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The RealReal has a rating of 2.4 stars from 5,304 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about The RealReal most frequently mention customer service, good condition, and final sale problems. The RealReal ranks 8th among Discount Clothing sites.
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I have been a big seller and buyer on The Real Real since the beginning of the company in 2015! I have made about $400,000 selling pieces that I was not going to wear again. Also, I am a buyer of mostly "pristine" and "excellent" items on consignment. There are so many people who buy things and not wear/use them at all, and sell them new in the box with tags!
Therealreal is a scam. They take high-value items for consignment and list them at ridiculously low prices, allowing their internal employees to steal them from online clients' carts or even after payments have been made. They cancel transactions and resale the items to their friends, who then post them on eBay for a profit. Please do not consign with this company; you will receive almost nothing for your high-value stuff. The company has no control over their employees, so employees do whatever they want, including defrauding their customers and running a side business for themselves
RUN! This company is so poorly ran. They will have someone basically take your items, leave you with nothing, and then weeks/months go by with no sales or communication. Thousands of dollars basically missing and stolen by this company from me. They do not reply to inquiries or provide good customer service. NEVER have them sell your designer items!
Tip for consumers:
all my friends who've tried to sell through real real hated it.
it's the worst.
Products used:
selling designer bags and shoes
Date of experience: June 12, 2022
Clothing items arrive in a dishevelled manner, not making the clothes appealing at all. The cost for shipping and returns is way too high especially considering the time it takes to get to the customer. Refunds also take too long to reach your account. Very unhappy customer.
Date of experience: April 14, 2021
Two Stars instead of one because my issue was ultimately resolved. HOWEVER... it literally took 3 days of texting with 3 different agents to get a relatively simple issue fixed. It was so incredibly frustrating and time consuming. There must be a better way of doing this...
Date of experience: February 1, 2022
Lost items, sold items not approved, sent items that never made it. They start out white glove but you end up when asking for items to be returned if they are even legit. I have 100k with them. I now have to get my homeowners insurance involved
Date of experience: June 26, 2020
I wanted to give them 0. Selling through them is a giant rip-off. They give you no opportunity to get the item returned if you are dissatisfied with their determination. We received $96.80 on a mink coat evaluated at over $6000. Will never sell through them again!
Date of experience: October 14, 2022
At first it looks wonderful, all high end clothing and accessories. However what you see on the site and order it's not the same I ordered 3 pairs of jeans 2 out of the three were not what I received, sizing all wrong. And on the two my answer was exactly the same as if it's recorded Credit to your account $11.95 So you can't get out. I'm sure in the beginning it was great. However I would be cautious. What you see is not what you get.
Date of experience: November 23, 2021
I have several items that are in excellent or pristine level that have been priced too low, compared to others on a site. Inconstancy in who is pricing the items. Also, they return done items based on taste not what sells - one of my items was returned to me as it said that the brand is not accepted; identical item sold in few days...
Date of experience: May 18, 2020
Whenever I reach out to the Consignor Relations email, I feel like a get canned FAQ responses. They rarely, if ever, actually look into my issue and solve it.
It takes a LONG time to get consignments reviewed and on sale. I sent a number of items in last week and most of them haven't even been accepted yet, let along photographed and put on sale. You cannot sell what you haven't processed!
Date of experience: February 24, 2021
I sent a huge box of designer pieces, some never worn at all, some with tags, some without. I carefully gave them to a rep locally in hanging bags. They were returned to me by shipment folded up in bags and are a wrinkled mess. You described them as stained, but I am not sure how that could be on some of them... since never worn. Chloe, Carolina Herrera, and more...
Date of experience: April 17, 2021
Purchases Louis Vuitton sunglasses that were advertised to come with case. They did not. When contacted customer service, she informed me that they would look for it but would not likely find it because the people in warehouse never find anything. Said she would send a credit for their website but I never received it. The purchase was my first and last. Buyer beware!
Date of experience: May 22, 2018
Love your site and I use it often. However you need to get a handle on the length of time the customer has to wait. Amazon has trained us all to expect timely delivery. You guys take forever. I know you can do better. Everything else you do is great. How has this feature been ignored?
Date of experience: April 17, 2021
Love the selections. I have purchased many wonderful items through you that will stay in my collection. From clothing, to shoes, to jewelry I have loved everything. If I returned anything it was because of the fit not the product. I have to checkout your store in SF when we are no longer under quarantine. Thanks!
Date of experience: June 4, 2020
I'd definitely love this service more if I didn't have to pay almost $12 for shipping and the same amount to return the items if they don't fit... it seems like a big waste of money (so far I had to return 2 things), I don't think I'll buy again!
