TheRealReal.com

Buyer beware they sell knock off items clearly the authenticity process is flawed at best. I have returned a number of items that were not authentic. The selling fees where the cut is 60/40 is unheard of in any of the major consignment businesses online.
If you don't know if your item is authentic take it to be checked out.

Business Response /* (1000, 14, 2014/06/18) */
No action is necessary on our part as we did nothing wrong. We have in our records that Ms. Qi submitted her consignment request through our online form (partial screen shot below), where she must agree to our Consignment Terms in order to...

submit the form. In those terms, we clearly state that The RealReal will determine pricing, without approval from the consignor:
EFFORTS TO SELL
Upon acceptance of the Property, Consignee will display the Property and will make commercially reasonable efforts to sell the Property. The price will be set by Consignee, and may be changed from time to time by the Consignee without notice to the Consigner. Consignee reserves the right to run promotions on its website and other properties to offer discounts to its customers and items may be placed into Consignee's sales as part of its ongoing sales efforts.
We set the price of her bag at a fair market rate. Further, it's a bit absurd that she's asking for a commission based on a price of $700, when she herself admitted that she only paid $550.

I purchased 2 items online and literally called 2 minutes later to ask them to add the 20% discount which I had forgotten to insert online.They didn't tell me they would charge me twice and put me into overdraft which I only found out after I checked my bank balance and now it will 5 days to return the money to my account which I found out only after calling them. To add insult to injury, I tracked the package and got home to find that the package still hadn't arrived although they and Fedex said it had been delivered. I called and was told they would begin an investigation. I called Fedex who said the same. They also said that the investigation would take 3 days and they would give me a report when it was concluded. No politeness, no apology, very dismissive and I have now paid $1800 and have nothing to show for it. I am appalled - where are my purses? I asked to speak to a manager and waited for 10 minutes listening to elevator music - still no manager.

I will never shop with this company again. I purchased an item and it was not to my satisfaction and that happens. However, sending the item back has been a nightmare! The company has the item, but has not refunded my money and it has been over a week! When I called the customer service representative said my refund wasn't going to be processed until 14 days after they have the item. This is an insane policy! I never wore the item, as is evidenced by the sticker that they placed on the item. The moment I took the item out of the box, it was not to my satisfaction. I still don't have my money back and it's well over $500 that the company is holding. I could have gone to Bloomingdales and received much better customer service! The worst part was the customer service representative getting angry because I decided the item was not to my satisfaction.

Dear Revdex.com,
 
Thank you for bringing this consignor’s concerns to our attention. Since the consignor filed this complaint, they have been in contact with us and we have come to a resolution. There was some confusion regarding missing commission checks that took time to be researched with our...

accounting team. The consignor is now in possession of replacement checks for any uncashed checks and proof of deposit for any checks that were cashed. We understand the consignor’s frustration and apologize for the conflicting information they were given. We consider this situation to be resolved at this time.
 
Sincerely,
 
The RealReal Consignor Relations

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2015/11/03) */
Dear Revdex.com,
Thank you for forwarding this consignor's concern. For certain items valued at a qualifying amount, we allow consignors to request approval of the price prior to listing the item on our site. When the...

consignor submitted her items, she did not request price approval, so it was listed for sale once it had been appraised.
She did e-mail us and request the item be returned on 10/7 and on 10/8, but it sold before we could pull it from the site. We worked with the consignor to find an acceptable selling price, but the ring was returned by the buyer and we were able to send it back to the consignor as she had requested.
Sincerely,
The RealReal Customer Service

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/01/26) */
The bag is not a fake, but we received the return and refunded [redacted]'s card as a courtesy. She should see the refund on her statement within the next 2-3 business days.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 9, 2015/10/16) */
Dear Revdex.com,
Thank you for forwarding this customer's concern. We do not know how this item was shipped to an invalid address, but we take full responsibility for making it right with the customer. We have issued a...

refund for shipping and sent the sweater to the correct address.
We apologize for the inconvenience to the customer by not informing her of this the first time she contacted us.
We have been in touch with the customer and consider this matter closed.
Sincerely,
The RealReal Customer Service

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:they sold me a fake bag that I clearly wrote about in my previous message and [redacted] the store in Manhattan confiscated the bag due to it being a REPLICA! Now as far as the other email addresses I no longer had access to them and was unable to restore the passwords. HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE! Sincerely,[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 9, 2015/10/16) */
Dear Revdex.com,
Thank you for forwarding this customer's concern. We do not know how this item was shipped to an invalid address, but we take full responsibility for making it right with the customer. We have issued a refund for...

