I want to reveal my first ever preloved LV purchase as well as provide a detailed review of my experience purchasing a preloved item from the Japanense seller eLady (AKA elady01 on eBay). I have watched numerous videos and read many posts on TPF about the Eva clutch and knew this was the versatile crossbody/clutch/minibag I was looking for. With the recent price increases, I considered buying preloved and I had such a positive experience. I found a beautiful Eva Clutch in Mono on eLadys website at http://global.elady.com/. It was the only Eva with an A rating currently on her site and the bag was Made in France (just a plus!). I had a few questions about the bag and received a friendly e-mail response back from eLady within 24 hours.
I posted a thread to the LV shopping forum on others experiences buying from eLady and they were very positive, but most people purchased via eBay auctions rather than directly from her website. Her prices are 10% lower buying directly from her website (probably to account for her saving on eBay seller commissions). I would also get an additional 5% savings because I was a new buyer. I had the bag authenticated on TPF before purchasing and got the thumbs up.
I was still hesitant to buy directly from the sellers website because I felt I may have more buyer protection buying through eBay. I called PayPal prior to purchasing the bag to inquire about buyer protection. PayPal ensured me that I had full buyer protection buying outside of eBay as long as I was purchasing a good (not a service) and I paid in one single payment (rather than paying in installments). This provided some comfort and pushed me to pull the trigger. I purchased the bag on a Monday evening (California time) and received a tracking e-mail from eLady by Tuesday morning. The bag was shipping via EMS Japan Post shipping service. I tracked the package over the next few days and saw it had arrived in customs in San Francisco. It was released within 12 hours and was on its way to my rural post office. I got a call from my PO on Friday morning of the same week telling me I had a package from Japan ready to pick up but needed to be signed for. I was glad to hear it was not dropped off at my doorstep.
A side note about duties: I read many posts on TPF regarding duties on purchases from Japan and wasnt sure what to expect, and I figured I may be charged nearly 10% of the bags value, so I had to take that into consideration when figuring the overall cost of this item vs. buying new. It sounds like everyone has a different experience and being assessed duties are hit and miss. I was not assessed a duty and my bag was over the $200 threshold for purchases from Japan to the US. Ive read that purchases shipped via EMS are less likely to be assessed a duty and that shipments via FedEx/UPS/etc. are more likely.
The bag was neatly packaged and protected well. And the best part the bag was better than described. I had copied the photos from eLadys website as well as the eBay auction and saved them to my computer to compare to the actual bag so I could ensure I received the described item. They must have a very high-powered camera because the flaws they noted were so hard to see, I had to examine it in full sunlight to see them. I did confirm that the bag was the one they described but the flaws were significantly less than what they rated. My bag smells absolutely AMAZING! I know some are concerned about the smell of preloved bags from Japan. I noticed some of eLadys listings noted if the bag had a slight smell, but mine didnt mention smell at all (therefore I assumed there was none). I feel that eLady underrates the condition of their bags based on this experience, which makes me feel very confident with my future purchases with them. I will definitely buy from them again!
Thank you to all of the TPF members who shared their positive experiences with eLady. They gave me the confidence to buy this bag and I couldnt be happier. I hope this review helps other members if they are deciding to buy from eLadys website directly (or her eBay auctions). You wont be disappointed!
My Eva!!
I posted a thread to the LV shopping forum on others experiences buying from eLady and they were very positive, but most people purchased via eBay auctions rather than directly from her website. Her prices are 10% lower buying directly from her website (probably to account for her saving on eBay seller commissions). I would also get an additional 5% savings because I was a new buyer. I had the bag authenticated on TPF before purchasing and got the thumbs up.
I was still hesitant to buy directly from the sellers website because I felt I may have more buyer protection buying through eBay. I called PayPal prior to purchasing the bag to inquire about buyer protection. PayPal ensured me that I had full buyer protection buying outside of eBay as long as I was purchasing a good (not a service) and I paid in one single payment (rather than paying in installments). This provided some comfort and pushed me to pull the trigger. I purchased the bag on a Monday evening (California time) and received a tracking e-mail from eLady by Tuesday morning. The bag was shipping via EMS Japan Post shipping service. I tracked the package over the next few days and saw it had arrived in customs in San Francisco. It was released within 12 hours and was on its way to my rural post office. I got a call from my PO on Friday morning of the same week telling me I had a package from Japan ready to pick up but needed to be signed for. I was glad to hear it was not dropped off at my doorstep.
A side note about duties: I read many posts on TPF regarding duties on purchases from Japan and wasnt sure what to expect, and I figured I may be charged nearly 10% of the bags value, so I had to take that into consideration when figuring the overall cost of this item vs. buying new. It sounds like everyone has a different experience and being assessed duties are hit and miss. I was not assessed a duty and my bag was over the $200 threshold for purchases from Japan to the US. Ive read that purchases shipped via EMS are less likely to be assessed a duty and that shipments via FedEx/UPS/etc. are more likely.
The bag was neatly packaged and protected well. And the best part the bag was better than described. I had copied the photos from eLadys website as well as the eBay auction and saved them to my computer to compare to the actual bag so I could ensure I received the described item. They must have a very high-powered camera because the flaws they noted were so hard to see, I had to examine it in full sunlight to see them. I did confirm that the bag was the one they described but the flaws were significantly less than what they rated. My bag smells absolutely AMAZING! I know some are concerned about the smell of preloved bags from Japan. I noticed some of eLadys listings noted if the bag had a slight smell, but mine didnt mention smell at all (therefore I assumed there was none). I feel that eLady underrates the condition of their bags based on this experience, which makes me feel very confident with my future purchases with them. I will definitely buy from them again!
Thank you to all of the TPF members who shared their positive experiences with eLady. They gave me the confidence to buy this bag and I couldnt be happier. I hope this review helps other members if they are deciding to buy from eLadys website directly (or her eBay auctions). You wont be disappointed!
My Eva!!
