The RealReal

This order was about the 4th or 5th one in which I received items described as "pristine" and even " new with tags" that were not only visibly worn but I would say "hammered". During the pandemic they've been letting sellers do virtual consignments and I've noticed pictures that even show worn corners on bags and wear through to lower layers of the soles of shoes described with "no visible signs of wear". I ordered a $2200+ Goyard duffle "new with tags" and well, it had the tags inside it but you could even see a dark mark on the corner on the website (which I was willing to let go for the price but still irked that the item was clearly not "pristine") and when I received it, all 4 corners were crushed with rubbing and the feet on the bottom were scratched through to the different colored base metal. Ebay has such a bad rep but honestly, sellers there show double and triple the number of pictures, showing all sides and insides and close-ups of items such that if they lie you can at least tell. I've received several bags now from TRR described as pristine and they are soft and/or worn from use, metal hardware scratched and/or rubbed off and worse, fine jewelry costing multiple $1000's with scratched and nicked stones, sapphires with color zoning so bad you'd be embarrassed to wear it and stones called sapphires that are clearly tanzanites. You can at least return misdecribed or misrepresented jewelry (for a fee) but their designer bags are final sale. This didn't used to be this way when I started buying 2 years ago from this site because they used to see stuff in person. They only show 4 photos or so, so many times you're purchasing pretty blind. They really need to go back to in-person consigning because their quality is pretty hit and miss now.

Don't waste your money with fake things I bought a Gucci wallet and Louis Vuitton monogram and both have a terrible quality

I sent numourous emails but oly received a reply after chasing emails. After that, again, no follow up email which promised

My experience of this company after making a large order was BEYOND comprehension! They sent me the WRONG shoe- size was off by 3 sizes. Attempted to navigate return through website to no avail. A week with no response and I called into the customer service office. I spoke to * who made an already challenging circumstance elevate to a place of no return and a disconnected call. Her attitude was extremely combative and unprofessional. Upon asking her how I was suppose to "find a local UPS store" given we can a strict STAY AT HOME order here in California- she sarcastically said "not one person has had a problem- why do you".?!
I mean... at this point I'm laughing- can this really be happening? They send me the wrong shoe have my $350 and it's up to me to risk my life to find a store- uhhh... "Sorry can you schedule a UPS pick-up?"
*, "Sorry, no one has asked that!" -call disconnected
Then I call back to try again and get a "supervisor"
Her name is *
To make a long story short she quint ahead and set-up the UPS return to be picked up... after telling her about my experience with * she said, "I'll have to listen to the tapes"
Uhhhh... that's your response?
Is this how you respond to customers? You made a mistake, fine. You're a luxury consignment store. I highly suggest if you want to retain your luxury demographic you start treating your customers with respect and navigate your mistakes with a little respect and humility.
I own 2 businesses- when we make a mistake we make an offering to our clients and provide an apology. We are honored to have their business and they know it after EVERY interaction!
In these times- if you want to survive- I would highly suggest making the return process easier, especially when it's your fault~

*Personal information redacted by admin

I decided to try The Real Real to help clean out my closet. I also have worked with Yoogis, Fashionphile and a few others. The RealReal to me is one step before giving things away to Goodwill.

When you sign up for the first time, a sign up rep will email you to help you with questions. The person I got was sloppy only answering half the questions (even when I made it easy for her to answer giving bullet points/numbering them) and not very clearly. She also stopped answering once I sent the items in. If you do want to try them, I recommend properly reading through the seller terms - the site is definitely pro-buyer.

I submitted 10 items for my first try, most were new, some with tags. They will still only list it as "Very Good" with signs of wear - which they also used to describe a bag that was used a few times. The sign-up rep will also suggest you look through the website to get a sense of what types of prices your items will be listed for (common sense), but what she does not tell you is that when it goes on sale, it might immediately be applicable for a 20% coupon or whatever sale they are doing. If you want your items returned/they're not accepted, there are fees you will have to pay. They also put up one of my dresses backwards on the mannequin - when I emailed customer service about this they did not reply.

Again - I would say this is a good last step and easy place to send your designer items if they are going to Goodwill anyway. But for things that have value, I've had a great experience with both Fashionphile and Yoogis which both have better consignment terms (better prices, lower fees, sometimes offering buyout). I recommend you try those first. I think most people have an inflated idea of what their second hand items are worth, but I do also think that The RealReal prices below those prices as they are incentivised to move things quickly. And their customer service towards consigners need improvement - without consigners, they do not have a business, so they should value the relationships. But if you want something quick and easy and don't expect much out of it, The RealReal might be for you.

