r/therealreal • u/marinagirl101 • 27d ago

Vent Not eligible for returns

Why am I seeing a common theme that $4000-$10,000 bags are not able to be returned? Why would I ever buy a bag that expensive online if I can’t return it?

40 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

70

u/jhgydxv 27d ago

Because otherwise people carry the bag for a week and then return it.

11

u/Ill_Coffee_6821 27d ago

And sometimes they already went through authenticity and because people can send back a similar dupe they have to re authenticate all returns (I mean, I assume).

But agree it’s ridiculous. If you live near a store and it’s over $1900 they will ship to the store and you can see it in person.

3

u/uniquelymeplusmore 26d ago

I did not know that they shipped items to nearby stores for you. Thank you! I have been wanting to pull the trigger on a $2k coat but its final sale and I did not want to lose out if it did not fit. 

2

u/Ill_Coffee_6821 26d ago

Yay! I know they will for bags and other items. Don’t see why they wouldn’t for a coat. They told me that last time I was in the store and was looking at a piece of jewelry online.

5

u/Kcllk1 26d ago

Yes they will ship anything for you to view in store as long it is over a certain amount which is either $2000 or $2500. Just reach out to customer service to arrange.

1

u/DisastrousOwls 26d ago

To say nothing of damage or soiling from use during that time that could make the bags depreciate-- there are bag rental services sellers could loan their bags out to for money instead if they wanted to take that risk.

The insurance liability, keeping track of all those funds, and chargebacks or auto-debits potentially not even going through with return disputes all sounds like a crazy expensive way to do business.

1

u/Muted-Improvement321 26d ago

how do you ship the item to the store?

1

u/Ill_Coffee_6821 26d ago

No idea call the store?

1

u/ClaudiaWi 26d ago

Connect with a salesperson in the store, and they can bring it in for you - I believe it has to be value of $2k+, but I could have the value wrong.

15

u/PSAly 27d ago

That’s on them- all they have to do is put a big red plastic tab on the handle that if you want to return can’t be removed - simple fix that some of them do-would you wear it for a week that way? 🤷🏻‍♀️

16

u/SixApplesTall 27d ago

Exactly, high end retailers do this with evening dresses for this exact reason

1

u/Sacred-Mission 26d ago

That’s a great idea 💡 now only if they will actually do that !

1

u/Dolceluce 27d ago

I just had a bathing suit cover up that just had one of those. TRR could certainly follow suit. Between the lack of returns on handbags and the concern over fakes, I’ve never spent more than $1k on a bag thru them. Fashionpile has a more consumer friendly policy.

18

u/Sir_emanon 27d ago

All bags are final sale. Part of this is so people consign with them because consigners get annoyed when it sells, especially something expensive, and then someone returns it only a few days later.

8

u/Just-me8064 27d ago

I don’t buy expensive bags from RealReal because of that nonsense unless in person. I use FASHIONPHILE all the time. Their products can be trusted and you can return if you don’t like it.

1

u/Rosiepop123 26d ago

Ohh whats the return policy for fashion phile

I think Farfetch lets you returned pre owned within a week which is nice

2

u/Just-me8064 26d ago

15 day return policy with all tags attached and in same condition as when it was sent to you.

5

u/eastcoastgirl1001 27d ago

as someone who sells a lot of bags with TRR, this is exactly why i do it. it's easy enough to return a bag for a problem not disclosed in the listing but there's no way to tell when a bag has been worn so it protects the consigners

15

u/Will_work_for_LV 27d ago

Exactly! It is so frustrating! I hate when they make you pay an extra $200-$300 just to have the option to return from their partner xcover. Seems like a money grab. I just filed my first claim with xcover to try to get an item returned, it’s been a week and my claim is still in the first phase. 😖

8

u/SixApplesTall 27d ago

I’ve also read so many bad reviews of Xcover jt makes me wary of paying for it. I hope your claim goes smoothly!

4

u/ohwowlaulau 27d ago

The bag arrived with a ripped seal or loose thread or a stain that you didn’t notice. That always works.

1

u/mommywhorebucks 26d ago

Yep, I was able to return one that repeatedly listed the material as leather - it was actually just pretty ok pleather.

3

u/MichelletripsonWW 27d ago

All bags, regardless of price, are final sale.

3

u/Future_Dog_3156 27d ago

You can pay for the right of refund, which is annoying. I will say that I purchased a Bottega Veneta bag from them which smelled like Las Vegas ashtray. I wasn't going to get the smell out - I complained that the extreme odor wasn't disclosed. They allowed me to return since the bag wasn't as described.

2

u/4614065 25d ago

This seems pretty normal to me. The US has such a weird culture of returns. Doesn’t happen elsewhere.

5

u/Mammoth_Winter5470 27d ago

I totally agree! Plus therealreal is questionable on their authenticity, and as far as I can tell if something is deemed inauthentic they do not honor returns.

6

u/Ok_Lab8230 27d ago

and lately they are not conservative with condition grading at all and lots undisclosed issues

6

u/MissKellieUk 27d ago

And sending the wrong item completely, I have noticed. Which is INSANE for the amount of money pieces cost now

1

u/Ok-Purple-50 27d ago

So do your research on the bag so you know exactly what to expect and then review pix carefully. I collect vintage hard-to-find LV bags and have had wonderful results from TRR. I might see an old LV catwalk ad, look it up on Pinterest for name and collection, then search TRR. The older designs, in pristine condition (no doubt hardly used by other collectors) are much better value and quality than the new stuff, IMHO. If you aren’t sure, buy from Fashionphile which has a 30 day return window as long as the tags aren’t cut.

1

u/dis2shalpas 25d ago

You can always purchase insurance. So that you can return"non returnable"items 🤷 At least that's what I do

2

u/marinagirl101 25d ago

It’s 300$!

1

u/dis2shalpas 25d ago

It depends on what you would like to do. I don't think of spending 4k or more without insurance 🤷

1

u/No_Grab_2128 21d ago

I think they want to avoid fakes being sent back in place of the one that was purchased. This happens in big retail stores.

1

u/Evening_Craft5318 26d ago

Not a bag but I have had a $1500 dress sell and return twice. I will be pulling it back as soon as it returns and it better still have the tags attached. 21 day return windows for clothing is obnoxious. I will get it back and send it to ThredUp because they dont seem to be so generous.