Ahhhh don't do it!!!! I bought a wedding dress off ebay from China, and it was foul, nothing like the photo, shoddily sewed, cheap fabric etc etc. I had to fight them to get my money back, and lost the postage costs both way. Ugh!