wedding dress online

Several weeks ago, we talked about how to buy a wedding dress on eBay. The biggest hang-up most brides have about buying a wedding dress online is that they can’t examine or touch the dress itself before it gets sent out. However, the huge savings they get out of this more than make up for the inconvenience. According to the brides who have bought 99-cent dresses off eBay, their transactions went smoothly and their dresses came back looking perfect. Of course, this can only happen to you if you take the right precautions. When shopping for your wedding dress on eBay, take note of the following tips to make sure that you’re getting what you pay for.

Do your research

Never underestimate the fruits of research because this could mean the difference between getting your wedding dress, and having some scammer run off with your money. The task is a little more challenging if you plan to buy off eBay because aren’t any websites that review the wedding dress manufacturers that sell there. But one good place you can start is at bridal forums. Ask other brides who bought wedding gowns on eBay about who sold them their dress and how satisfied they were about the transaction, the seller, and the dress itself.

Be familiar with wedding dress fabrics

It pays to visit a fabric shop to examine fabrics and understand which ones are used in making wedding dresses. Alternately, you can get a book and do some good old fashioned research bridal fabrics. Why is it important to know what your fabrics are? This will help you envision what your wedding dress will look like on you. Cheaper kinds of satin, for instance, will of course cost less, but they won’t flow as nicely as expensive ones. Make sure you ask the wedding gown manufacturer about the fabrics used to make the dress.

Ask to see actual photos of the dress

Don’t rely on the photo available on the product page. Photos of wedding dresses are often shot at one angle and do not capture the wedding dress in its entirety. Not only that, but photos in eBay sites are often low-res, blurry, or fail to show the smallest details of the dress. Finally, there may also be instances where the vendor is a scammer who simply got the photo from other websites. Make sure you’re getting the real deal and ask for photos of the dress in various angles. Request to see the embroidery, beading, ruffles, trim, and other minute details in close-up shots.

Check the seller’s rating

Fortunately, eBay has a rating system for their sellers, which will help you weed out the reputable ones from the fakes. Make sure you read the ratings to see if the seller is for real and if his or her customers were happy with the dress. Never buy from a seller with ratings or a few ratings.

Good luck!

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