Alex P.

Glad to see SiteJabber sharing in the meta-experience of it all.

A review of a site that's about reviewing sites!

It's a fun virtual styling tool basically. You can browse sweaters, dresses, accessories, shoes and make the style spreads commonly found in fashion magazines. The items are clipped from various sources across the web - fashion retailers, brands' sites, etc so it's a fun way to discover new brands and browse new styles. Of course some of really nice items tend to be high luxury - Yves Saint Laurent, Louboutins, etc that cost $800-$1k an item and wouldn't realistically be a catalogue of what you have if for example you were trying to create a style collage based on items you might have, but it's a great starting point for finding similar items to match outfits you have in mind or might want to buy. A useful tool I've found is the ask advice section. You can post some items you need advice on, matching/sizes and people will pull up other items to answer.

A note that, the images obtained are "clipped" from other websites - so there can be limitations on how well they're representative of a 3D outfit.

I agree with the other reviewer that it's a great source for luggage and travel bags. I've only ordered one item, it came but the colour wasn't as described/shown on the webpage. I'm not sure how that happened as the colour I ordered was "Fog" and it's clearly a grey in the picture for that product listing. But when it arrived, it was a cyan colour - what's confusing was that the tag that came with it also said "Fog". So either the manufacturer mislabeled it, the product listing page had an older picture or ebags somehow mislabeled it. Either way, it wasn't a big deal and I didn't want the hassle of returning it just because of colour discrepancy.

The only reason I haven't bought anything else from them is also because I find their pricing for handbags slightly high and good deals can be found elsewhere. But I think that their "comment and get 20% off" deal is a smart practice. Product reviews for online shopping always help and that's a great incentive.

I've bought a few books - received them in the conditions the sellers described and am quite fond of them. In trying to build up a collection of artbooks, for example, you can often find them in good condition on here without having to shell out 2x the price for new. I think the important thing to note is to look at the sellers' feedback and %, just like eBay or the sellers on Amazon.

This site is now just freelancer.com, either they changed the people who run it or revamped it but while I was out of a job, I did a job on here that cost the person hiring $30. They charged a $5 fee for that, but their paypal withdrawl limit is $30, so basically you'd have to win another project and complete it before you can even withdraw any money! Not only that, they charge another fee for withdrawing from their site to paypal. If I remember correctly, they gave you free bids for projects per month but if you wanted to bid more you have to buy bids. I considered adding in another $30 to obtain a final value of $55 to transfer to my paypal, but I'd lose $5 more plus the initial fees. A gain of $20 is better than nothing, but it just seemed excessive for such a small amount. So I left it there, a year and a half later I log on and ALL THE MONEY is gone. Apparently they took out $5 every set period for inactivity.

I'm glad I didn't add any money on my account! Basically if they think you're no longer active, THEY WILL take your money. Hell, even imagecave sends me email reminders "your account will expire in 30 days, please log in to reactivate it." This kind of deceptive behaviour borders on theft.

I use them as a hosting service (a site that I've updated maybe 3x in half a year...) and they registered my domain through GoDaddy and so far I've had no problems. I can't comment on uptime/downtime since I rarely visit and I have basically no outside visitors; it's more of a placeholder in case I ever want to do something. But they do offer cheap hosting, when I signed up around $4.99 a month. The first time I signed up, they double charged me for a service because of their confusing forms (my mistake) but when I contacted their customer service, they refunded both charges very shortly. One thing I noticed, if you use Paypal, their payments will get withdrawn as automatic billing yearly or whatever plan you chose when you signed up. BE sure to either cancel if you don't want your site or change plans if you have to. Just don't forget you have a site somewhere for years... In addition, if you delete your site from them - it's gone forever, so make backups.

Official sounding name: Domain Registry of America - shady!

Be very careful! I received a letter in the mail the other day, with garbled information in the To: section (based from a whois of a domain I own that's static now - I recommend getting a service that blocks your whois information to prevent these places from sending you mail). Based on that, I knew right away that they had gleaned my info. And was probably up to no good.

For one, I'm not stupid and my domain is registered with GoDaddy since September of last year. Why would I want to renew my domain through DROA for $30 a year for approximately 3x the cost it is currently with GoDaddy? They also stress you to reply before a certain date, at least 4 months before the actual expiry date. It just makes no sense and in fact the link here: http://www.ucan.org/blog/blog/scam_alert/domain_registry_of_america_scam, features a great scan of what the mail looks like. There is information on DROA's wiki page and the linked site regarding FTC fines and the like - basically stay away!

I got spammed too:

"LouisVuitton L. Along with the network development, many products sale by the network.It becomes a Fierce
Competition. For example the Louis Vuitton Online Store, as one of the most famous brand in the world,
Louis Vuitton has their website, but they also need the Louis Vuitton Outlet to sale their products.So if
You want to buy Louis Vuitton you just visit our Louis Vuitton Store. Welcome to http://www.buylouisvuittonoutletstore.com or email me:*******@yahoo.cn."

It seems like these people don't know what SiteJabber is for, but it's comical... and sad. The other review pretty much covers the likelihood that this is 100% scam, but I just wanted to chime in about their ignorant spam methods.

A very comprehensive and useful watercolor painting reference site that covers techniques and lists some artists that I found useful to look at for inspiration. Some of the sections aren't linked and haven't been for a while but it's worth a trip if you're thinking about watercolor painting.

