Some of you guys have been wanting to know if I have any tips for buying on eBay and, while the answer is “not any ground-breaking ones”, I am happy to share my non-secrets with you. Since it turns out that I have a lot to say on the topic (Long-winded? Me? Never!), I’ve split this topic into 3 posts. First up:

Why eBay?

I usually turn to eBay in one of 2 situations: when I’m looking for a specific item, and when I’m looking for a non-specific item in a particular category. OK, that sounds completely unenlightening, so let’s break it down:

1. Looking for the Specific

Let’s say you see a cute dress on a blog. And let’s say the blogger doesn’t link to the dress on a retailer’s site (ahem, that doesn’t sound familiar at all) or, worse yet, straight up tells you that it’s no longer available. Except that you want, nay, need that dress. Now. What do you do? Well, if you’re me, the first thing you do is search for the dress on Google Images to find the original retailer’s listing for the item. This might seem like a waste of time, but it can actually provide a lot of useful information for your next step, which is (duh!) an eBay search. More on that in a moment. How do you find what you’re looking for on Google? If the blogger did not list the original product name, then you have no choice but to run a bunch of descriptive search terms, and cross your fingers. Some retailers give their items really unhelpful names/descriptions, but the more literal you are, the better your chances of getting a hit. If the item is really old (5 + years), you will likely have more trouble finding its original product page, but some brands (J. Crew, Anthropologie) are better than others (ohemgee, BCBG!).

Now, think of eBay as the place where nothing is ever permanently out of stock. It might be temporarily unavailable, but if you wait long enough, pretty much everything eventually turns up on eBay. If you’re looking for a specific item, there are 2 ways to find it on eBay: (1) use the specific item name/description listed by the retailer (see above); or (2) run a descriptive term search (see above). I find that the first method (if you are able to get the information from Google) works best for recent items, or for items being sold by professional eBay sellers. Think of it this way: you probably don’t remember the original product name of a dress you bought 2 years ago, so if you’re selling it on eBay, you’re just going to call it “floral Zara dress”. The exception is Anthropologie, which (a) always gives their stuff weird, memorable names, and (b) inspires fanaticism in its devotees. At least 75% of Anthropologie listings include the original product name, I kid you not.

When all else fails, throw a bunch of descriptive terms together. I wouldn’t try more than 2 or 3 at a time, though, because most listing titles aren’t super long, and you don’t want to have a search so specific that it filters out potential hits. I rarely bother to check the “Include description” box, because I tend to find that returns too many results.

Let me give you one example. One of the most difficult to track down dresses I’ve ever successfully hunted on eBay was this BCBG number. I ran broad and narrow searches for months, before I finally come up lucky. It didn’t help that it’s an older dress, and one that rarely shows up on eBay. I think my (ultimately successful) search terms included “geo”, “multi” and “faux wrap”. Geo stands for “geometrical”, and multi stands for “multi-color”, and both are descriptors relating to print/pattern that professional sellers like to use. I got lucky, since my dress ended up being listed by one; I’m not sure if a casual seller would have used the same terms in their listing. Other search terms I had tried included “BCBG pebble print dress”, “BCBG purple abstract print”, “BCBG purple faux wrap dress” … well, you get the idea. As tedious as it can be, the key is to try, try, and try again.

This brings up an obvious observation: eBay is not for everyone. If you want to find something quickly and easily, and don’t consider online browsing a fun hobby (ahem), you may get frustrated – especially when looking for an older item. I … can’t really give you any helpful tips in that regard.

2. Looking for the Specific General

This may sound exactly like what we’ve just talked about, but it’s not. Rather than looking for a specific item, you might end up looking for a specific category of items. Personally, I do this in one of 3 ways: by brand, by description, or by seller. What’s the difference? Read on.

 (a) Searching by Brand

Say that I am looking for a bag. Most often, I will be interested in looking for a bag from a particular brand; most often (but not always!), that brand will be Marc Jacobs. This type of search is the easiest to do. Type in “Marc Jacobs”, hit “enter”, then select the “Handbags” category in the top left hand menu. [Side note: I don’t bother entering “Marc by Marc Jacobs” because the first two words are redundant, plus I want a search that includes both MbMJ and MJ lines. Also, I don’t bother adding “bag” or “purse” because some sellers only use one term, and not the other, and this way I have the broadest search possible.]

I re-order the results so that the lowest priced are at the top, and work my way down the list – generally, until I hit my price ceiling. If I’m feeling curious (always a bad idea, on eBay), I might keep scrolling just to see what is out there, just out of price range. This can work, in one of 2 situations. One, sellers will occasionally offer sales or discounts on their listings, which can bring down a price within budget. Two, if the item doesn’t sell, the seller will sometimes re-list it for a slightly lower price. Obviously, if the item is hundreds of dollars outside of your price range, I wouldn’t bother adding it to your watch list – you’ll just be torturing yourself for nothing.

