The RealReal reviews and complaints

The RealReal is a website that claims to offer up to 85% commission and has a team of knowledgeable and responsive consultants. However, my experience with them was not as great as I had hoped. While they do accept a wide range of items for consignment, including handbags and shoes, they do not offer the high commission rates they promise for many of these categories. Instead, you may only make about 30% commission on these items.

To make matters worse, The RealReal may include your items in sales at greatly reduced prices without your approval. I was not informed of this until after my items had already been listed and sold within hours. It was my responsibility to monitor the site to see when they were listed and what they were listed for. This lack of transparency was frustrating and disappointing.

My experience with The RealReal went like this: I sent photos of my items to a team member who estimated their value. For two bags that sold immediately, she estimated they would be listed at around $200 each. However, when they were listed, they were priced at $95 each and included in a 20% off sale. I was shocked to learn that these bags fell into a "special category" where consigners only make 30% on the sale. In the end, The RealReal took what they estimated to be $400 worth of merchandise and gave me only $46.

When I contacted customer service to ask for my remaining items back, I was met with condescension and policy documents I had never received before. It was difficult to get my items back, and the customer service rep's only solution was to try to up the price of my remaining items on their site.

Overall, I found The RealReal's lack of transparency and low commission rates to be problematic. Their customer service was dismissive and lacked problem-solving skills. I would not recommend this company to anyone looking to consign their items. There are many other consignment companies out there that deserve your business.

The RealReal is a pretty good website to buy items from. The quality of the items I've received have been pretty good and accurate to the description. They also list exact measurements in the description which have been accurate and helpful, since the marked sizes are often incorrect and inconsistent. However, there are some cons to this website that I have experienced.

Firstly, their refund policy is shady. They send orders with a slip of paper that clearly says returns must be made within 21 days, however if you look closely at the fine print it's actually 14 days that they give you to process a return, and then they need to physically receive it within 21. This would normally be fine, but they make it hard to understand the policy. It's extra annoying because they charge SO MUCH for shipping, both delivery and returns, so you'd think they'd be a little flexible on their return policy.

Secondly, the customer service is slow and inefficient. I missed the 14 day window by a day because I was waiting for my full order to arrive, and again thought I had the 21 days they bolded on the packing receipt. I contacted customer service through text hoping that I could have some flexibility since my full order hadn't arrived in time and this was the first issue. The chat took almost two hours. The customer service rep kept saying no, too bad, you missed the timeframe, and when I pushed back they said they would "check one more thing", then came back 10 mins later to ask me the SAME questions they already asked me, then said no again. They finally said "let me ask a manager" and came back to offer me store credit. Better than nothing, but it's a little crazy to me that even with the circumstances of not receiving my full order in the estimated window they couldn't make an exception.

Thirdly, sizing is a mess and it's impossible to truly filter by size. I was actually just on the app and saved a sweater that was marked as a Medium, and then in the description it says "designer size 2". In no world is a size 2 a medium, and you have to read the full description to catch those details. This is a pretty consistent occurrence: In my last order I ordered two pairs of pants, one was marked as Small and was actually a larger waist size than the pants marked Medium. A lot of what I've returned was due to poor sizing, you have to pay attention to the details and go through a lot of mis-sized items to find what might actually work. The sizing in the descriptions are accurate, but it makes it really time consuming to not be able to filter properly.

Lastly, some details are missed in the photos. They use the same mannequins in the same position, which can sometimes make it difficult to see details that are also not in the description. For example, a skirt I ordered ended up having a high slit in the back, which was impossible to see in the photo and not mentioned in the description, and if I had known about it I wouldn't have ordered it.

Overall, now that I understand the sizing issues I can pay more attention to what I purchase and use up the $300+ I wasted in not being able to return something within a reasonable time frame. The high cost of shipping and inflexible/unclear return policy makes this service not worth it. With inconsistent sizing and photos that make it hard to see details, I've ended up paying more money in shipping than on anything to put in my closet.

I've been shopping on The RealReal for a few years now and I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, you can find some amazing deals on luxury items that are new with tags. But on the other hand, there are some serious issues with customer service and quality control.

One of my biggest complaints is that items can sit in "processing" mode for days or even weeks, only to be cancelled or marked as "missing." This is frustrating, especially when you're dealing with expensive items. And when you do receive your purchases, they're often not as described. I've received items that were listed as "pristine" but had obvious wear and discoloration, and items that were listed as "new with tags" but were actually in "good condition." It's clear that quality control is a major issue.

But the worst experience I had was with a Roland Mouret dress that was purchased for me as a Christmas present. It was listed as "Very Good" condition and looked flawless in the pictures, but when I opened it on Christmas Eve, the back zipper was completely broken. Customer service was incredibly rude and initially wanted me to pay for the return shipping fee, even though I had multiple photos proving the dress's condition. It was only after I requested a manager multiple times that they waived the fee. This kind of poor service and quality is unacceptable, especially when you're dealing with luxury items.

