Has anyone shopped at Italist?

[zoezee]

Hello! I am a long time stalker of TPBF and decided that, even in the midst of some pretty dodgy posts and new members, I needed to share my Italist experience.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not dodgy!

I was actually recommended to the Italist from this forum. I had never heard of them before and I was looking for rockstuds which I actually ended up buying from Far Fetch, as Italist didn't have my size.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I was looking for the Gucci Peyton Loafers. Italist actually had the slingbacks, in my size, last pair left and for AUD300. I couldn't believe it. I thought, why not just buy them and if they turn out to be fakes then it's not that much of a crazy cost (sort of).

Although, feedback on this forum seems to be pretty good; they seem to sell authentic items. Their social media channels and a general google search didn't come up with anything too alarming so I thought I'd bite the bullet and go for it.

Initially, it took about a day for a response to come back to me that my order was confirmed. Then it took another two days to get the shipping notification out to me. With DHL, it was delivered to my Perth office in 3 days which was great.

When I opened the box, I expected to see the normal Gucci shoe box, but instead was the new one I keep seeing everywhere. I'm not very educated on Gucci shoe boxes, but this threw me off a little bit at first. The other thing I wasn't happy with was that the top of the box was very grubby, like it had been stacked under a lot of other boxes. That was a bit sad.

When I opened the box, the shoes were packed well. I did a very close inspection of both shoes, the serial numbers were in order and in the right place. The stitching was exactly like the real ones and very straight. The soles were leather. They seemed pretty real to me, but I couldn't get over the box. That was until I did a lot of googling and did find that yes, the new box with the white face and black border seems to be the norm so that put me at ease.

Before that, I did message them over the state of the box. They came back to me very apologetic and with a discount coupon.
I saw this article not long after I purchased: http://sg.asiatatler.com/fashion-be...ele-giovine-italist-s-co-founder-and-chairman
It actually has a picture of them in their office which reassured me that it's a real business, with real people working behind the scenes.
This is also another great article about their business model: http://www.racked.com/2016/5/3/11503316/italist-italian-boutiques-online-discount

I know for sure the loafers I have are authentic, I just have no idea how I was able to buy them at such a cheap price! I'm very happy with my purchase, and with Italist's service. I would actually shop there again.

 

[Sandybeach814]

Hello! I am a long time stalker of TPBF and decided that, even in the midst of some pretty dodgy posts and new members, I needed to share my Italist experience.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not dodgy!

I was actually recommended to the Italist from this forum. I had never heard of them before and I was looking for rockstuds which I actually ended up buying from Far Fetch, as Italist didn't have my size.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I was looking for the Gucci Peyton Loafers. Italist actually had the slingbacks, in my size, last pair left and for AUD300. I couldn't believe it. I thought, why not just buy them and if they turn out to be fakes then it's not that much of a crazy cost (sort of).

Although, feedback on this forum seems to be pretty good; they seem to sell authentic items. Their social media channels and a general google search didn't come up with anything too alarming so I thought I'd bite the bullet and go for it.

Initially, it took about a day for a response to come back to me that my order was confirmed. Then it took another two days to get the shipping notification out to me. With DHL, it was delivered to my Perth office in 3 days which was great.

When I opened the box, I expected to see the normal Gucci shoe box, but instead was the new one I keep seeing everywhere. I'm not very educated on Gucci shoe boxes, but this threw me off a little bit at first. The other thing I wasn't happy with was that the top of the box was very grubby, like it had been stacked under a lot of other boxes. That was a bit sad.

When I opened the box, the shoes were packed well. I did a very close inspection of both shoes, the serial numbers were in order and in the right place. The stitching was exactly like the real ones and very straight. The soles were leather. They seemed pretty real to me, but I couldn't get over the box. That was until I did a lot of googling and did find that yes, the new box with the white face and black border seems to be the norm so that put me at ease.

Before that, I did message them over the state of the box. They came back to me very apologetic and with a discount coupon.
I saw this article not long after I purchased: http://sg.asiatatler.com/fashion-be...ele-giovine-italist-s-co-founder-and-chairman
It actually has a picture of them in their office which reassured me that it's a real business, with real people working behind the scenes.
This is also another great article about their business model: http://www.racked.com/2016/5/3/11503316/italist-italian-boutiques-online-discount

I know for sure the loafers I have are authentic, I just have no idea how I was able to buy them at such a cheap price! I'm very happy with my purchase, and with Italist's service. I would actually shop there again.

