Sorry that I sort of disappeared this week. It was just a little bit insane!
Anyways, as some of you may remember I mentioned in my Two Color Tutorial using Stila's It Girl palette that you couldn't get it from Sephora anymore, so I recommended eBay. Yes, eBay.
I know a lot of you are probably skeptical about buying brand name cosmetics from eBay vendors. I get it- no one wants to buy fake cosmetics. That's completely understandable. But, if you know what to look for, you can actually get some really great deals on eBay.
Some advice?
- Feedback
- This is super important. If they have good feedback from customers similar to you ( buying cosmetics) you can basically guarantee that the cosmetics are authentic. Generally, power sellers and people who have stores are safe bets.
- Location
- This might sound weird, but if I'm looking at a product and I see that its shipping from China or Hong Kong, I probably won't buy it. I have found that most fake cosmetics come from overseas. Try to buy from the U.S. if possible.
- Price
- If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. I unfortunately have a personal experience with this one. (Story time- I was searching for one of my favorite Benefit lipsticks and this one vendor had a great deal on it. So obviously, I was pumped. Needless to say, I bought it, and then when I opened it, it wasn't even close to the color of the real lipstick. Yup, it was a fake.)
- Description
- Most vendors will have a description section for whatever product they are selling. Read it. Most times they will say if they guarantee that their products are authentic. And sometimes, if you spend enough money they will throw in some free samples. Also, you can find information about shipping, return policies, and payment in the description.
- When in doubt, ask.
- Send them a message! Ask your questions! They want your business. They'd be fools if they didn't try to help you to the best of their ability. Ask about authenticity, shipping costs, combining shipping, etc. Whatever questions you may have, ask them. They aren't going to do you any good when your sitting at home with your brandy new fake product. Bet you'll be regretting not asking about authenticity then!
- Know Your Product
- If you've never seen a product in person before, don't order it from eBay. You'll have absolutely no idea if they've sent you a fake or not. Try to get products that you've either used or at least seen in stores.
- Frequent Fakers
- I don't know many brands for cosmetics that are frequently faked. But two of the big ones are definitely MAC and Benefit. If you were trying to buy MAC on eBay I would be super careful, make sure you really know what your looking for.
I think those are pretty much the basics for buying cosmetics on eBay and I hope that helped you guys a little bit :) Feel free to message me if you guys have any specific questions about buying cosmetics off of eBay! What do you think? Would you buy cosmetics from eBay, or are you totally against it?
Talk to you guys soon!
