Velvet is the best place to buy vintage nuggets and exceptional second-hand clothes at the best price. You just have to know how to search and find them on the platform.
Velvet is a real Ali Baba’s cave that makes second hand more accessible and attractive, provided you know how to do it.
Today, we share with you some key techniques to find the pieces of your dreams.
Patience
There is no secret to finding the perfect piece, you have to be patient. It’s hard, we know. But believe us, it’s nice to finally see the piece you’re looking for online and not have the budget to buy it because you made compulsive purchases out of spite a week before.
If you’re looking for a pair of Levi’s high-waisted jeans or a leather perfecto and you haven’t found what you’re looking for yet, don’t despair.
Knowing what you want
Make a list of what you need. The site is very extensive and to avoid getting lost, go in knowing exactly what you’re looking for, otherwise you’ll wake up 2 hours later comparing leopard print down jackets.
To refine your search and save time, don’t hesitate to use the filters by specifying the brand, color, size or shoe size, and especially the condition of the piece you’re hoping to find.
If you are looking for a certain type of item, but don’t care about the brand, type in the search bar the style of the item: for example “floral summer dress”. This will bring up ads that use those keywords in their description.
Finally, know what fits you and know your size. It seems obvious and yet. Everyone has bought something that doesn’t fit at least once.
Set Alerts
To make sure you don’t miss anything, we recommend making a small list of models you like, brands or styles. And set up alerts!
To make sure you don’t miss anything, we recommend making a small list of models you like, brands or styles, and set up alerts on them.
Just save your precise search and every time you check the “search” tab again, you’ll see the number of new ads added in the category “Levi’s high-waisted jeans” or “leather perfecto”.
Negotiate a little but not too much
In general, avoid scraping a few euros or even cents. If you sell clothes on the platform, you know how painful it is.
On the other hand, if you see that an item has a small defect and is still offered for much more than it’s worth or has been online for a very long time (and therefore the owner can’t get rid of it), give it a try, always very politely and within reason.
Don’t be too naive about prices but know that sometimes sellers don’t know what they are selling
If you come across a great deal and it seems a little too good to be true, there are three possible explanations:
- Either the seller is dishonest and sells a counterfeit
- Either the seller is dishonest and sells a bad item without saying so
- Or the seller does not know the value of the item he is selling. Most often, this concerns niche brand items.
If it’s the third option, this is a great opportunity for you to get a good deal and you should be as responsive as possible. Many people miss out on good deals because they don’t believe in them.
Besides, take into account the potential ignorance of the buyers in all your research.
Sometimes the person doesn’t know what they are selling as well as you do. The implication is that you may know all the details of the model, but they don’t. Sometimes it’s best not to be too specific in your research.
When a search for a brand yields 0 results, try different spellings. Someone may have made a mistake when describing the item. Also use synonyms