Ordering Skating Dresses Through eBay

[overedge]

Has anyone here had experience with custom skating dress sellers working through eBay? If so, I'd like to ask you some questions through PM. Thanks!

[jp1andonly]

The ones om china look lovely but have mixed results. My worry was getting stuck in customs or something wrong and having to send it back. The 2 I ordered were lovely and better then I anticipated for the cost....

[leafygreens]

I would be wary about ordering from China. One seller sewed the bottom part of my dress on backwards. So I had a loose bunch fabric in my front female region, and a high cut back in my rear region. Then the dip dyed colors started to run like it had gotten wet. !!!

[ioana]

I ordered one a while back and while it looked v. nice for the $60 or so that it cost, I wasn't crazy about the crystal and sparkles appliques. They somehow looked cheap (which I guess they were) close up. I've had better luck buying Sharene or Imperial dresses and then having them altered.

[sk8er1964]

I would be wary about ordering from China. One seller sewed the bottom part of my dress on backwards. So I had a loose bunch fabric in my front female region, and a high cut back in my rear region. Then the dip dyed colors started to run like it had gotten wet. !!!

Not a skating dress, but my son's gf bought a prom dress from China. When it arrived, it had her in tears. The top gaped open, which my mother the seemstress was able to fix. Some of the bead work was falling off, and it clearly was done by several different people with varying skill levels. We ended up removing all the bead work (which is a shame, because some of it was quite good - but I don't have the skills to make the necessary repairs) and re-doing it with crystals and E6000. Yay for skating dress stoning experience!

[agmiafan]

Well atleast I won't have problems like this because my mum is giving me her old skating dresses from when she used to skate, I've taken up skating lessons now so I will be on this site alot more now.

[Skittl1321]

Many of the girls at our rink where the China ebay skating dresses. Since they've done multiple dresses over multiple seasons, I assume they are happy with them. They get handed down and passed around the rink.

I'd say you get what you pay for. The crystals are generally plastic without much sparkle, but the dresses are fine for low level competitions.

[Jozet]

We get dresses from the seller Wonderland0559 on ebay. I'm guessing they are bought wholesale from China? The shipping isn't as much as the dresses that come right from China. http://myworld.ebay.com/wonderland05...p2047675.l2559

My skater is only Intermediate, so they suffice. Not much in the way of crystals, but holographic sequins look nice on the ice. The fit is okay to good, but the material seems to withstand minor alterations quite well. Some of the dresses are a bit too, too much in the way of frou-frou, but we found one that was perfect for her long program to Doctor Who music. The dress looked like it had little blue TARDISes all over it. :-) A lot of the dresses have glued on glitter which looks great, but needs special care when cleaning. Many skaters from the rink order from this seller with happy (so far) results.

[danceronice]

RainbowShiu does dance dresses (I believe they're in Vietnam) and I've heard...okay things. Communication and exchanges can be a problem. Personally I'd be a little worried with sellers in the far east because if there's a problem you can probably get your money back because eBay is tilted to the buyer's end, but a new/replacement dress might be tricky.

[J-Ro]

I dunno. People actually do this? I just can't imagine ordering a skating dress from China on eBay. It seems like you get what you pay for. Is it worth it to save a couple of bucks?

[FigureSpins]

They are beautiful dresses and a good value for the quality/workmanship. Some sellers aren't as reputable or honest, which is why threads like this get started - to identify the better suppliers.

It was common back in the day for a local seamstress or home sewer to become the resident skating dressmaker at an affordable price, but these days, it is almost impossible to get the raw materials at a cheap enough price to make skating clothes affordable. Labor and materials in China are less expensive and exports are encouraged, to bring cash into the country.

the cons are that many of the dress designs are knockoffs of big-name designers' dresses, which makes it an ethical issue. Labor exploitation and working conditions create a moral dilemma. Patriotism in the form of "Buy American/Canadian/etc." also factors into play.

its up to the individual buyer to decide whether or not to buy dresses from overseas.

I bought a beautiful dress for one of dds via eBay, but the seller listed her address as Pennsylvania, not China. I found that, when a listing shows a photo in certain colors, but the description offers a choice of colors, be sure to specify what you want. My dd wanted the white dress with all-black beading. The listing offered a choice of black or purple. I didn't specify and ended up with a mix of black and purple, which looked garish. The seller let me exchange it at no cost, but it delayed us a week.

[Skittl1321]

I dunno. People actually do this? I just can't imagine ordering a skating dress from China on eBay. It seems like you get what you pay for. Is it worth it to save a couple of bucks?

A huge number of skaters at my rink buy Ebay China dresses. We don't have a local skate shop, so everything has to be bought online anyway.

The dresses all get passed down and they all seem to be lasting a number of seasons. The dresses seam very nice. The only problem is it isn't rare to show up to a competition with someone else in the same dress. Then again, I bought my dress from an American off the rack company (Figureskatewear.com) and another skater at the rink has it too! I stoned mine though, so mine is nicer


We had a coach at the rink who sewed a few costumes, but I think he only did men's costumes except for one girl he coached. There really weren't local choices though. I made a few of my own dresses, but am not skilled enough to make for others. Ebay was great option for our rink and everyone was happy with their China dresses.

[mkats]

The dresses all get passed down and they all seem to be lasting a number of seasons. The dresses seam very nice.

No pun intended I'm sure

[overedge]

I bought a beautiful dress for one of dds via eBay, but the seller listed her address as Pennsylvania, not China.

I don't know if this is true, but I was told that while some eBay sellers are in North America, and buy and sell through a North American address, the actual manufacturing is done in China or somewhere else with low labour costs. The "seller" is basically a broker who commissions the dresses when they are ordered.

[Skittl1321]

No pun intended I'm sure

Oops...haha.

[FigureSpins]

I don't know if this is true, but I was told that while some eBay sellers are in North America, and buy and sell through a North American address, the actual manufacturing is done in China or somewhere else with low labour costs. The "seller" is basically a broker who commissions the dresses when they are ordered.

At the time, I had asked my sister (import customs broker) if I would be responsible for the import duties and taxes if that were the case and she said no, the broker would handle that and build it into the selling price. I was really (pleasantly) surprised that the original and replacement dresses were delivered on time from the PA address.