If you're in the market of buying used purses (chanel, LV) or Louboutin shoes AND/OR selling mentioned items, this is a great resource for learning about shady buyers and shady sellers. It's sort of like a SiteJabber expressly for designer handbags (and shoes). They also have volunteer threads for you to post links to eBay and other auctions to seek authentication of a certain brand. There's a banned buyers list for eBay which is useful as the forum users have banded together to compile a huge list.

This is probably my favourite site for findings and czech beads. You can choose however many crimp beads or jump rings you want! No longer obligated to buy 20 if you only want to try out 4 or 8! They actually have a decent inspiration projects gallery - with projects you might want to make with listings of the products that goes into the project. They offer free shipping with NO minimum order! And it's legit, I've ordered twice from them... they even give you some freebies your first order :)

ESK has a wonderful collection of kettle/hand-dyed yarn, most of it at sock weight and in gorgeous colour schemes. They carry a ton of Malabrigo, the sought after Madeleine Tosh and other brands. Some colour ways may be out of stock depending on when you order and their backorders can take time as each batch needs to be dyed and sent to them, but it's understandable and I think alternate colours should suffice for those of us that aren't picky. They also have a nice yarnathon program depending on how many total yards you buy that you accumulate gifts at different stages, which is a great customer bringing back strategy :)

If you're an eBay seller or buyer this is a must! As a buyer it's obvious, you want to know if the seller ships items after payment, if the items are in described condition, etc. Usually feedback is comprehensive for sellers but as a seller on eBay, I've become aware of how it's important to screen out buyers.

On PurseForum, there have been incidences listed of reverse scams on eBay. I. E., you sell a Chanel bag for $2000 to some buyer. After receiving it, buyer claims it's fake and Paypal/eBay sides with them (if for some reason you can't provide proof of it's authenticity even though it is) and you're forced to refund them. They send back a fake bag: you're out the bag AND money. Other issues include malicious buyers who for some reason leave negative feedback on a rampage or has a history of scamming sellers via different usernames that eBay does not regulate or try to put a stop to.

Toolhaus lets you look up a username's negative feedback, including buyers' that eBay has made invisible now on the main site. This helps you judge on whether or not you're dealing with a fake bag scammer or a malicious buyer.

Also know as "Arcadia Aromatics", they make AMAZING soap. They're not cheap, but they're great as gifts and smell wonderful. I first found them on Etsy, which they no longer operate through. I've gotten a few batches of orders fine, they're wrapped well and the seller refunded for overcharges on shipping. Also gives out coupon codes and announces sales on their facebook page. Highly recommended if you're into gourmet soaps.

I totally love WEBs! They've got a TON of insane deals on very good yarn brands like rowan, debbie bliss, cascade, etc. They've got a TON of choices in general. Their closeout deals are crazy good and I had to ban myself from knitting just so I wouldn't keep buying insane amounts of yarn. They've only made a mistake on one ball of yarn in the several times I've ordered which I kept because I didn't feel like sending back and exchanging (though they offered). Their shipping to me is extremely fast, but I'm one state over ;). I learned some time ago about their warehouse location which I plan to visit, some day...

Knitpicks has their own house brand of yarn, importing directly from mills in South America cutting out the middle distributor. This lets their prices be competitive while retaining the quality other brand name yarn boasts. They're pretty good about keeping up with the current trend - silk blends, eco-wool/cotton, etc but I've never actually ordered or used the yarn. I'm not a fan of their colour palettes for the main weights (worsted, bulky) although they do offer a tantalizing section of sock and lace weight yarn. For me, what I like the best is their array of good quality knitting needles. I've ordered 2 sets, one was delayed because it was around Christmas time (not their fault) and the other one came timely. In general, highly recommended if you're knitting on a budget but don't like acrylic or craft quality yarn.

This site has insane deals on brand name yarn - their closeouts often sell in packs of 10, which can be an issue if you need slightly more than 10 or if you only need less than 5 but there's always no problem in finding available projects. I've only ordered from them once, but I received my yarn in perfectly new condition. They update their inventory relatively often with new deals which is definitely worth checking out. At the time, they were one of the few online yarn vendors to accept PayPal which is always handy :)

Being a yarnaholic, I used to troll sale sections of large online retailers and JBW has the best price on Malabrigo worsted! They had almost all of the colours listed and I did not see out of stock info., so I ordered what'd be enough to make scarves for me and someone else (in time for their bday). They sent me an email a week later to tell me that it was backordered and would take up to 14 days, maybe more and gave me the option to cancel. I went ahead and did and nothing was charged. Their customer service was fine, but they should REALLY differentiate first off which colours are backordered. I don't know if they do it now, but it was frustrating then.

Another experience I've had was back when I lived in Canada and a friend bought from them to gift me a bit of yarn and it took a very long time to arrive. I understand custom issues and there was some renovation on my street at the same time but I also remember them notifying me the colour my friend chose was out of stock and asked me to pick an alternate colour. Again, they should keep inventory on what is actually in stock because it's just annoying.

The only reason I don't give it 4 stars is because they have a rather limited selection on gemstones, but aside from that their prices are great and they offer a wide selection of the "meat and potatos" of jewelry components - findings, metal wire, stringing wire and so forth. Timely delivery! Once they sent me the wrong gauge of stringing wire and when I contacted them, they gave me a pre-paid return shipping label and once they received that they sent the correct one. Very reasonable prices too on everything.

I ordered some 20 and 22 gauge copper wire for jewelry a while ago and they sent me a shipping confirmation and the item arrived in the time stated for the type of shipping. Great price too. Recommended if you make your own jewelry and need odd and ends like wire. They offer a great selection of general purpose crafts, modeling and other supplies.