I often buy used brand name stuff these days on ebay. It’s way cheaper than new, and better quality. Case in point, I’m a guy that needed a nice bag to carry my dance stuff, shoes, wax, water bottle, fan, etc. I bought a nice leather Coach backpack for $50, and it’s awesome. Heavy duty brass zippers, sturdy construction, nice functional layout with a front zipper pocket to keep my phone in, etc. I love it and it will last for years. $50 new would have gotten me a nylon backpack that not only doesn’t look nearly as nice, but would never last as long.
Know what you want and choose sellers with good feedback. That’s about it. I buy a lot of nice clothing on ebay, especially designer blazers and suits. You can get really nice stuff, e.g. black label Armani, in the $100-200 price range, where something similar brand new would be $3-5K. However, a lot of people don’t know that the diffusion line stuff (e.g. Armani Exchange, Armani Collezioni, etc.) are made from cheaper materials and not as nice, but many sellers price them like the couture lines. I’m not say that some of the diffusion line items aren’t nice, it’s just that the main label stuff is generally better, and you need to know the difference to get a good deal.
eBay is in itself an enshitification. Pushes Paypal which steals ppls money by using a fraud check swindle. eBay pushes JavaScript that port sniffs your LAN. Probably exploits your data to the max.
Of course it’s easy for me to flip the middle finger to eBay when I live in a city. Rural dwellers probably don’t have decent local flea markets and street markets, where I buy most of my goods. If it’s going to be junk quality, it might as well be cheap and not feeding the ecocidal retail maketplace.
I live in a city and can hit several nice thrift stores within walking distance of my apartment. The problem I find is that if I’m trying to build a specific look, it really hit or miss at the thrift stores and much easier to find exactly the piece I want on ebay.
I often buy used brand name stuff these days on ebay. It’s way cheaper than new, and better quality. Case in point, I’m a guy that needed a nice bag to carry my dance stuff, shoes, wax, water bottle, fan, etc. I bought a nice leather Coach backpack for $50, and it’s awesome. Heavy duty brass zippers, sturdy construction, nice functional layout with a front zipper pocket to keep my phone in, etc. I love it and it will last for years. $50 new would have gotten me a nylon backpack that not only doesn’t look nearly as nice, but would never last as long.
Any tips on buying quality products on eBay?
Know what you want and choose sellers with good feedback. That’s about it. I buy a lot of nice clothing on ebay, especially designer blazers and suits. You can get really nice stuff, e.g. black label Armani, in the $100-200 price range, where something similar brand new would be $3-5K. However, a lot of people don’t know that the diffusion line stuff (e.g. Armani Exchange, Armani Collezioni, etc.) are made from cheaper materials and not as nice, but many sellers price them like the couture lines. I’m not say that some of the diffusion line items aren’t nice, it’s just that the main label stuff is generally better, and you need to know the difference to get a good deal.
eBay is in itself an enshitification. Pushes Paypal which steals ppls money by using a fraud check swindle. eBay pushes JavaScript that port sniffs your LAN. Probably exploits your data to the max.
Of course it’s easy for me to flip the middle finger to eBay when I live in a city. Rural dwellers probably don’t have decent local flea markets and street markets, where I buy most of my goods. If it’s going to be junk quality, it might as well be cheap and not feeding the ecocidal retail maketplace.
I live in a city and can hit several nice thrift stores within walking distance of my apartment. The problem I find is that if I’m trying to build a specific look, it really hit or miss at the thrift stores and much easier to find exactly the piece I want on ebay.