Hi folks! Last week, for part 1 of our ebay brand profiles, I pretty much focused on the brands with the largest ebay presences, like Agent Provocateur and La Perla. This week, the focus is on brands with fewer listings, and generally less traffic, ranging from Myla and Chantal Thomass with several hundred listings, to Hopeless and Murmur, which often have no listings at all. As I go through the brands themselves, I'll also touch on the best way to find things from them, either by saving a search, or searching most efficiently for them in the first place.
There are many, many more lingerie and luxury lingerie brands on ebay, not to mention all of the vintage lingerie (tune in next week for another ebay how-to post devoted to this), but I wanted to focus on the brands I've followed the closest while working for TLA. Also, to go back to something I mentioned last week, some of the brands in this post are very small and/or independent designers, like Hopeless and Nichole de Carle. No part of your ebay purchase goes to support them and the wonderful work they do, so please use ebay as an introduction to these brands, and go spend some money with them directly at some point too when you can.
Also, for all of these brands, if you're based in the US it's very important to have your location settings on 'Worldwide,' otherwise you will miss out on the majority of the listings.
Leave a comment below if you have any questions about the brands I talk about here, or if you want to ask about a brand I didn't include (there are so many). Otherwise, I hope you've found this series helpful : ) Enjoy!
P.S. I may do a full cup size brand profile at some point, but for the major brands (Felina, Cacique, Prima Donna, etc), the general rule is far more professional sellers than personal ones, with medium prices (~50% off). Personal sellers definitely have a solid presence though, and their prices err on the side of awesome.
MYLA LONDON:
Volume: Medium, usally over 200 listings (see notes).
New items added, not just re-listed: Truly new items a few times a week.
Items re-listed: Often, but there's also a decent sell-rate.
Deal profile, professional sellers: I'd guess it's about equal between personal and professional sellers for this brand. Prices can be high from professionals, but usually they're medium to low.
Deal profile, personal sellers: Personal sellers are where it's at for Myla on ebay. Many of the listings are less exciting, from several seasons past, but you also see some seriously amazing stuff from current seasons, or the one just past. Prices are rarely exceptional, but they're usually very low. Also somewhat regularly, someone will list one of Myla's amazing robes for about $1 and sit back to watch the fur fly.
NOTES: Two important things. 1) Don't search for 'Myla London,' or you'll miss out on a lot of listings; instead just search for Myla and refine the search results down to Intimates & Sleep in Women's Clothing. 2) Refine the location settings to 'Worldwide.' If you don't do this, you will literally miss out on more than 3/4 of the listings.
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CHANTAL THOMASS:
Volume: High, 500-700 listings.
New items added, not just re-listed: Not often, a few a week.
Items re-listed: Very often. Many things are priced high, but I also don't think that many people think to look up this brand on ebay – things do sell, but not that often.
Deal profile, professional sellers: They make up the bulk of the listings, and there's one huge seller from Germany that has a ton. Prices are usually very high for the brand itself, and far lower for pieces from the Victoria's Secret collection they did.
Deal profile, personal sellers: Responsible for the majority of the Victoria's Secret collection listings, with a few awesome exceptions. Listings from personal sellers for the main brand are far, far lower than from the professional sellers here.
NOTES: Don't necessarily restrict your search to Women's Clothing. Chantal Thomass also makes (or made) jewelry, furniture and collectibles like lingerie-themed umbrellas. Also, sizes are small. I think there's only two listings above a C-cup.
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HOPELESS LINGERIE:
Volume: Very, very low, and unstable. Anywhere from zero to six listings. There's nothing right now besides some collectible postcards.
New items added, not just re-listed: Once a month if you're lucky, but it's unpredictable.
Items re-listed: N/A, as when there are listings, they usually sell fast.
Deal profile, professional sellers: It's usually personal sellers.
Deal profile, personal sellers: Prices are rarely incredible, but are usually more than 60% off retail. And you can get insanely lucky if you keep a close eye, and a saved search (ex, the very sold-out Valentina bodysuit from the Phases collection that now lives in my top drawer).
NOTES: When you search for Hopeless in Women's Clothing, or even in Intimates, you're probably not going to just see stuff from Hopeless Lingerie (assuming there is anything from them on the site). Try adding '-romantic -"t-shirt" -tshirt -wildfox -affliction,' and saving that search. Or you can save a search for Hopeless Lingerie and hope that if someone lists something they remember to add the 'Lingerie'.
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MURMUR:
Volume: Very low, 1-4 listings max.
New items added, not just re-listed: Very infrequently.
Items re-listed: Often, the brand retails very high and prices reflect this.