Don't get carried away with sending your stuff to TRR. First box, no issues, other than the site slashing prices PLUS allowing Buyers to use -20%. Sometimes you're left with a measly $10 commission.

Right after they received my first box. They were soo pushy to get more stuff from me. So I gave in and sent them another box with PRICIER items. That was back in mid-August and let's just say the box never made it there.

Other than wanting your items, they are slow and vague with their responses. I went back and forth with UPS/TRR inquiring about who would compensate me for the lost box of a dozens designer items. After UPS cancelled my claim, I found out that it's TRR who has to determine the amount for my payout.

Each and every time I call, I'm on hold for ever, and the reps I deal with are anything but professional. In fact, the last one told me that my issue would be resolved in "24-48hrs"... it's been 2 weeks now and still no movement.

The way they deal with you if there's an issue is not transparent at all. They just try to push you off. When I ask to speak to a manager, the reps, who clearly WFH quickly say, "they're in a meeting". Isn't that convenient? They said that they would request that someone call me back and NOTHING. Lies, lies, and more lies.

I get that things get lost - ahem, most likely stolen by UPS - but as the company who paid for the shipping/insurance, please STEP UP. TRR most likely already got the insurance payout from UPS, so address your consignee in a respectful timely manner.

Trust me, I would not be writing such a negative review if they had just dealt with this head on as opposed to ignoring the issue!

UPDATE: One of the pieces I returned has been relisted. Interesting that although I emailed and wrote on the return form that I was returning because there is a hole in the back of the shirt, the hole is NOT described in the "Condition" section of the re-listing. So clearly they do not update "Condition" to indicate damage when pieces are returned. Disappointing because it will result in unnecessary returns and is misleading, but still a great site in my opinion. Will continue to shop there due to good deals, good customer service, and easy returns.

UPDATE: I recently wrote a 3 star review because the return process was making anxious. After a great interaction with customer service and a smooth refund, I'm very happy to upgrade to 4 stars. The only reason it's not 5 is that I've found about half of the orders I get aren't true to the description. E.g., different size or undisclosed damage to the item. That's not a big deal to me - it's second hand, after all, so as long as returns process smoothly it's worth the slight hassle for the chance to get a great deal. Very happy RealReal customer.

The reviews here are less than glowing, so I was relieved when my items started arriving. Many BEAUTIFUL pieces, Tod shoes and Burberry coat etc at fantastic values! Other pieces didn't fit and/or had damage/flaws that weren't described. I'm trying to return those, and waiting on responses to two inquiries on returns that so far have been ignored. So I'm holding my breath. If the returns end up being processed smoothly, then I will certainly change my 3 stars to 5 stars and keep on shopping... if not, then I'll be returning to change to 1 star and report them as a scam to AGO and BBB.

I used to sell and buy from the Realreal until I bought a Cartier watch that was yellow gold. However, when I checked on the official Cartier website and upon contacting them, they advised that it comes only in rosegold. This is when I got skeptical about its authenticity and started comparing the images on the Realreal website and the official Cartier website to see so many differences beside the gold color. I contacted them to cancel or recall the order the same day I had ordered, but they refused and advised that I can return it once received and they will get it reauthenitcated when they saw the images I attached that clearly show their watch is fake. I checked other Cartier watches on their website and found them fake when compared them with images of the same model that Cartier posted on their website. I would never trust this Company again, they started with some ethics and now they have shifted to quick easy profit using the reputation they had built for themselves. It has become an unsafe platform just like Ebay. I was referring many of my friends to this website as guaranteed authentic till I discovered how unethical the way they do business. I wouldn't be surprised if most of their Hermes Birken and Kelly are also fake, which is extremely hard to be able to tell its authenticity, since most Hermes bags in the world are fake due to the fact that it's extremely difficult to buy one straight from Hermes even if someone has the money to buy it. Images attached for reference: the authentic is the rosegold with 8 screws and a serial number and the other 2 images (yellow gold) are for the fake watch being sold on Realreal with only 4 screws, no serial number and messy stitches on the strap.
I hope such conduct is going to be reported by other buyers when discovered so that they don't sell items whose actual value may be only 10% of their price value making tons of profit by cheating their customers who trust the name.