Personally, I feel that the opinion given on ebay sellers for wigs is not entirely accurate. While yes, some ebay sellers will not offer quality products and some certainly are scams, the same holds true for websites. One should ALWAYS exhibit caution when purchasing anything online, regardless of the type of site they’re purchasing from.
I have purchased numerous wigs from ebay that have been absolutely WONDERFUL. My Alois wig was under $20, including shipping. It’s the perfect color, it’s thick, not shiny at all, has more than enough hair, and not a single track shows. It’s now over a year old and still as beautiful as ever. I’ve also purchased a gorgeous, 120 centimeter long, heat resistant wig for about $40, something that could have EASILY run into the $60-70 range or higher elsewhere. There was absolutely no point in my spending anymore on either of them.
Only a couple of the wigs I have purchased from ebay:
My Grell wig: long, full, not too shiny, easily styled, doesn’t show tracks. Only $20, shipping included.
Alois: Full, does not show tracks or my dark hair underneath, easily styled, natural shine and color, over two years old and still beautiful. Only $16, shipping included.
Short blue wig: full, multi-tone, does not show tracks, over 4 years old and still like new. Only $25, shipping included.
Narcissa: Heat resistant, extremely long, full, does not show tracks or my dark hair, easily workable. Only $40, shipping included.
I understand the concern, but it is not always necessary. Quality and accuracy are the two things that I take great pride in trying to achieve, if it was not worth my time or money then I would not even bother with ebay. And I do not feel that buying a wig from ebay will most likely result in a “sub par” cosplay.
As I said above, one should always exhibit caution when purchasing anything online. But clearly this does not mean that you should completely discard all online sources, ebay included.
The key to buying a wig from ebay is following a few simple guidelines to ensure you’re buying a legitimate wig exactly the way you want it. Such as:
1. Avoid bidding.
Avoid sellers that require bidding on items. If a seller allows all customers to bid on a product worth $30, there is almost no way they will be able to break even if each customer is looking for a cheap price. Therefore, they will not offer any product worth more than what they THINK they can make for them, resulting in poor quality wigs.
2. Avoid sellers that do not specialize in either wigs or cosplay goods.
When a seller does not specialize in a specific range of products, or has what would be considered a “wide range” of products”, they are not entirely invested in any specific one. This means that not only do they not put in the required time to any specific type of product, they often don’t know, nor care, about what a quality wig really is.
3. Try to only buy Kanekalon or heat-resistant fiber wigs.
Highly important. One of the primary components to a good wig is quality fibers. From my experience, the best fibers in wigs are Kanekalon and heat-resistant fibers.
4. Examine the description given.
Typically the better the description, the better the wig. I don’t mean a long, beautifully crafted paragraph about how lovely this wig will look on you and how useful it is. XD But, look for a list of features that the wig has. Is the color adequately described? Does it list style, length, type of fibers, pre-styled, skin top, etc.?
5. Thoroughly examine all images.
Look at all images provided by the seller. If a seller only offers one picture and/or the wig is only seen on a person, more often than not, you cannot trust the seller. If there are watermarks on the images, do they match the name of the seller’s store? Look for multiple images of the wig on a wig head or mannequin, including a front, back and side view of the wig. Are all of the images of a pre-styled wig? Or of someone in cosplay? Some sellers will obviously include one or two of these images to implant the idea in your mind, however if they do not include other images of usually an unstyled wig they are not to be trusted.
6. Examine a seller’s ratings.
Most actual reviews given are not helpful and can be very vague. What you really need to look at is the rating numbers from feedback. Check the number of “neutral” and “negative” responses given over the past month, six months and year. A seller would never fake negative or even neutral reviews, and if they have a large number of them avoid that seller.
7. Check seller’s policies.
If a seller does not list when they process and ship your item, do not buy from them. A lot of sellers will clearly list the practices and policies within the item’s description or on their store page. See if they accept returns, or when they plan to ship your items. If they list over a week ((really more than 3 days)) to simply ship your order, I would not suggest buying from them.
8. And of course, know what to look for and trust your instincts.
If you know what kind of wig you need/want, don’t settle at just one search. If you happen to have a larger than average head, look for wigs with the size listed, or wigs with adjustable straps. If you’re looking at a wig and something about it just does not look right, don’t buy it.
