Ebay and Website Shopping Tips ...... Some helpful hints
Shopping online for all the things we love can be frustrating at times, especially if you are new to the game. Whether you are using an online auction service, such as Ebay, or dealing directly with any of the many websites, there are some things to keep in mind, that can cut down on the problems associated with buying from internet sources.
The first rule to remember .... Don't get all excited, and order something before reading the entire ad or item description. Read and digest all the information that the seller is providing, and take the time to read other details about the seller, such as shipping time and charges. If using Ebay, you can check the seller's feedback, to see how satisfied other customers were with their purchases. Feedback is Ebay's way of policing their marketplace, and eliminating buyers and sellers that don't live up to their end of the bargain.
Secondly, you need to know your measurements, as that is the only way you can assure a decent fit. Some girls who have been dressing for a good while, know their sizes, but even then, sizes don't run true from manufacturer to manufacturer, so it's still a good idea to compare your measurements to the measurements of the item you want to buy. If vital measurements are not provided in the item description, contact the seller. For those who are unsure of their measurements, or have irregular feminine shapes that don't run true-to-form with regular GG sizing, look for items with stretch, as these have plenty of forgiveness, and your odds of getting a decent fit improve vastly. Spandex blends, and other miracle stretchy materials usually conform very well to different shapes, and basically eliminate many of the sizing problems we run into. Sellers will usually list the measurements on stretchy items, from unstretched to stretched-to-the-max, so you have a good idea of the stretch in the fabric. Over 50% of the items we sell at Kats have stretch, so there are many girls who are taking advantage of this option. I, myself, have fit into every sized dress from a Size 4 to a Size 22, for auction pictures, so stretch can really take plenty of the guesswork out of a good fit.
Finally, Don't be afraid to communicate with the seller, and ask any questions you may have, as it can save you plenty of grief in the long run.
There are other things to keep an eye out for when buying online, and one of the biggest is dropshipping. Many Ebay and other online sellers (including many of the crossdresser shopping websites, and even many regular commercial websites), do not have the items in physical inventory at their business, but have signed on with companies who will ship the items as they are sold, directly from their warehouses to the buyer, even putting the seller's return address on the package, so no one is the wiser. This sounds like no big deal to the buyer, but it is a big problem, when items are back-ordered, or there is a return situation. Delivery can often be delayed weeks or even months. Usually if the item has to be returned for any reason, it goes back to the seller, not the dropshipper, so you wind up dealing with the middleman, resulting in higher return charges. Shoes are often dropshipped, as the inventory and space needed to stock them are excessive for most sellers. Dropshipping is very common on Ebay in almost every category.
Then you have businesses, who market themslves as "crossdresser Shopping Venues", when in reality, they are only out to make a quick buck. There prices are outragious for what they offer, and often, their inventory consists of only items designed to fit average sized genetic women. NOTE: With all of this globalization, China is importing tons of lingerie, foundations, and clothing to the USA. Many of these items are sized according to their idea of 1X, 2X, 3X, etc .... so they run extremely small. Many of these items wind up in online crossdresser shopping stores, so actual measurements are vital !!!
Let's face it, there is no substitute for being able to try things on, seeing what they look like, and therefore, finding the right fit, but online shopping is a great way for many of us to add to our wardrobe, and find things which cannot be bought easily at the local department store. By being patient, and "looking before we leap", we can make it a more pleasurable and rewarding experience.
Here are a few interesting and useful facts on some Ebay issues.
Often you will see abbreviations in the ads or descriptions that you may not understand.
NWT=New with Tags
NWOT= New without Tags
NIB=New in Box
NWOB= New without Box
VNTG= Vintage
(VINTAGE, should equal Pre 1990 but many sellers say anything that is used is Vintage..IF you are particularly interested in Vintage Items you need to shop with a reputable Vintage Seller..You can find many on Ebay)
By punching in the word "Crossdresser" in a search, you will get plenty of items which are being sold that may interest you, but often, the seller is just adding the word "Crossdresser" to his item title, because the article is huge. Don't restrict yourself to this type of search. If you like satin, do a search on satin. If you want to buy a pair of shoes, do a search by size, under the regular womans shoe heading. Women have gotten bigger over the last few decades, and you will find many items by just doing the regular searches that they do.
Don't limit yourself to searching auctions, as many sellers have Ebay stores, in addition to their auction listings. For example, here at Kats Dream Boutique, we run about 35 auctions a week, but have over 650 other items in our Ebay store, so by limiting yourself to only looking at auctions, you are missing loads of other things which may be of interest to you. You have to actually visit the stores, as the listings don't come up in a regular search, unless the item is very unique, and even then, it will be listed at the end of all the search listings.
If you have privacy issues, make sure the seller can comply with things like, shipping to an alternate address, not labeling your package with return addresses or other things that will cause a problem, etc. A seller has the option to list their items as private listings, and as such, buyers identities are kept private, so this is another thing to look for.
If you are an Ebay sniper (Someone who loves to wait until the last second to bid),
You may want to consider using a Sniper Service, which for a very small fee, will place that bid for you, seconds from an auctions end. Most of these services claim to have a 99% or higher success rate.
Check out BIDSLAMMER .. and see what they have to offer.
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