*Disclaimer, this is solely my opinion and personal experience, and is meant to educate others to make an informed choice.*

I’m not usually one to write negative reviews or write anything controversial or confrontational here on the blog; I’d much rather prefer to bring you outfit inspo and the latest fashion trends sprinkled in with happy, motivational stories. However, I’ve recently discovered that a retailer I’ve shopped from multiple times is not the place to grab the best deals on pre-loved designer fashion as I once thought it was. In fact, I feel that, now that this retailer’s true self was shown to me so clearly, it’s my responsibility as a fashion influencer and blogger to give you my honest experience so that you can make an informed choice on whether or not to support this business. So, here’s what happened…

If you’ve been following along for a while, you know that I love shopping secondhand when it comes to designer fashion because of the cost-saving potential and the ability to find unique styles. While I shop at a variety of resale retailers, I’ve shopped at Vestiaire Collective several times if there is an item that’s not available on the other sites I typically shop with, and enjoyed that negotiation with the sellers on this platform was (in many cases) possible and beneficial to the buyer. I had read on platforms like TrustPilot and Better Business Bureau that Vestiaire Collective was not a high-ranking or a BBB accredited company, trustworthy company, but my desire to shop rare designer items drove me to give them a try.

In all honesty and truth, the first few orders I placed through them were fine. I received the items on time, and they seemed authentic and as described. (I will note that these items I bought for the most part were from local US sellers and did not need the be imported.) The thing about Vestiaire Collective is that they have sellers from all over the world on their platform, which is great for adding variety to their selection but has the drawback of items not being available due to customs restrictions and also high import duties. This complication has come into play with my latest order from this platform, and significantly contributed to why I won’t be shopping here again. Read on…

Rewind a bit. I’ve only recently started making purchases from Vestiaire Collective that were of higher dollar amount; before, my purchases were mainly a couple hundred bucks here or there. Recently, I made a few purchases of $500+ and over $1,000, and with those purchases I have experienced shipping delays, poor seller communication, and above all, incredibly poor response or help from Vestiaire Collective customer service. The platform doesn’t make it immediately obvious unless you search through their policies, but they do not allow returns or refunds for items unless the seller is categorized as a “professional” seller, and even then it just depends. This means if you order an item by mistake and it’s the wrong size (as I did), you’re not going to get to return it. You’ll just have to try and resell it on their platform with no seller fees and hope it sells. But, perhaps the biggest issue I have with Vestiaire Collective that I believe should be seriously addressed by their management is their incredibly (and I do mean INCREDIBLY) poor customer service. On the off chance that their app or chat features are not having issues and blocking you from contacting anyone (which they tend to do without a legit reason), their customer service has on multiple occasions ghosted me for hours or even days in the middle of a conversation without the issue being resolved. They often do not reply to emails, and if you try and contact them via another account or social media, they leave you on read or chide you for putting in multiple requests for help as this will essentially make them take longer to get back to you. (How will they take longer to get back to you when they choose not to respond in the first place??)

For example, for my most recent and highest priced order I have ever made from them (and ever made in general), the item got stuck in US customs because Vestiaire Collective did not provide an adequate and detailed item composition description (pretty important when you’re trying to import something). Vestiaire Collective’s customer service ghosted me on chat for over a day, right in the middle of our conversation, without a resolution, and I had to contact customer service via another account just to get a response. Once I did, the agent finally provided me with a document for customs, but refused to provide it to customs themselves as the shipper (even though this was recommended by the shipping carrier) because they, simply put, “do not do that”. Wasn’t this mistake caused by their lack of documentation as the shipper of the package in the first place, so shouldn’t they be the ones to handle it with the carrier?

Long story short, I provided the documentation to the carrier myself, spent hours on the phone with the carrier’s customer service, filled out additional import paperwork (which I had no idea I’d have to do), and my item is STILL sitting in customs and has not been released. When I messaged Vestiaire Collective on Instagram about this issue, they left my messages on read and have not responded at all. (However when I’ve tagged them in my content previously, they seem to respond…) I’ve sent them tweets on Twitter (along with many others) to try and get this resolved, but they appeared to have hidden my initial tweets and asked me to provide the documentation containing personal information I had for the order via comment on their public Twitter page (since they don’t have the DMs enabled on Twitter). When I refused as the document contained personal data I didn’t feel comfortable being public, they dismissively told me to contact them on the app.

I know this was a pretty long rant, and if you’ve made it this far, I really appreciate you! The moral of the story is, if you’re considering shopping with Vestiaire Collective, I would strongly encourage you to read the reviews and make an informed choice. In my experience and opinion, their reputation as a company is terrible, their customer service is almost nonexistent, and there is a high likelihood that you’ll be ignored, disrespected, and disappointed with the experience. Of course, it’s up to you, but please be aware.

I will not be promoting this company anymore on any of my pages, and I hope this helps you have an informed decision when you shop. Sending love and good fashion your way, thank you for reading!

Xx Tabi