Despite all of this, I still love the idea of The RealReal. As someone who hates returning items, I appreciate the opportunity to buy luxury items at a discount. But the execution and service is underwhelming. And when I looked into offloading some of my unreturned items to The RealReal, I was shocked to see that they aren't responsible if items go missing. It's hard to trust a company that doesn't take responsibility for the items they're warehousing.

Overall, I have mixed feelings about The RealReal. While I've found some amazing deals on the site, the poor customer service and quality control issues make it hard to fully recommend. If you do decide to shop on The RealReal, just be prepared for some disappointment and frustration along the way.

I've been shopping on TheRealReal website since 2011 and I used to be a huge fan of the site. However, over the past year or two, I've noticed that the prices keep going up, up, up and the customer service keeps going down, down, down. It's not as easy to find amazing deals on hard-to-find designer clothing as it used to be, but if you check every day, twice a day, you might still find a few deals that sneak in the pricier items every so often. Shipping is also more expensive now and the first look/premium memberships just went up to $10 and $30 a month!

Over the years, I've been burned four times by fakes. The first fake I bought was a Hermes Clic Clac bracelet. I had it authenticated by a reputable third-party authentication service (Authenticate4u.com), and was told it was a fake. TRR was great about taking it back (this was in 2012). The second fake I bought was a pair of Ray Bans that were SO fake they looked like they were bought on Canal St. I knew the moment I took them out of the box they were fake. I sent detailed side-by-side DETAILED photos of the pair they sold me and an authentic pair I owned including font and misplaced or non-existent RB markings. The sunglasses were so bad, they couldn't dispute the pair I had received from them were terrible fakes, so they took them back.

The third time, I bought a Celine Boogie bag, and because of my previous bad experiences with accessories on TRR, I had it authenticated the moment I received it. I had it reviewed by three different authentication services, (The Purse Forums Celine thread, AuthenticateFirst (not the best, most reliable service, but the only one available at the time) and finally, Authenticate4u.com (a VERY reputable service, who was not processing authentications when I initially asked). All THREE came back to me and said the bag was a fake. I sent all three authentications to TRR, and this time they were NOT so helpful, despite my being a VERY loyal customer with THREE services stating FAKE. They denied, denied, denied. Eventually they took the bag back, but I had to really push. I reported them to the Better Business Bureau, as I did not think it was okay that they be relisting a bag that THREE separate authenticators deemed fake. They just didn't get it that it's not okay to sell items that are reported fakes, regardless of what their in-house authentication expert determined. If he didn't catch the cheapest pair of Ray Ban fakes in the world, how can I trust that he would catch a fake Celine?

After these experiences, I stopped buying any accessories from TRR. I had never had an issue with the clothing I had bought from TRR, until recently. I recently bought a fake Isabel Marant Habra dress. It was also a clear fake, as I had owned an authentic version of the same dress a year or so before. I sent them detailed photos as to why the label was off, and why the stitching was off, as well as comparison photos side by side. They took it back as a regular return, and I just didn't have the energy to fight them again on another fake.

Bottom line with TRR, just be very wary of ALL your purchases. Bags, jewelry, and any accessories, make sure to have them authenticated by a reputable third-party authentication service because you CANNOT trust TRR on their word. I still shop at TRR, as they do have some great finds from time to time, but I would NEVER buy another bag or accessory from them, and I inspect all clothing very carefully now too. Good luck, and happy shopping!

When you're selling designer items, you want to make sure they're being accurately described and priced. Unfortunately, that hasn't been my experience with The RealReal. I've had multiple items incorrectly described by their copy editors, leading to lower prices and frustration on my end.

One example is a vintage Chanel silk shirt that was described as a t-shirt. It took multiple emails and a description dispute for them to finally change it, but by then the price had already dropped significantly. And it's not just one item - more than half of the items I sent in were incorrectly described.

I've also had a major issue with them damaging a brand new leather jacket and listing it as black instead of blue, leading to a much lower sale price. And now, they've described my Ted Baker dress coat as a trench coat, even though it clearly doesn't have the double-breasted buttons or belt that a trench coat should have.

I've tried to correct their mistakes, but it's been a frustrating process. And even when they do make changes, it's not always accurate - my coat is still listed as "printed" instead of woven. And because it took so long for them to correct it, the price dropped significantly.

I can't be the only seller who's had to micro-manage their descriptions on The RealReal. It's disappointing that a company that claims to be the gold standard in consignment retail can't even accurately describe the items they're selling. I hope that with enough attention brought to this issue, they'll start to take more accountability and make some changes.

So, I've been using The RealReal for a while now and I've had some pretty mixed experiences. I've done in-store consignments before and had no issues, but when I tried to set up an at-home pick up for another batch of items, things went downhill.

I got the items picked up on January 21, 2021 and received a receipt for the pick up shortly after. However, the two week window for processing passed and I still hadn't received any update about my items. I contacted my luxury manager (LM) for an update and was told that it should be in my account shortly. Another week passed and still nothing. When I asked my LM why I wasn't receiving updates, I was told the same thing and to reach out to consignor relations. I did so, but was told to contact my LM again. It felt like I was being pushed to the side and no one was taking the time to figure out what was happening.