Thanks for sharing your opinion. I've been lurking their website but haven't made any purchase yet. Will definitely consider doing it soon!

 

[JetSetGo!]

The last 3 posts here are so suspicious. Obviously someone to promote Italist and not real buyers. If you see this, it had the oposite affect. These posts have made me more suspicious of the Italist website....

Unfortunately, this thread has become fairly useless as this company (Italist) is insisting on flooding us with fake "reviews" over and over. I believe they also are getting members to post for them. Because of their dishonest tactic, I will never shop with them.

 

[ashlie]

Unfortunately, this thread has become fairly useless as this company (Italist) is insisting on flooding us with fake "reviews" over and over. I believe they also are getting members to post for them. Because of their dishonest tactic, I will never shop with them.

I totally agree with that. I wish there was some way to block them. And/or report them. I don't know if they would recruit people to post for them though. If so that's a little too strange...

 

[zoezee]

Unfortunately, this thread has become fairly useless as this company (Italist) is insisting on flooding us with fake "reviews" over and over. I believe they also are getting members to post for them. Because of their dishonest tactic, I will never shop with them.

The very sad reality is, a lot of businesses do this.
I used to work at a builder, and they employed a person who's job it was to leave positive reviews on websites. It was so disgusting! They didn't even try to make it look like it was an unbiased review.
I definitely don't condone this tactic.

I should also mention that I was a bit turned off about the cost of sending it back from Australia to Italy if something was wrong with my item.

Oh, and it was obvious that someone had worn the right shoe - as if it was a display item. Very strange and wasn't particularly happy with that.

 

[JetSetGo!]

I totally agree with that. I wish there was some way to block them. And/or report them. I don't know if they would recruit people to post for them though. If so that's a little too strange...

Well, if you do see suspicious posts in this thread, please use the report option so mods can take a look.

 

[Casaque7]

Moschino suitcase,great price,authentic

Sent from my SM-T560 using PurseForum mobile app

 

[BVFan]

Guys, can anyone share their 25 EU off code in Italist? I need to buy something fast!

 

[BVFan]

sorry just saw the note about not sharing promo codes...didn't realise we could not share it here.

 

[CLAIREWU1986]

Here is my story for shoppers in U.S..
Their reutrn and refund is not like America, I did read it before buying, but still shocked me.
I bought a pair of shoe for 600 something euro, shipping was fast. I was glad.
But it did not fit me that well so I returned it knowing that they may deduct the shipping fee and refund the rest.

However, I got their email saying beside shipping fee 30.3 euro, they will take additional 74.36€ for Italian duty fees?!!!
When I bought it, the confirmation email comes with shoe price, shipping fee and tax is 0, where the Italian duty fees comes from?

Not a pleasant experience with italist. not shop with them again.

I have shopped on Farfetch before, everything is normal, free return shipping fee and FULL refund.

 

[zoezee]

Here is my story for shoppers in U.S..
Their reutrn and refund is not like America, I did read it before buying, but still shocked me.
I bought a pair of shoe for 600 something euro, shipping was fast. I was glad.
But it did not fit me that well so I returned it knowing that they may deduct the shipping fee and refund the rest.

However, I got their email saying beside shipping fee 30.3 euro, they will take additional 74.36€ for Italian duty fees?!!!
When I bought it, the confirmation email comes with shoe price, shipping fee and tax is 0, where the Italian duty fees comes from?

Not a pleasant experience with italist. not shop with them again.

I have shopped on Farfetch before, everything is normal, free return shipping fee and FULL refund.

That is terrible! Unfortunately, it does mention on the site:
The service is free of charge for all orders shipped to Italy. For orders from all other countries, you will have to bear the cost of shipping and any custom duties (if any).

Italy possibly charge a VAT when importing into the country, and rather than Italist bearing the cost because you are returning the item, then they are making you pay for it so they don't lose any money. I'm not exactly sure of the ethics associated with this.

I think you could possibly have a chance to argue your case and make them pay for the VAT as it didn't fit and you purchased the wrong size due to insufficient sizing information on their website (they don't include insole measurements for example). They have a certain responsibility there, especially if they're selling expensive items.

 

[jmc3007]

Here is my story for shoppers in U.S..
Their reutrn and refund is not like America, I did read it before buying, but still shocked me.
I bought a pair of shoe for 600 something euro, shipping was fast. I was glad.
But it did not fit me that well so I returned it knowing that they may deduct the shipping fee and refund the rest.

