Designer Jeans, Celebs, Deals :: DenimBlog.com :: designer denim served daily

After reading countless articles about counterfeit items on eBay, you may feel hesitant to take the plunge and buy a pair of jeans for yourself.  Have no fear! While eBay may seem daunting to a beginner, if you follow these simple steps you can easily navigate the marketplace for yourself.

1. I’ve found an auction, now what?

First make sure that you like the item. Read the description thoroughly to check for any disclosed marks, rips, stains, or tears which might affect your decision to bid. Check the measurements of the jeans to try and ensure a proper fit.  One way to measure is to take a pair of jeans that fit you nicely now.  Lay them flat, and measure the waist, rise and inseam.  You’ll notice that often times a size 27 pair of jeans does not measure 27″ at the waist - it may measure 30″.  That is because designer jeans generally sit lower on the waist, more at the hip, so this is important when looking at measurements in auctions.  If you wear a size 27, but your favorite jeans measure 30″ - when laid flat to measure (15″ across) and doubled (30″), then look for jeans with that measurement. Designer denim sizing is notoriously inconsistent, so checking measurement is essential. If you know the wash of the jeans (or if its mentioned in the auction) you can run a search* of the wash to see if it fits “TTS” (true to size).

*1 ½. What’s a “Search?”

A search is going to HonestForum and clicking on the little tab near the top of the screen labeled “search.” A little text box drops down, and you can type in keywords like “New York Dark TTS” or “Methane wash.” You can glean tons of information from past threads, so check the forum to see if someone has already answered your question. If the results aren’t specific enough, you can click the “Advanced Search” link and further specify your search.

2. Okay, I really like them. How can I tell if they’re authentic*?

The easiest way to see if an item is authentic is to research the seller. 100% or 90% positive feedback does not mean that an item is authentic or that a seller is reputable. Search HonestForum for the seller’s username, and see if any discussions have brought up that seller’s auctions. If you find that your seller is a highly respected, reputable seller, than you’ve got a very good inclination that his or her items are authentic.  If discussions mention that the seller is peddling fakes, DO NOT BUY!  If you can’t find any threads or posts that mention the seller, don’t panic and move on to step 3. It’s a good idea to continue through the steps even if the seller has positive reviews, just so you become familiar with the process of authenticating items on your own.

*2 ½.  Also - NEW blog feature - look to the right hand side of the blogroll - we have a new category called Authentic Ebay Sellers with direct links to each seller’s auctions.  We are very selective about which sellers we post here, so the list is not huge, but they are known authentic designer denim sellers, so you can shop confidently. 

3. I searched and the seller’s username didn’t turn up anything… What now?

The next step is comparing pictures of the tags and wash. Now head to the authenticity stickies on HonestForum and see if the tag pictures look similar. Each brand of designer denim has key characteristics to look for, and each specialized sticky can help you compare. If the auction doesn’t include tag pictures, ask for them! Some fakes look nothing like the real thing, and it’s fairly easy to tell.  Another tell tale sign of a fake item is the wash itself. See if you can find stock pictures to compare the washes. If your item’s wash looks streakier, more distressed, or uneven, then the item is probably fake.  Once you become better at authenticating, back pockets are key in determining authenticity. Most beginners don’t notice the differences in shape, but in time you’ll be able to pick out pairs that just look “wrong.”

4. I don’t know… I can’t decide!

If you don’t feel comfortable with authenticating on your own, you should save the pictures of the auction to your computer. You can upload them to a free photo-hosting site like Photobucket or Flickr. Once you’ve uploaded all the pictures you can create a thread on HonestForum and the members will do their best to authenticate for you.

If you were wrong with your initial authentication, feel free to ask for specific details. The more you look at authentic pairs; the more the fake pairs stand out in comparison.

5. A few more tips for Ebay buyers

• You can try sniping your jeans.  Try a service like AuctionSniper - they give you several free snipes and the program will bid for you in the last seconds of the auction, increasing your chances of winning your item.  Just enter your high bid and it does the rest.
• Try NegCheck.com to check the negatives of Ebay Sellers - beware of any that state items are fake.
• Sign up for PayPal if you haven’t already.  And pay using a credit card so that you can dispute a charge should the item you bought turn out to be fake.

6.  All Done!

Once you’ve determined authenticity, you’re good to go! Happy hunting!

Big thanks to Callire for the help with this blog!

This ought to be interesting. Recently we blogged about Ebay’s new fee changes which sparked lots of comments from our readers, many of whom buy and sell designer jeans on Ebay. Check out the following article from CNN.com about the big Ebay strike planned to begin Monday, February 18th.  It should be noted that this is not just a strike of sellers not listing - the organizers are asking that people not buy or sell on Ebay during this week, and that they frequent other online marketplaces instead to send Ebay a message about their new unfair policies.  We suggest that for sellers who sell designer denim and other designer goods - list your items on the HonestMall instead - a division of HonestForum.com.  The mall costs $10 initially to post in, and this is to keep scammers away.  But after that, it is fee-free.  Many people who love designer goods are aware of the mall and frequent it often - so it is a great alternative to Ebay.

