TaobaoNow and 52Lolita reviews

Oh my, I get featured on the lovely Queenie Ichigo's blog, and end up with a ton of views!   Thank you so much for encouraging me!  And thank you, to my new followers~  I'll try my best to make a good blog so you won't get too bored!

So, I have now gotten everything I have ordered.   I've been writing out my reviews for the past few weeks, tweaking and fixing (I'm a bit of a perfectionist.).  I'm hoping these will be helpful to someone!  I know my Yumetenbo has been getting a few hits lately (I really hope people are getting use out of my measurements, because I could have really used those when I was looking to order!).  I'm still pretty new at this, but I want to be able to help people if they're making decisions on things like this.  I mean, if I was complaining about not having any info, who knows who else is out there at a loss for research, you know?
So, here are my experiences with the shopping service TaobaoNow.com and the Taobao store 52Lolita!

Shopping:  Before ordering, I was choosing between TaobaoNow.com and TaobaoBuying.com.  They both seem to do the same thing and offer the same commission price, but what I liked about TaobaoNow.com was that you could see the price of what you were ordering right away.  I also liked the search engine right there on the page.

Upon ordering, it was really simple.  You just take the web address and paste it on your order sheet.  If you have to decide on size or color, just put it in the item comments.  All very easy.  Anyway, once you press the order button, you'll get your bill and you pay.   At the time, they didn't have their Paypal up, so I just used their credit card order form.  Went through fine, but I noticed that the price that was showing was not the price I paid.  There is a disclaimer on the site that says such (or at least, I think I remember seeing one, I can't remember where), and it was only around a dollar and some change's difference, so I didn't get too upset.  It's something to note though, you may have to pay a couple dollars more due to the exchange rate, so make sure you've got some extra in the bank before you buy. (Edit: They have a new option called PayDollar which I used for another order.  I like this option so much more, because what they say you pay is exactly what you will pay, no fees!)

Oh, and pay attention to your bank account.  When I initially ordered, the payment went through fine, but for some reason, it disappeared!   It wasn't until I paid them for shipping that both payments went through!  That wasn't their fault though, my bank is just odd....

They charge 10% of your order amount, with the minimum being 50 yuan, or a bit under $8.  My order for my raincoat and a bow came to around 270 yuan, which ended up being around $45, plus $30 for shipping.  Not bad at all!

Communication:  After ordering, I got a message a few hours later telling me that the color of one of the items I got wasn't available.  They asked if I wanted to cancel, but instead I asked if they had another color instead, and they got to me very quickly.  They were extremely friendly, and never once did it feel forced.  They were so great and attentive, it felt like I was the only order they had, lol.  Oh, and wonderful English.  I think more than one person speaks English too.

Receiving the item:

All I got was a raincoat and a hair bow.  I was shocked that it could fit in such a tiny box!  As you can see, the packaging was very simple, appropriate amount of tape to ensure it wouldn't come flying open, and inside...

The item was wrapped in plastic to protect it.  Or rather, more plastic, because the coat itself was also wrapped in its own plastic.  The little bow was right in the middle, so there was no chance of it coming out.

Now here's the review part for the shop I ordered from, 52Lolita.  You'll most likely find them if you look up JesusDiamante (as one word).  I chose them because a lot of their items has actual product images.  It's a pretty good shop, but I should have paid attention to sizes.  The shoulders on my coat ended up just too small.  I mean, I can wear it fine, but I won't be able to reach up for anything, lol.

Items:
Jesus Diamante raincoat replica

Look at this lovely coat!!
When I saw the page for it, I was kind of expecting some sort of flimsy coat, good for show and for replacing my sweatjacket as a go-to when it's chilly, especially at $30.   However, what I ended up with exceeded my expectations so much!  First off, the coat has a great weight to it.  I feel like I could wear this in 40˚F and it would protect me!  But like I said, the coat is a little on the small size.  Nothing I can't handle, so I can still wear it, but when I order again (I'm saving up for a new winter coat~!) I will probably go to a medium.

Anyway, the coat is made from a gorgeous fabric that repels water quite well (I tried it, lol) and is lined with satin.  It's a really comfortable coat to wear, and it looks cute to boot~!

It comes with an adorable detatchable capelet and a tie on belt, and the buttons are sewn onto the top flap of the pocket, so they don't actually button down.

Also, I was thinking they'd at least skimp on the lace, but they used cotton lace, not nylon!  It's very soft!  I think that surprised me the most.

But, there are negatives, and one is pretty major.
On the site, they say the sleeves will be 58cm.  I measured mine.

52cm.
That's a huge difference!   Fortunately, I can turn mine into 3/4ths sleeves, but I hated that that wasn't just a 1 or 2 centimeter difference, that was 6 whole centimeters!!  Like I said, I want to order from them again, but I'll make sure to stress that they never cut off so much again!  3/4ths sleeves on a raincoat looks fine, but 3/4ths sleeve on a winter coat, not so much!

Oh, and look at this:

I don't know where this stain came from (looked like the coat ran into something, because the fabric is a little frayed around it too).  I washed it off without too much difficulty.  I wish it hadn't been on the front pocket though....

And, while pretty minor, they're pretty sloppy with some of their sewing work.  On the front, the buttons look great.  On the back though, it's a bunch of random thread crossed every which way....  And one of the lines sewn, the thread somehow connected the pocket to the flap.  I had to cut it.

3.75/5, because of the sleeve length being completely off, and the little stain, and the sloppiness of some of the sewing.  It really is a wonderful coat though, I guess I'll just have to be specific next time.


Bow

It's a bow, that's for sure.
But I was disappointed that the bow didn't have the same kind of fabric as the picture.

This is the image they have on the site.  Notice that while the bow is the same color throughout, the differing textures makes it look interesting.  All I got was... a boring bow.  Still, at $1 and some change, I guess I can't be too angry.  I feel like I just got the bow for free, lol.
4/5 because it's not like the images at all, and so it's boring, but it gained a point for price, and it's an actual barrette, not just some bow with an alligator clip in it.


All in all, you get what you pay for, but I still feel like I did better than I should have.  I love my coat, and as soon as it stops being 30 degrees outside, I'm going to wear it around.


Expect another review tomorrow!  I've got them all written, I'm just being really lazy about editing pictures.

 

Himena Ousaki posted some pictures of her outfit ensembles from her job at tutuHA, one of which involved a cute shirt with a lace top half. It made me realize I could possibly alter a shirt I have a bit in the same style, that's a bit small in the chest (that's saying a lot, as my chest is like the large end of the small side, lol).  If I can get some lace fabric, I could definitely try to replicate it.  If I fail, ah well, I've cut up a shirt that was too small.  I'd probably try this week, but I think my money will be a bit too spread out this time.  Gotta get a job soon!  Someone out there, send me some luck, please~!   I think my luck is leaking a bit, lol!