If I don’t have a lot of time to browse, I will sometimes narrow down my brand search by adding a simple descriptive term – in our example, “green”, if I want to only want to see green Marc Jacobs bags. This approach has its pitfall. Some sellers will get all fancy, and call something “emerald” or “hunter” or God knows what else, instead of plain, old “green”. So your search results may not be exhaustive – but hey, we’re just browsing here, right?

[Side note, again: while the eBay search function can, apparently, handle Boolean logic, it looks like it does so on a very limited basis. I’ve never bothered to try, but if you’re in the mood to experiment, let me know how it goes.]

I usually search by brand when I’m “just looking to see what’s out there (and cheap)” in a particular category (in my example, bags), from a particular favourite. I’ll touch on this more in my next post, but the things I usually browse (as opposed to specifically search) for are dresses, tops, and bags. By way of contrast, I almost never browse for pants – scrolling through pages of pant pictures is boring, and it’s impossible to get an idea of fit unless you know exactly what you’re looking at.

(b) Searching by Description

Sometimes, it’s not the brand that matters, as much as the look of something. Say that I’m looking for a floral dress. [Never happens.] But not just any floral dress, I want a fit ‘n flare dress, preferably with 3/4 sleeves. And I want something of reliable quality. First, I start with the broadest search term possible, “floral dress” – and get a bazillion hits. Rather than add more descriptors to the search box, I use the left hand menu options to narrow down the search according to my criteria. If you click on “Style”, you will get an additional pop-up menu that allows you to specify a bunch of details, like the style of dress, sleeve length, material, print, condition, and brand. The latter, in particular, is helpful in narrowing down the search to exclude “direct from China” items. [Unless that’s what you’re looking for, in which case, you will find those at the top of your search results, for ridiculously low prices.]

I will admit that I rarely use this approach, because I tend to stick to the same tried-and-true brands for the most part, and prefer to search that way (see above). I would call this more of a “wildcard” approach to eBaying – not my thing, but maybe it can work for you.

 (c) Searching by Seller

I use this approach the least, but it has its advantages. I currently follow 4 sellers on eBay, and like to check in with each one of them from time to time. They are all sellers from whom I have bought before (or, in one case, was recommended to me by someone I consider an eBay ninja) and have one thing in common: a track record of good deals. And what I mean by a “good deal” is good quality for a lower-than-average price.

Most of the time, you will find multiple listings for the same item on eBay; some will be over-priced, but most will tend to cluster around a particular price point. Occasionally, there will be a low price outlier, in which case always consider why. Sometimes, it’s because the item is in comparatively poor condition; sometimes, it’s because it’s an uncommon size (e.g. size 5 shoes). Less frequently, it’s because the seller simply hasn’t done his or her homework on what the item is worth. But every now and then, it’s simply the case of a seller being motivated, for whatever reason, to undercut his or her competition. Or just, I don’t know, being exceptionally generous. Either way, these are sellers I recommend following because you never know when you may run across another bargain.

Whoa, that turned into quite the novel, didn’t it? And it’s only Part 1! I hope this gives you a (exhaustively detailed) idea of how I approach my eBay shopping. In Part 2, I’m going to tackle some specific tips for eBay shopping success. Stay tuned!

… err, sunshine. Walking on sunshine. Because it’s spring – finally! – and I suck at punny titles.

I’m pretty much plagiarizing myself with this outfit, but why fix what ain’t broken, amirite? I actually prefer this iteration; the J. Crew mini is quite boxy, and combined with the slouchy blazer, it’s not doing my body shape any favours. Also, the striped top is quite loose (and a heavier knit), so it looks better untucked, I think.

By the way, I’m on the lookout for a new (slimmer fit, lighter weight) striped top; my beloved Gap Factory one from last year is showing its age, and with summer coming (knock on wood) I need a replacement, stat. I have the hardest time finding striped tops I like, which is very odd considering how ubiquitous they are – I think it’s because I struggle with the stripe width, which is either too thin, or too thick. This top is just right … but who knows when I’ll find a similar one. Or where. Quick, tell me your favourite place to buy a classic striped (cotton) top!

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a comfy pair of flats, you could do worse than a pair of J. Crew Cece’s. I know they’ve been discontinued, but if you can catch a good deal on eBay, I would definitely recommend them. I found the leather to be quite supple, which means they require minimal breaking in. I’m not sure how the current Emma flat compares – anyone got the scoop?

By now, it is no secret that I love bags. If we were to judge the matter by my spending patterns, it wouldn’t even be a close call – I spend exponentially more on bags than any other items in my wardrobe. As far as preferences, I’m an oddball kind of bag snob; I love certain brands, but not indiscriminately – if I don’t love the look of the bag, I won’t buy it just because of the label (and there are plenty of ugly expensive bags out there, let me tell you). At the same time, there are certain bags whose aesthetic merit is enhanced by the brand cachet, and I’m not immune to that. [Case in point: my vintage Chanel double flap. I like it just fine, but if it didn’t have the iconic appeal that it does, I would probably sell it.] Like any bag collector lover out there, I keep a mental list of must-have dream bags – Holy Grail bags, for the not overly religious – that I hope to own one day, budget permitting.