(FORTUNE Small Business) — Activists opposed to eBay’s upcoming fee and policy changes are readying for a weeklong site boycott starting on Monday, with buyers and sellers waiting to see if this strike will succeed where past protests have failed.

The boycott, planned to run Feb. 19 - 25, is scheduled to overlap eBay’s Feb. 20 rollout of significant changes announced last month.  (Editor’s Note: The Ebay forums say the strike is Feb. 18-25 so if you plan to participate, you may want to start Feb. 18th.)

Sellers say eBay’s new policies are likely to cost them more money, but what’s really inspired an outpouring of wrath is an adjustment to eBay’s feedback system: sellers will no longer be able to leave negative commentary about their buyers. Critics say that will leave sellers vulnerable to negligent bidders and scammers.

“You get bad buyers as often as you get bad sellers,” said M. Owens, a Severn, Md.-based seller of high-end dolls that typical go for several hundred dollars each. On such an expensive transaction, having a buyer cause trouble - by, for example, disputing the transaction and requesting a credit-card chargeback after they’ve already received their merchandise - can be financially devastating, she said.

Owens, who plans to participate in the boycott and avoid buying or selling on eBay next week, is also worried about the impact of a change to eBay’s “best match” search algorithm, one of the least-publicized aspects of the upcoming changes. That search method, which will become eBay’s default next month, favors sellers with high and detailed customer-satisfaction ratings. Low-volume sellers, like Owens, say this puts them at a disadvantage by burying their listings.

EBay spokesman Usher Lieberman said the company is taking a wait-and-see approach to the boycott talk.

“At this point it’s still premature for us to speculate,” Lieberman said. “We’re empathetic with our sellers and understand that they’re concerned, and that some of them object to some of the changes we’re implementing. On the other hand, we think we have very good reasons for what we’re doing.”

EBay has no plans for listing-fee discounts or other special promotions next week to combat a potential boycott-related drop in listings, Lieberman said. This week, eBay ran a one-day discounted listing fee special offer on Wednesday, a move that increased listings on the site that day from around 12 million to 16 million.

That special offer was not prompted by the groundswell of seller discontent about the upcoming changes, according to Lieberman.

“We shouldn’t be reading anything into that,” he said. “We’re always testing the price elasticity of our market.”

Whether or not the planned boycott will be successful in affecting eBay’s bottom line remains to be seen, but auction veterans say this degree of seller backlash to eBay fee hikes and other changes is unprecedented.

“I’ve been getting about 400 e-mails an hour,” said Valerie Lennert, an Anaheim, Calif., doll-clothing merchant who became an unofficial spokeswoman for the boycott after posting a call-to-arms video on Google (GOOG, Fortune 500)’s YouTube.

Past eBay boycott attempts have fizzled, and this one may too, Lennert acknowledged. With millions of individuals selling on eBay, gaining critical mass for any organized action is extremely challenging. But simply getting eBay’s attention is a worthy accomplishment, she said.

“There are a lot of people who are really upset, and if we choose to go somewhere else as a group, there won’t be an eBay anymore,” she said. “We don’t think eBay understands that. They think they’re invincible, and they don’t seem to listen to what we need. Even if listings don’t go down, we’re reached the main goal: to let them know how upset we are. I’m pretty sure they know that at this point.”

There’s even an interesting YouTube video on the Ebay boycott and Ebay’s recent changes, not to mention a bunch of MySpace page’s about the boycott.

We somewhat think that if you are going to boycott Ebay as a seller, it’s going to have to be longer than a week to see a change.  If you already have an Ebay Store and you just don’t list during that one week, but have prior auctions ending that were listed before the strike or Store Inventory that sells during the strike week, it really doesn’t seem like it will affect Ebay’s bottom line much.   Ebay sellers and buyers are going to have to really commit to stand against Ebay for a longer time period to really make a change and to get Ebay’s attention.

More links on the Ebay strike:

• Other auction sites courting disgruntled Ebay sellers
• PayPal funds freeze plan draws fire
• Outraged Ebay Sellers plot strike week
• Ebay backlash: 5 sellers who ditched Ebay

Do you think the strike will cause change on Ebay’s end, and do you plan to participate in the strike either as a buyer or seller?   

  + = YOU WIN!

We love Ebay.  We buy everything from razors (hey, the five-blades ones are expensive) to lots of jeans and more.  Yes, there are a lot of fakes on Ebay, but if you follow the advice on HonestForum - its easy to find authentic denim on Ebay for discounted prices if you stick with reputable sellers.  One tool that we absolutely love is Auction Sniper.  It’s a great tool (and you get 3 free snipes when you sign up) that bids for you at the last few seconds of an auction, thereby greatly increasing your chances of winning the auction.   We set ours at 3 seconds and have won lots of great stuff using this tool!  Just thought we’d pass on the tip!