shipping and sent the sweater to the correct address.
We apologize for the inconvenience to the customer by not informing her of this the first time she contacted us.
We have been in touch with the customer and consider this matter closed.
Sincerely,
The RealReal Customer Service

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2015/10/07) */
Dear Revdex.com,
Thank you forwarding the concerns of our consignor. We have spoken extensively with the consignor since this complaint was filed and believe this matter has been settled.
We strive to make our pricing...

policies as clear as possible. The representatives our consignors work with explain our pricing policy when they meet with potential consignors. Consignors must sign and accept our agreement prior to consigning with us. And the agreement is available online for the consignor to reference. That being said, in this consignor's case, there was still confusion about the process and the policy which resulted in the sale of items for which the consignor had a different expectation.
We apologize for the consignor's inconvenience and regret that we did not live up to their expectations, but assure you that The RealReal operates with the highest integrity and we genuinely seek to help consignors sell at the best prices possible.
Sincerely,
The RealReal
Consignor Relations

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2015/10/16) */
Dear Revdex.com,
Thank you for forwarding the concern of our customer.
We want to make sure that our customers make an informed purchase, which is why we take pictures of every single item that we take in, from multiple views....

We also have a standard measuring guide that we use and tools that help us get consistent measurements. It is possible that on occasion a mistake might be made, but that is rare. If a customer has an issue with an item, we will work with that customer to make it right.
In order to provide a great deal to customers, and a fair deal to our consignors, all final sale items are non-returnable. Our policy is very clear about this. If a customer has questions about the fit on a final sale item, then it is best not to purchase the item.
We have since been in contact with the customer and consider this matter closed.
Sincerely,
The RealReal Customer Service

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 9, 2015/12/18) */
12/18/15
Dear Revdex.com,
Thanks you for forwarding this concern.
The earrings were consigned with us in December 2014 and sold in February 2015. Our records show that the consignor did contact us on 2/27/15 to ask...

about the earrings and the price they sold at. We informed her at that time that the earrings had been featured in 14 different sales and because they had not sold, had been discounted by 25%. This is a normal part of the consignment process.
Our goal is to get the top dollar for the consignor, so we list it initially at the best price and then incrementally reduce and/or offer discounts until the item is sold. Most of our inventory sells within a few days, so an item that is two months old is usually discounted.
We have a consignor agreement that stipulates that as part of an effort to sell an item, we will offer discounts to customers or reduce the selling price. We make an effort to explain this to consignors, but sometimes that is not fully understood.
If it took the consignor almost 9 months to find a comparable item for sale at a higher price, then the price it sold for was pretty good. And just because an item is listed at a price does not mean someone will buy it at that price - so it is possible that the item she found would not sell for what it is listed at.
Sincerely,
The RealReal Consignor Relations
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 11, 2015/12/28) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
This company did not put these earrings on sale during the most valuable of selling times: prior to Valentine's Day: I checked every day. I believe the company has an obligation to do everything possible to sell product they accept from consignors at the highest possible price before discounting the item, which was not the case in my situation. To have an item for over 75 days and only place it on sale for 14 days out of 75 is not even a "reasonable" effort to try and sell them. No, it did not take my nine months to find the earrings on First Dibs: I went there to find the earrings to include them with my Revdex.com complaint and found them immediately & each listing had the exact same earrings at $4000.00 or above. I remain totally dissatisfied with the manner in which the Real Real handled this sale. I would accept nothing less than $1500.00 from the company.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 13, 2016/01/04) */
Good afternoon - as stated in our initial response, this item was featured in 14 different sales prior to discounting it. Most of our items sell within a few days and are only featured in 1-2 sales. The 14 featured sales started on 12/14/14 and continued every 3-4 days until 2/20/15 when it was discounted and finally sold. The earrings were available for purchase on the website for the entire time and could have been purchased at any time during that period - this is in addition to the 14 featured sales.
We have a vested interest to sell consignor's items at the highest possible price. After 14 featured sales, it is clear that the price was not acceptable to buyers until it was reduced by 25%.
We believe the price the item sold at was fair and reasonable and within market value.

