Jan K.

I stopped shopping at Gilt.com because of the exchange rate.
They have good deals but when I consider exchange rate, shipping, tax and duties etc, then it ends up being pretty much the same as retail price in Canada. Zulily made Canadian site. Why Gilt isn't making one?

I have been using zulily.com and now zulily.ca for about 2 years now.
I have been happy with them and decided to write a review now because of what happened yesterday.
I ordered a well-known brand's bag.
I knew the brand name but I have never seen their products in real life so I was little apprehensive but because the price was below $50, I thought I would give it a try.
I received a bag and noticed the color at the bottom is much sharper and more vivid than the rest, it looked like it was bleached by the Sun, except the bottom, it was consistently faded.
If the bottom was also faded, then I wouldn't have guessed the color is off since I have never seen it before.
Anyway I thought about the hassle of returning it, it was not-returnable to begin with and it's not like it's not usable.
I thought I will just email them and see what happens.
I got a response within 24 hours and they gave me a store credit and told me I don't have to return the bag. She said I can do whatever I want with the bag.
I was very surprised. I wasn't upset that they didn't give me refund since it saved me the hassle of returning it.
I mean this is zulily.ca I am talking about.
However, I used zulily.com before too.
There was this one time they emailed me and said one of 3 items I ordered couldn't be delivered by the time they said that would be delivered.
And they gave me options. Either they refund my money or I wait. I asked for refund and it was processed promptly.
I am very surprised to find so many bad reviews and low rating of the site since my experience has been nothing but good.

I would like to say few things that I learned about the site so far in case it could be a help;
I don't buy women's clothing since I sew and make my clothes myself so I have no opinion about the quality of women's clothing people are talking about.
I don't buy Coach/Michael Kors/Kate Spade because their price is more than outlets.
I recently ordered my 4 year old son's winter coat but haven't received it yet.
So many people said about bad quality of children's clothes.
What I ordered was $18, it said the retail price is like $200 but what I paid is $18 so my expectation isn't that high.
I don't order brands that I don't know well since then the chance of dissatisfaction is higher.
For my son, I have been ordering osh kosh mostly since I actually buy their clothes from stores so I know exactly what I will get.
If I am interested in a brand that I haven't heard about before, then I google the product before I place an order.
I read all the descriptions before placing the order.
Sometimes they are good deals, but then they have only one picture of the product, especially then you really need to read the description.
I noticed sometimes, they put wrong pictures.
I wouldn't have known that if I didn't read the description and compare, like a bag with a same picture but their price is different or one says it's small and the other, medium.
Then I go with the description because their dimensions are different in the description.
Yes, they should do a better job at posting correct pictures with correct description, but people make mistakes.
And by spending a minute to read description, I save myself a lot of hassle.
Delivery time that people complain about. Each product has its expected delivery time frame. And in my experience, they are really correct.
If they said it will take 12~ 15 days, it really takes that many days. Believe them and save yourself a frustration.
They ship as soon as they can even when that means they have to ship all 3 items I ordered separately! That's not how they charged me shipping and I didn't particularly asked them to do so. To me that's a very good service.

I am so happy about the service I got yesterday. I would have stopped using the site if they didn't do something about a "defective" bag, because nobody can beat their shipping rate!
Their shipping rate in/to Canada is the third on my top 5 list, #1 is Gap and #2 is Costco.
With their great shipping rate, and their deals on the brands I like and occasional pleasant surprises, this is my favorite online retail therapy store.

Even when I order a brand that I don't know, I haven't been disappointed.

Yesterday I saw a $2000 bag with $550 clearance tag! You never find that kind of deal online. Maybe if you actually go to an outlet?
Although I wish they display them more carefully so that it doesn't get small scratches.

Their products are always same as what they described. Their shipping speed is better than Canada Post. Their customer service is beyond excellent. I once had to return $900 diamond earrings because one of it didn't latch properly at the back. There was no hassle, no questions.

Their shipping and return process is so easy. I don't know why other companies can't do it the same way.

They have been consistently great. There was not even once I had to call them to settle things. It was all through their easy shipping and return policy.

They never fail to either deliver you what you ordered or refund your money if you're not satisfied.

I unfortunately, naively, clicked submit to this "mystery hotel" in NYC. It was $999 down to $217. I was like OMG! That must be a really great room.
It turned out that it's a room that others sell about $270.
I felt I fell into false advertisement. So I called the customer service, (since it was non-refundable even after 1 minute of booking), she yelled at me to show her the proof that the room was not $999. She didn't care about how I felt. She said it is still cheaper that other sites so what is my problem? I realize that I was just naive to think what I thought so I am not complaining about the hotel/room. But the customer service was just ridiculous. The way she was arguing with me was just... I have no word for it.
I called the customer support before that to ask what "taxes and fees" charge really include. Like the city tax? Resort tax? Any other taxes and fees? She said she doesn't know. She doesn't know about a policy where she works.
I should have thought better then.
There are some better deals at bookit.com than expedia for example but from now on I am definitely not going to deal with bookit.com.

I ordered few items to test what they are like. I haven't gotten all my orders yet but amongst goods from 5 different sellers, there's nothing I am happy with.
The products are poor quality. You might say "what do you expect from $5.82 product?" but don't you go to a dollar store? I was expecting, at minimum, dollar store quality since everything in dollar stores are made in China anyways. Some of them are just downright unusable. One of it arrived un-usable and the seller is refusing to refund.
I thought they have "Open dispute" process because there are so many sketchy sellers that the company itself will deal with them, not customers for the sake of the company's reputation. Their dispute rules are all set to protect sellers, not customers.
I am glad that I was at least smart enough not to order anything expensive.
But so far, my $20 went to some sleazy business' owners pocket.
Do you know the owner of aliexpress and alibaba is the richest man in China? And 70th richest in the world?
I saw one of his interviews and thought he must be doing a decent business. That's why I tried aliexpress, before that I didn't know anything about aliexpress. I can't believe after building that kind of crazy wealth and let the business be "doesn't get any worse than this" rating worthy.
I am sure there are good sellers as well, but I am not using aliexpress any more. I will just to a store and buy "Made in China" products. At least a store will refund your money if something is not working properly.