I decided to initiate a chat with customer service on the home page and after describing the situation, they uncovered that a NEW account had been created and attached to an email that I did not authorize for use. And that account in fact had the at home pick up consignment. I did not have access into that account since I did not create it and 3 weeks in, I still did not have an update on my items.

After reaching out to my LM about this second account, she stated that it was an IT problem and she couldn't fix it. She mentioned that she would forward this to her manager to get it resolved asap. After waiting a week, I got no response and I sent a follow up. After sending this follow up, the response I got was as if my LM had no clue what I was talking about. I was extremely frustrated while still being very professional about the situation. I received an automated email from customer service a few days later that it's all listed in my account. It was basically just forwarded to someone new who did not understand the situation.

I decided to bypass everyone I spoke to previously and called consignor relations and started from square one. The person I spoke to completely understood the problem and immediately knew what the problem was and how to fix it. She stayed on the phone with me while she fixed the problem. I was informed that the two accounts could be merged into my primary account and the LM had the access to do so this entire time. Which was a 5 minute procedure.

My question is why did my luxury manager pawn me off and go on this insane run around while she had the ability to fix it on the spot. The problem was resolved by the helpful person I spoke to on the phone which only took about 20 minutes. She even mentioned that it shouldn't have taken this long, it was an easy fix that takes less than 5 minutes.

One problem fixed, the next one had to do with the items in that consignment batch that I was not able to monitor. I opened the consignment through My Sales, and saw that 90% of the items sold. I saw the pricing and I was lost for words. My brand new Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci items were extremely undervalued. They were listed, discounted and sold and by the time it reached me with everything factored in, it was an infuriating amount. If I were able to monitor the process of my items and see their valuation, I would simply request them back.

After dealing with the first issue that took over a month to figure out that it could have been resolved in a matter of minutes, I absolutely do not want to submit a price adjustment which will probably take another 30 days.

The amount of disgust for the treatment I received outweighs any deal that is advertised and I will no longer continue to conduct business nor support The Real Real going forward.

Luxury Manager - Katie Buckner

If you're looking to sell your items quickly and don't mind low prices, then The RealReal might be the place for you. They always send commission checks after sales, which is a plus. However, they do take in brand new items and allow buyers to apply further discounts to already low prices. They start with a low commission, and you have to sell about $10,000 a year to reach a higher structure, which resets every year. They don't warn you when you're close to being moved back down a tier commission-wise. They typically take 50-40%, which is higher than Ebay and 1st Dibs, which take 20%.

Their pricing can be arbitrary, and they tend to price items lower than their actual value. For example, a limited edition Vuitton bag selling online for $2500-$3000 was sold for $600, earning only $300. A used Hermes cuff with tags selling for $1300 was sold for $700, earning only $400. A purse purchased from them for $2000 and sent back unused with tags was priced at $800. Before sending your items to them, it might be worth trying Facebook Marketplace, which is free, has no commission, and allows you to set 20 descriptor tags.

Their customer service can be difficult to deal with. Phone hold times can be long, and email responses can be unhelpful. They tend to drop the ball, and you might fall through the cracks unless you stay on top of them. Recently, they sent back 5 carat diamond earrings due to not being a famous maker, but they sent some other customers cheap silver earrings instead. It has been almost a month, and they still have not found the diamond earrings, nor have they reached out proactively. It might be worth taking a photo and handing them a printed list of everything you are sending to avoid any confusion.

Their jewelry can be a great deal, or not a deal at all. Their pricing can be inconsistent, and some pieces are priced full retail or even above. Some pieces by famous makers can be a good buy, though. They might partner with overstock or wholesalers. Beware of their "valuations," as a couple of times, items were marked as one thing but were clearly plated, not solid, and so on.

If they were more consistent in their pricing and customer service and showed more respect to their consigners, they would be a much better company. Vestiarie Collective is a better option than TRR. Although Vestiarie is based in Europe and may take a long time to arrive, their authentication is far better. TRR seems like they are still learning, especially when it comes to authenticating Hermes. Vestiaire is rigorous in pricing, and they even ask sellers to lower prices due to minor spots. Many individual sellers on Tradesy and Poshmark set their prices too high, but Vestiaire and Fashionphile, which just partnered with Neiman's, are much better. Vestiaire has plenty of high-end European merchandise that well-traveled people will know about, but TRR has little of, such as Chantecler jewelry, sold in Capri Italy, or Herno coats, an upscale Italian maker little known in the US except sold at Gorsuch in Aspen. They also have more other upscale jewelers like Marco Bicego, etc.

Overall, TRR feels like a gamble every time you consign or buy. If you're looking for lower-end items, ThredUp is a great place to go. They consolidate shipping, which is more convenient than paying shipping to every Ebay/Posh store. ThredUp is a fantastic, easy-to-deal-with, eco-friendly company.