Deal profile, professional sellers: There's really only one or two, and while prices are over 50% off, they're still very, very high.
Deal profile, personal sellers: Since the pool of listings is so small, not a lot of info here. There was a Blackcherry corset dress for $175 (retails $800-1000) for a while, and some store samples that seem to have been sold. If you're a big fan of the brand like I am, keep a saved search (with the categories for dresses and intimates) and check back every so often.
NOTES: There's a clothing brand (and a separate swimwear brand?) by the same name, no connection. Weeding the results you want out from the other two brands can be tricky because the Murmur we're interested in also makes (absurdly awesome) lingerie-inspired clothing. I suggest sorting by highest price.
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ROSAMOSARIO:
Volume: Very, very low (5-10 listings).
New items added, not just re-listed: Rarely. Once a month if you're lucky.
Items re-listed: Very, very often. The brand retails extremely high, and ebay prices reflect that.
Deal profile, professional sellers: Everything that's listed right now looks like it's from a professional seller. That said, the price range is from over $1000 to under $100, and many listings have best offer options. Take advantage of this. Rosamosario is one of my favorites because it doesn't do things in half measure; it's also why the prices are so damn high, and probably won't drop much. That said, the ebay prices are a bargain compared to retail. If Rosamosario is your jam and only just outside your price range, ebay is the way to go.
Deal profile, personal sellers: [See above].
NOTES: Rosamosario's listings (the white long-sleeve silk & lace chemise, and the bronzy full-length chemise) are some of my favorite pieces of lingerie I've seen on ebay, period. Those two listings in particular have been up forever, I really hope they eventually find a their way to someone who'll appreciate them.
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FLEUR OF ENGLAND:
Volume: Medium (200+)
New items added, not just re-listed: somewhat often, maybe a few a week.
Items re-listed: Often, especially from the professional sellers who price high.
Deal profile, professional sellers: Almost entirely professional sellers, with a fair amount of them pricing pretty low.
Deal profile, personal sellers: I don't check every listing every day, but I actually can't remember ever seeing more than one or two personal seller listings. Those were very good deals (Geisha printed silk set for $75), but this brand's presence on ebay is absolutely dominated by professionals.
NOTES: Listings run the gamut between very old, and last season. Because of the percentage of professional sellers (who almost always know the style name of what they're selling) you can definitely save a search for a specific item and get lucky.
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NICHOLE DE CARLE:
Volume: Very low, usually one to five.
New items added, not just re-listed: Infrequently.
Items re-listed: There's one chemise which hasn't sold for a few months. Otherwise, a high sale-rate.
Deal profile, professional sellers: See personal sellers.
Deal profile, personal sellers: There aren't usually many listings, but they're often from sellers on the line between personal and professional (a 100-300 by their name). Prices are usually low when the brand pops up. There are seven listings right now, which is the most I've ever seen. Considering how high this brand retails for, prices are awesome overall.
NOTES: Watch your spelling on 'Nichole,' and remember to have your location settings on 'Worldwide.'
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MIMI HOLIDAY by DAMARIS:
Volume: Consistently high (1,000+).
New items added, not just re-listed: Often. There are tons of personal sellers listing new items.
Items re-listed: Also often -- there are also a lot of professional sellers with a bunch of listings for the same size at prices people don't jump at.
Deal profile, professional sellers: There are plenty of them, and of that number, maybe half sell high. The other half compete with the personal sellers, and offer some great deals. Not as good as the personal sellers, mind you, but still excellent for professional sellers. You can also find some beautiful items from past seasons from them.
Deal profile, personal sellers: There is extremely awesome stuff to be had here. Prices for Buy It Now bras can be as low as $8, and the full range of the brand's sizing (staggering variety, compared to similar designers) is out in force on ebay, and for very little money. I highly, highly recommend doing some of your Mimi Holliday shopping on ebay.
NOTES: A fair amount of the bras listed by personal sellers are Pre-Owned. This can be an extremely ambiguous spectrum, ranging from sellers who put it on once and didn't like it, to sellers who wore it every day for three years before it stopped fitting. If the bra looks a bit worn in the photos, ask how many times its been worn. If you can't tell from the photos, ask for more pictures. Open communication with the seller is your friend.
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That's all for now folks! I hope you've enjoyed this two-part series of brand profiles on ebay. There may be more of them in the future, but next week I'll be taking you through the ins and outs of buying vintage lingerie on ebay. It's a very different process, with very different kinds of sellers. I'm really looking forward to it, and I hope you'll enjoy it! If you have any questions about this post, or the one from last week, leave a comment below : )
Happy bidding!
-Sarah