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I had a bad experience with collector square. Purchased a rare bag for a premium price. Made it through customs and then it disappeared - ups basically stole it. Now, I don’t blame Collector Square for the package getting lost as UPS was clearly at fault. What I’m upset about is that they wouldn’t refund me until ups gave them an official letter stating they lost the package. They held my money ($20k) for 8 weeks!!!! They did refund me but it was a stressful ordeal and I’m not sure if I’ll purchase from them again. They do have great rare bags and the order process was seamless. It was just the after service that was disappointing. Again, not blaming them for the lost bag, just wish the refund process didn’t take as long.
What a terrible experience. Thank you for the warning. I had several situations lately purchasing from respected stores and having very expensive items arrive with undisclosed damage, or in other cases with the business holding my money without reason instead of promptly refunding. I suppose business practices may be changing with the current economic climate. I appreciate the warning, especially as I am also in the USA and it is enough of a hassle sometimes to have an item shipped internationally when things go fairly smoothly. I suppose I will consider that it may have been for the best that I could not make this purchase after all.
I have had several unbelievable hassles lately with purchases as well, your experience and mine are a good reminder that most times the potential waste of time an effort is not worth while unless it is really a unicorn item. I am trying to make myself consider, “if the worst case scenario happens, will this be worth it?”. In the past, that only meant month potentially being tied up for a month or so in the worst case, now I think more about how many hours of my time and effort it will take to get an issue resolved. In the new climate of greatly reduced customer service personnel/customer service hours/only email communication sometimes, both at businesses themselves and with the shipping companies or customs, it is more likely that #1- there will be some error, delay or problem and #2- it will be almost impossible to resolve it afterwards.
Here is what happened with Vestaire Collective (to forewarn others). I bought the bag. The seller “suddenly” realized the bag was in Taiwan not in London. Vestaire let me know no bag was forthcoming. The seller has not shipped the bag. I have to wait seven days until the order is cancelled. Despite a gazillion emails to Vestaire they apparently cannot/will not cancel the order. So, I wait. All very fishy. First and absolute last time I purchase from Vestaire.
It would probably be much more simple to sell your bag and then to buy what you want (from anywhere) instead of hoping that the stores would offer a straight trade and also have something you are looking for. If you want the most simple selling experience, perhaps go through a service or store that offers outright purchase instead of consignment. Another option might be to see about selling to a store that offers store credit (usually a higher percentage than what you would get for outright purchase) and then you can wait until they get what you are looking for in stock. European members can speak to specific stores more than I can, but larger stores are more likely to have a greater selection for you to choose from.
I don’t know about Paris. I know Luxury Promise in London does swaps.