However, I got their email saying beside shipping fee 30.3 euro, they will take additional 74.36€ for Italian duty fees?!!!
When I bought it, the confirmation email comes with shoe price, shipping fee and tax is 0, where the Italian duty fees comes from?

Not a pleasant experience with italist. not shop with them again.

I have shopped on Farfetch before, everything is normal, free return shipping fee and FULL refund.

Farfetch is a much much better platform compared to Italist, but that comes at a cost as Farfetch prices tend to be higher though not always. sometimes convenience for full refund etc is worth it. with Italist, you have to treat it like final FINAL sale so the price or item must be exceptional or both. Italist customer service is horrible/non existent. that said their sale can have quite a few bargains. it's a shame that their platform is doing a disservice to the small boutiques themselves whose products and service are quite excellent, nothing wrong with the stores just everything sucks with having a middle man like Italist.

anything under $800 is duty free when ordered by mail and above it, there's a sliding scale depending on the item but the problem is Italist doesn't use the proper calculator, instead they just tack on 20% across the board. the issue is handbags get levied around 10% duty while footwear 12% so Italist gets to keep the difference. Italist can and should setup to refund buyers all duties paid like Farfetch and other international sellers but they have chosen so far not to do so. but like all else on Internet they too won't survive if they don't get their act together and stay competitive. there're new sellers coming online all the time and it comes down to who can excel at customer service.

 

[Starlett309]

DO NOT BUY FROM THESE CRIMINALS!!!!

So I made my first ever Italist purchase. A winter coat that I did not like the fit of. I decided to return it. I had no idea that they would charge me $100 for shipping and a further $100 for Italian custom fees!!! So in the end, I got back about 50% of my purchase cost. They never showed me evidence of these shipping or custom fees, and when I submitted the return, there was no warning that I would have to pay so much. They simply did an automatic deduction from the refund amount to my account. There is no way you can call them, so all contact is via email and I have complained multiple times that I want evidence off the fees, and at a minimum the custom fees refunded because I've shopped with other Italian companies before and never been charged for these - their response is to just say "too bad".

So basically buy at your own risk - if you need to return, you have no idea what costs you might be up for and if you need to complain, be prepared for them not to care and to never be able to speak to a human.

 

[eckw]

I've actually shopped with Italist a few times, most recently for a pair of Gucci Jordaan loafers as a Gucci red Soho Disco bag. Both were at very attractive prices (not on sale but price was about 20-30% lower than in Hong Kong where I am). I'd tried them on here so knew the fit would be fine for the shoes. Both packages arrived quickly with little problem.

The biggest issue for me would be their packaging (the shoe box was grubby and dented) but the products themselves are authentic and new, so I don't really mind. I think the bigger problem is returns, so I would never buy anything from them that I wasn't sure I want to keep.

To be honest, I was a bit worried about my Soho bag as there are so many fakes around but luckily mine was authentic.

Just my two cents worth. I am not associated with them at all!

 

[awr27]

I am obviously not affiliated with them as I've posted about my bad bag experiences here many times - but here's my story for it's two cents...

I stumbled upon Italist through ShopStyle, which is pretty reputable with it's referrals. I wanted a Balenciaga mini bag for travel and Italist had by far the best prices, around $200 less than US retail. I also found one out of season on sale in a color I loved, so it was actually $400 less than retail here. I simply couldn't pass it up, you can't even find a good used one for that price!

I read ALL of the details, and that is key, you need to read the details. I was going to order some CL's too, but thought.... what if they don't fit. (Plus, if your order is under $800 you don't have to pay duty taxes.) Like another person said, you don't want to mess with returns so consider it final sale.

So I go to order and my bank is not having it. Fraud protection calls right away, so I'm a little weary. I lift the hold, and I STILL can't process. I get an email from Italist saying this is common for out of country residents, and to talk with my bank. I call my bank again and they are saying something about charges processed in the Netherlands are hard to lift. I get a sinking feeling BUT who could stand between a lady and her bag!

Finally, its lifted and I purchase. I get my confirmation right away and an email when it's sent from the supplier. They do source from local stores, so you're getting this from small retailers around the country. My gorgeous, authentic, darling bag arrived in no time. I even took it to the local store to have it checked!

So, I'm not sure why they can offer these prices, typically prices over there are lower, and when you don't have to pay VAT, its even better. I've bought things on vacation over there that were such a deal, so I didn't feel too weird about it. I'd just make sure you call your bank BEFORE trying to buy, and go for something you don't want to return.

Hope that helps!