How to Ball on a Budget

Times are rough, money’s scarce, college loans are many, and jobs are few. We live in a hard, materialistic world, where teens with certain creative inclination towards, let’s say Dolce & Gabbana, find it difficult to believe that they will ever obtain the beautiful golden-lace top they saw while passing by the windows of Barneys. They find their efforts to be in vain, and that the top made in a hot and sweaty workshop somewhere in Sicily, imported to the before lonely shelves of Barneys, will never be their own.

But my creative friends, there is a solution to our seamlessly important crisis. Why spend $2,000 on a top, when you can find the same designer for almost 70 percent less than that price. The answer to our problem lies within an un-thinkable four letter word, Ebay. Ebay is where I started my designer collection. From purchasing a $30 Dolce & Gabbana hoodie, to the biggest steal of all a $10 vintage Dior tracksuit, Ebay is a blessing in disguise. With my tips, you can turn your lack luster into  closet to a vintage designer hot spot.

1. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM CHINA.

In such a materialistic world, the need for supply and demand takes on the dog-eat dog nature that we already live in resulting in the fashionistas kryptonite, FAKES. Fakes are all but rare on a platform such as Ebay, so it is imperative to know how to spot out what is fake compared to what is real. The first step to doing this, is going down to the item location sections and selecting U.S only.

2.WHEN BUYING INEXPENSIVE DESIGNER PIECES, GO PRE-OWNED.

As much as you would like to believe that brand-new Gucci bag you just saw for $80 is authentic, I can tell you now it definitely is not. The biggest blessings on Ebay come from pre-owned items, items that we’re high in demand once, but have since lost their value,  and it doesn’t take much to bring a vintage item back to life. To bring a pre-owned item to life you can take it to the cleaners and have it shined, washed or repaired or you can simply buy a new item that compliments the pre-owned item.

3. CONTACT THE SELLER.

Suspicion is common on a website such as Ebay. The questions: How do I know this is real?, What if the item doesn’t look exactly as pictured? wander around your creative yet impressionable mind. The answer to your common questions are at the tip of your fingers. Ebay provides each of its users with the sellers contact information, with this information you can obtain extra pictures of the items, authenticity cards, and even the original receipt to ensure your safety.

He also says that there are a lot of good finds on Ebay if you are willing to look.

4. MAKE YOUR SEARCH AS SPECIFIC AS POSSIBLE.

As you can probably imagine Ebay is home of millions of listings. Their services go as far as automobile parts to college textbooks. Clothes on Ebay are a fish in a sea of products. To avoid coming into contact with the other fishes in the sea, you must make your search as specific as possible, which warrants knowing what you want. An example of a broad search that will have you fishing through thousand of posts is typing in, lv bag. The alternative to this broad, poorly worded search is Louis Vuitton brown palm springs mini backpack, then changing the brand settings to Louis Vuitton and specific color search to brown, which are options you can find on the left side of your screen on a computer and in the filters section of the app. This search will leave you with the exact product that you are looking for, making your time on Ebay efficient.

With these tips you should now be the king or queen of Ebay, conquering one designer piece at a time to add to your village called a closet.

– by Xavier Means ’18