One of the very first bags to make it on that list – in fact, perhaps the very one that started my love affair with bags – was the YSL Muse Two.

I remember seeing it in a fashion magazine back in 2008 or early 2009, and being absolutely smitten with it. I even cut it out and pasted it into my fashion scrapbook. [I may or may not have drawn hearts all around it. Don’t judge; this was before Pinterest and Instagram, kids.] At the time, I was just starting to get interested in clothes, and beginning to think about personal style. My wardrobe has completely changed since then (although, interestingly, I still like a lot of the things in that old fashion scrapbook), but my love for the Muse Two has remained steady. For 6 years, I’ve kept an eye out for it in local consignment stores and Kijiji, hoping to find it for a price my wallet could bear. It wasn’t meant to be.

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about refining and, at the same time, simplifying my style and my approach to getting dressed. I want to get that “wow” feeling every time I put on an outfit. I want each one to spark joy. And that has meant carefully reviewing each individual piece in my closet – including my bags. I’ve been letting go of a few, but also thinking about ones that were missing from my closet. (“Missing” might seem like a wildly inappropriate choice of words considering how many bags I still have, but I’m speaking as a collector here, so I hope you’ll indulge me.) After all this time, I still adored the look of the Muse Two. It’s a combination of two of my favourite bag styles: the schoolgirl messenger (think Mulberry Alexa, minus the cross-body strap) and the classic satchel (think Mulberry Bayswater, and any of my other Holy Grail bags). It has a beautiful, distinctive closure, but is otherwise completely devoid of identifying logos. It’s just … perfect.

Luckily, having made the decision to hunt it down once and for all, eBay came through for me – again. The version I had originally “pinned” in my scrapbook (blue ostrich) is still selling for an unconscionable amount, but I was able to find a leather/nubuck tri-color version (the same one that Kate is holding in the ad above, I think) in good condition for a reasonable price. I hesitated over the fact that the seller was from Japan, but its feedback looked good, which was encouraging; I also recalled (from my Purse Forum days) that people had generally positive experiences with Japanese re-sellers of luxury goods, encountering fewer issues like counterfeit items being passed as authentic, misleading or inaccurate descriptions, and so on. So I took the plunge … and was extremely pleased with the result. My bag arrived incredibly quickly – 3 days! From Japan! And the shipping was free! – and was just as described. She is a beauty:

I thought it might be helpful to do a quick review, just in the off chance that any of you happen to be thinking about buying one, and especially since, lovely as she is, the Muse Two has its … quirks.

First, let me say it again: I adore the look of this bag. This is entirely subjective, so I don’t expect you to agree with me, but please keep it in mind because it does influence my overall impressions of the bag. So, looks-wise, I give it a 10 out of 10. Quality-wise, it’s also pretty good – I would say 8.5 out of 10. The leather is superb and, as I mentioned, I love the look of the hardware. Here is something I had not realized before getting the bag, though, not having done much research on it beyond Googling and drooling over photos of it: my version is essentially a canvas bag, with leather pieces attached to the front, back, and sides. The back piece comes over the top, creating the flap.

What that means is that the inside of the bag, including the middle compartment/pocket, is made out of canvas, as are the external seams/edges. And what that means is that the bag is quite floppy. It is not completely unstructured, but it’s not as solid as it appears from photos. On the plus side, this means that the bag is lighter than it would have been, were it made entirely out of leather. The main drawback is that things tend to shift about inside the bag much more, because the dividing pocket is floppy. This is not a huge issue for me, but it could be a problem for someone looking for a very structured bag. I don’t think the canvas makes it less sturdy overall; this bag is 6 years old or so, and still looks great (very little wear on the canvas corners). However, that’s also a factor to consider if you tend to be “harder” on your bags.

In terms of functionality, I wouldn’t rate the bag more than a 7.5, and that is partially influenced by my love of its looks. The problem is that beautiful closure; combined with the top handle and the general floppiness of the bag, it makes it very difficult to open and close the bag – and absolutely imperative that you do so. If you don’t close the bag (and, really, you need to be closing all 3 snaps, not just the main one), it gapes right open, making it nearly impossible to carry without spilling something. Closing it is difficult to do “on the run” because of said floppiness. Basically, I try to minimize the need to open and close it as much as possible. I can see how that would get annoying for some people, quickly. I don’t mind it very much, but I’ve got those love goggles on, you know what I mean?

In other respects, the bag has good functionality. The handle has a decent drop; it can be easily worn over the shoulder if you’re not wearing a bulky layer, like a winter coat. (It does have a tendency to slide down when I’m wearing my coat, but I tend to carry it in my hand in any event.) I believe I have the medium, and it’s a good size for anyone who likes roomier bags. For reference, I’m 5’7 and I feel like it’s a very height-appropriate size for me (although I think it looks bigger than it is in photos, for some reason).

Long (yikes) story short, here is mah new bag – I luvs it. The end.

Oh, one more thing: if you found this review helpful, and would be interested in knowing more about any of my other bags, shoot me a comment and I will think about doing a semi-regular series on bag reviews. Just a thought.