What's cluckin cheap chic-ens?? (Wow that's bad. I'm sorry. You don't deserve that.)
Remember my favorite eBay shop, Ola Mari Clothing? Well, guess what?! I've found another absolutely fantastic eBay shop, one that out-OlaMari's Ola Mari!! I'll tell you all about it after the jump... because I like making you clickenze jump. I don't even know why.
So my new favorite ebay shop is called, simply, clothinge-e. It is awesome.
First and foremost, obviously, the prices are FANTASTIC. That should go without saying, coming from me. :)
She carries a lot of the same items that Ola Mari carries, and then of course many that she doesn't. They must have the same supplier. They're both the same basic styles: largely graphic- and logo-free, non-brand-name clothing in up-to-date styles at fantastic prices. There's a lot of really soft and comfortable jersey-knit material. It's simple, essential stuff that every wardrobe needs. Either one (or fuck it, both!) of these shops should be your go-to, your first stop when you're in the market for a wardrobe staple.
One of the things that sets e-e apart from OM is the stock itself. Now I've only just discovered her so I don't have a lot of historical data, but so far it looks like e-e generally carries fewer items; she certainly has fewer up for sale now. Ola Mari currently has almost 20,000 active listings, where e-e has about 1200. That really makes a positive difference, believe it or not. Lemme tell you why!
In my opinion, e-e carries only the awesomest stuff, so you have less crap to sift through when conducting a general search, and it's easier to find exactly what you need when specifying. For example, when I search those shops just for the broad term "dress", I get back literally hundreds of items (many that I just don't particularly like for one reason or another) on OM, and a whoooole lot of them are either very similar or even identical. Having that many options is overwhelming to me sometimes, and it's always time consuming. But on e-e I see a handful of distinct items, all of which I want.
Ola Mari carries about 20 different listings for, say, spaghetti strap tunic length tank tops. It's often impossible to tell if they are just multiple listings of the same item or if there are minute differences. Some seemingly identical products are listed in one page in only black and white, another with a dozen color options, and yet a third with, say, only pastels. It's not always apparent if I'm looking at the plus size listing for an item or not. I don't know what the fuck, and I don't know if I've seen all the possibilities or not. There are often differences (very minor, to be sure) in price, even between listings where I absolutely cannot find any other difference, which only adds to the confusion. It seems that e-e only has the one listing for each item, with the only overlap being the very helpful distinction between misses and plus sizes.
Like OM, E-e are located in California, which means US buyers don't have to wait out the usual 2-4 week delivery time that comes with this territory. When you're dealing with prices like these, that's a fucking miracle. In fact, my order arrived on my doorstep within THREE DAYS. I ordered at night, there was a discrepancy, and she solved that and shipped the package the very next morning.
Another bonus e-e has going for her is that, frankly, she's nicer than Ola Mari. Well, ok, maybe gracious is the right word...? I am NOT saying that Ola Mari isn't nice; I'm just saying that e-e is nicer. Whenever I've contacted OM - heh, whenever I contact anyone, really - I've tended to be rather gushy. I like to tell her that her shop if my favorite, that I share it on my (pffff, mighht as well be private but she doesn't know that!) fashion/beauty blog, and yada yada I love her shop to bits. She has responded every time as though I did not say those things at all; OM is strictly business, to a fault in my opinion.
But e-e... She contacted me first thing in the morning - within only a couple hours of my middle-of-the-night order, mind you - to let me know that she was out of stock on the exact size and color combination of one of the items I'd ordered. She offered me all the standard options plus let me know what color/size combinations she did have in stock so that I could choose from those if I wished. I replied, gushing, and she got right back to me with a very gracious, polite, and casually fun acknowledgement and thanks for my compliments, stating that she was very glad that I was happy with her store and that it makes a difference to her to hear such things.
Basically, she spoke to me like a human being. That simple bit of communication, the attention to the details of what I'd said to her, was actually very important to me. It tells me that not only does she read every word of her customers' emails, but she also cares about us as people and is happy to treat us as such and communicate! I really, really appreciate that and consider it an important part of customer service. Oh, and it also helps that I'm sure I'm happier with the replacement top than I would have been with the original color. AND she immediately went and updated her stock on ebay to make it accurate!
Soooo... Lemme show you what I got!
Sorry for the shitass cell pic. The lighting in my house is atrocious.
Boobalicious blue tunic/dress - 8$
Essential white jersey knit and lace bralet - 6$
Adorable teal tank with corseting and lace detail - 15$
Cutest red skater skirt in the world - 10$
Damn sexy black and white lace layered tank dress - 14$
Comfy brown jersey tee with chiffon trim - 7$
Cute button detailed white bralet - 7$
All in all I got 8 items: about 3 tops, 2 bralets, a couple dresses/tunics, and an adooooorable skirt, all for a total of 73$!! I am really really pleased with everything. Each item is even better than I expected. Of course it's all made in China or wherever, I'm sure, but the quality is much higher that what you'd expect for the price, by far nicer than the majority of the stuff I buy from Asia, honestly. And it all looks fabulous on... even on me!
I'm especially in love with that red skirt and the lace dress. I was shocked to find out that I've always needed a red skirt! It's just so damn versatile; I've wanted desperately to just say fuck convention and wear it two or three times this week - and it's only a 4-day week! Ha! And the lace dress, ohhh. The lace is unbelievably soft, and it hangs over the satiny inner slip/lining as almost two pieces. It's perfectly form-fitting and very very sexy, but it's conservative enough that I'm considering dolling it up to wear to a wedding in a couple weeks. Not pictured - because it's already in the wash - is the plain white tank. It's not safe for work, let's put it that way. The neck is scooped quite low and the fabric is thin, exactly what a girl needs in the Texas summer. I've worn it every night after work since it arrived, I like it so much. And my husband likes it more than I do! :D
In conclusion, get your ass to eBay and check out clothinge-e. Now. Do it now.
No comments:
Post a Comment