Thank you,
The RealReal Consignor Relations
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 15, 2016/01/07) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
When this company indicates that most of their items "sell within a few days" they are not referring to fine jewelry items, which always take longer to sell than other accessories that are not as expensive or clothing and shoes. They definitely did not have these earrings for sale the entire week prior to Valentine's Dat, as I checked every single day; they are not being honest. They did not sell these earrings at the highest possible price, nor did they attempt to sell these items at the most opportune times when potential buyers of such items might be buying, no matter what they say. Of course they would sell at a ridiculously low price when their value was so much higher: every piece of fine jewelry on their site would. To discount an item to 25% of it's value is not fair to the seller, especially when they did not make a true attempt to sell the items at the highest possible price or at the best possible selling time for such items. This company is not being honest and rather than go back and forth again since they refuse to tell the truth I suggest we demand a settlement of $1000.00 for me to resolve the matter due to their unfair and dishonest selling practice. I am confident either an employee or friend of the company got these earrings. Or else The Real Real can find me another pair exactly like these and I shall return the $ they gave me for the sale price of mine as another possible resolution to the issue.

Dear Revdex.com,Thank you for forwarding this customer's concern. The RealReal has an extensive authentication process and we always work with customers if they have concerns about an item they've purchased.We offered to re-authenticate/refund her for the dress...

and issued an RMA on 1/27/16. The customer emailed us on 2/5/16 stating she turned the dress over to the FBI. The dress was never returned. Sincerely,The RealReal Customer Service

Although The Real Real claims that they work to ensure that 100% of the items they sell are authentic, I can assure you they are not. I have purchased 13 items since December and have returned 6 of them because they were counterfeit. Once the items were received, it was easy to do an internet search on how to determine authenticity. I am not an expert but I can assure you it was easy to determine that high end designer belts were made of plastic and not leather, same with a Ferregamo Purse. Items like Gucci belts have a 21 digit serial number, two of the belts had a 7 digit serial number.

Customer service was horrible. Although I was finally credited back for the original amount spent on 5 of the 6 items. (They would only give me an account credit on the 6th item). I was not credited for the original shipping charges of $11.95.

Let me be clear that not all of the items sold on this site are counterfeit, but they definitely do sell fake items. Unless you are willing to take this risk, buyer beware! Purchase your item somewhere else!

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2015/12/18) */
12/18/15
Dear Revdex.com,
Thank you for forwarding this customer's concern. We have an extensive authentication process that we stand by. This customer returned the shoes and we authenticated them again - they were...

indeed genuine. He disputed the charge with his credit card company prior to us receiving the returned shoes, so he was refunded through the dispute process, though we would have granted him a refund through the return process as well.
Sincerely,
The RealReal Customer Service

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 12, 2015/12/21) */
12/9/15
Dear Revdex.com,
Thank you for forwarding this customer's concern. The customer has been in contact with The RealReal since they contacted you, and we have resolved the issue with the customer.
We converted to a new...

return process with pre-paid labels and on rare occasion they did not work. Those issues have been resolved for all customers as of now, and we worked to help customers with issues as they came to our attention.
We are sorry for the inconvenience this caused our customer.
Sincerely,
The RealReal Customer Service

Returned a pair of shoes because they where described incorrectly. I sent them back with other items which I got a full refund for but the realreal is stating they know nothing about the shoes. Very poor customer service. They do not want to help or fix their mistake. If you return an item good luck with getting your money back. Unethical company. Its unfortunately that this had to happen where I was a good customer and I will not be buying again from them. Buyer beware.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 12, 2015/12/21) */
12/9/15
Dear Revdex.com,
Thank you for forwarding this customer's concern. The customer has been in contact with The RealReal since they contacted you, and we have resolved the issue with the customer.
We converted...

to a new return process with pre-paid labels and on rare occasion they did not work. Those issues have been resolved for all customers as of now, and we worked to help customers with issues as they came to our attention.
We are sorry for the inconvenience this caused our customer.
Sincerely,
The RealReal Customer Service

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/12/18) */
12/18/15
Dear Revdex.com,
Thank you for sharing the concerns of this customer. The bag in question was authenticated prior to being sold. The customer sent the bag back to us and it went through a second inspection and we have...

confirmed that the bag is in fact genuine.
Here is what our authentication expert had to say regarding the customer's specific concerns: "The leather is aged calfskin, the material typically used on Reissue Flap bags. It has a different feel than other Chanel leathers; it's more matte, more lightweight, and isn't glossy to the touch. She also mentioned a 'plastic' odor. No unusual scents detected but age and storage can contribute to variations in smell. The bijoux chain is quite intricate and difficult to counterfeit accurately, the quilting lines up perfectly on the back pocket, and the hologram serial number sticker is flawless."
Sincerely,
The RealReal Customer Service