Advice on shopping on RealReal
I recently came across shops like Yook and RealReal and was intruiged by the possibility of finding good garments for cheap. I've been looking around in RealReal a bit now and found some items that I liked, all under 40$ each. Shipping to Europe is 50$.. yikes, but I have a 25$ discount code and the price of the items makes it worth it to me.
I want to ask about authenticity mainly, on this site. Are there many fakes, and if so, what preventative measures can I take? I also know sizing can be way off, but I'm willing to take that risk as I figure I can resell the items if the don't fit (they're final sale so no returns).
I'd love some input as I plan to soon place my first order!
13 Replies
Just to bear in mind, if you arent aware if you are ordering stuff from outside europe, you generally pay vat and import duties on top on the total cost (items plus shipping).
in terms of fakes, basically it depends on how hype the item is , so stuff like handbags and balanciaga, more fakes, more niche stuff less so
Thanks for the reminder. If I keep under about 170$ total I can at least avoid the import duties in my country
yea I understand designer brands like YSL and Dior are faked a lot. There are some brands I dont know as well though, that might be faked, like John Elliot, Theory, Schott?
If you're in Europe, you might be better off looking at Vinted.
Schott is pretty unlikely to be faked.
Thanks, been looking around a bit in vinted too. Just thought the prices at RealReal were better, and they had a bigger selection!
I find the clothing on the realreal is all legitimate in my experiences. Where they fuck up is with accessories, purses, bags, and watches.
i’ve seen them sell Louis Vuitton bags (virgil era) that never came out in the colors they had on their site
If you’re going for Japanese clothing or more obscure European brands, you’ll be fine. You can always legit check anyhow online, or here.
their customer service is also been very nice to me, though I’ve never had to deal with a fake item to return
Yoox just sucks now, they got bought out by another site, and ever since then their prices have been jacked up. Their stuff is all real though.
TRR will accept returns on final sale items if they turn out to be fake
but I'm not sure if they'd charge you for shipping back if you're in the EU
you could email them about that maybe
And you won't get your VAT back on a return abroad if it was shipped taxes unpaid (or not without great difficulty).
yeah so definitely better to keep the order under $170 if you really aren't sure
Thanks all! I'll hopefully order from them soon then. Found a few pieces I really liked and haven't found anywhere in Europe
Worth double checking vat limit too, in the UK duties don't kick in til £135 but VAT is on everything over £39.
Yea we literally have a VAT calculator in Sweden. You pick the item you're buying, ex leather belt, and it calculates everything for you. To me the limit is 137 + 25$ shipping. To be safe I probably won't shop more than 120-130$
Heads up, there are plenty of other sites that sell second hand. Highly recommend Vinted for Europe, I've gotten so many clothes from their, but they don't have physical authentication if that's what you want. Also consider vestiaire and grailed.
Vinted does have physical authentication (at least here in the UK), if its anything like TRR it's probably fairly useless though