Date of experience: June 21, 2020
This site is unfortunately a disappointment to ship and item weighing 20lbs within the same state they charge $650.00 customer service agent said this was normal. The item cost less then $300.00. I could purchase the same item new with many more features and no damage for he same price.
Date of experience: May 21, 2020
I can't speak as a seller because I've never listed anything for sale, but as a buyer I've had nothing but very good experiences, even when returning an item. The prices are competitive with other sites and the pictures are very accurate. Honestly thinking of becoming a "First Look" member!
Date of experience: October 15, 2018
Have been using The Real Real for a long time and noticed that the quality of service, accuracy of listings, and quality of clothing on the site has declined. I purchased a top that was described as being in pristine condition, only to find it full of holes and damage. The Real Real overstates purchase amounts, so if you are overseas and have to pay taxes and duties, you end up paying far more than you should. Was once a great site and a great place to shop, but not any longer. Definitely will not use again.
Date of experience: August 2, 2021
Hi Mia, thank you for taking the time to leave us a review and for providing this feedback. Please don't hesitate to reach out if there is anything we might be able to help you with.
I ordered a Louis Vuitton hood sweatshirt from this website. I waited one week for ground delivery. It shows delivered however I have no package. I then contacted the site by e-mail. They never responded on two different days. I called Customer Service a d waited 1:20 mins for customer service who filed a trace and they said I will have to wait for over 8 days to get my money back! Now I don't want to sell my clothing on the website that I don't use.
Date of experience: August 20, 2019
Easy online shopping. Fast delivery. Only suggestion is having a few more days to return items that don't fit. The window of time for returns is quite short. I missed my return deadline bc I had been very sick. I called and the CSR was kind and allowed my return.
Date of experience: October 4, 2021
Hi Mary, thank you for providing feedback on our return policy. We're glad our team was able to assist you and we hope you're feeling better. Please don't hesitate to reach back out if there is anything else we can help with.
It is not worth selling your stuff through the real real. I sold a 300+ dollar retail dress - never worn. And they sent me $1.40 check. Because there's a five dollar processing fee for a check. So I will actually wipe my $#*! with that check instead of cashing it. Absolutely absurd sham of a business - do you receive pennies on the dollar for your items. Live and learn, never again, great money for them but not for you!
Date of experience: November 14, 2022
1- need better descriptions of items, especially with flaws or alterations in clothing Several. Times now i have purchased garments whose zippers didn't work, altered in length or a piece of the inner corset was shortened or whose buttons popped out.
2- need better photos of garments on mannequin.
3- offer free shipping
Date of experience: March 1, 2021
Because sizes are different with every designer, it is imperative that there be very specific information about the size of clothes. The very tight return window makes it hard to order with confidence knowing that if something doesn't fit, I'll have enough time to return it. 14 days from the date that you order is not enough time, especially when it can take a day or two to ship and then up to a week to arrive.
Date of experience: July 2, 2021
First purchase as good but on my second purchase I bought a pair of shoes in Excellent condition (see images) and when they arrived they were in very bad shape, I wouldn't even considered them in "good" condition. How is it possible? Isn't this the whole point of TheRealReal?
I returned it and I only got half of what I paid. Seems like a scam scheme.
Tip for consumers:
Don't trust their site descriptions.
Products used:
Shoes
Date of experience: June 30, 2021
I left a twice-worn pair of Chanel boots in the box with documents listing retail price and three weeks later I spent over an hour trying to track them down. Then I was told if they sold with commission I would be making less than 25% of what I paid for them. They were in perfect condition. I asked for them to be sent back to me, as this is a real ripoff I believe. Let's see how long, if ever, they get sent back to me. I', very disappointed.
Date of experience: July 28, 2021
Each day I check for new things. Selling is relatively easy although sometimes the time from drop off to listing can be quite lengthy. I did a number of drop offs of things to sell in December and quite a few of my items are still not listed on the site for sale. But overall it's very easy to work with.
Products used:
Wonderful jewelry and elegant clothes! I also have purchase classic high end pocketbooks!
Date of experience: January 16, 2021
I called Custer customer service and the support that the bag I bought was authentic. And they would send me an email to have it sent back to store to verify authentication. They were very helpful. The purse is authentic after all but comes with no authentic card with number on it to prove its original and it doesn't come with the correct bag cover for the purse.
Date of experience: June 30, 2023
The RealReal is the leader in authenticated luxury consignment. With an expert behind every item, we ensure everything we sell is 100% real. As a sustainable company, we give new life to pieces by brands from Chanel to Cartier, and hundreds more. Exten...
Hi Derrick, we appreciate you sharing this feedback with us and we're sorry the items you received were not the sizes you expected. We promise we’ll make it right if an item you purchase from us doesn’t match the description on our site. Please DM us on social media with your order number and we'll sort this out for you.