I've been wanting to write this because it is really satisfying.
The first part of this post is not really necessary to read (basically I'm only talking about how I liked a dress but couldn't get it), so you can skip to March 24th 2017 to understand why I won't buy again from ZenMarket.
December 2016
I see this Liz Lisa dress (brand new) listed for auction on eBay.
And I really liked it.
I naively thought I could sniper bid on this dress at a decent price (the original price was $20 US lol).
Anyway, I didn't get the dress cuz in the last minutes, everyone started outbidding each other. Like no one was even trying to wait until the end to place their bid... So I just watched the price going higher and higher with a wtf face until the time was up. Then I was quite sad and disappointed I had been thinking about this dress for a week straight and didn't get it in the end.
(The winner got the dress for $66 US + $9 shipping. This is about 100$ CAD. I mean, I didn't have the money at the time to pay 100$ for a dress, especially since I wasn't sure yet if I really wanted it.)
Then a couple of days later, I saw someone on IG with the same dress (I believe the color was pink) and she said she had bought it for $20 on Kei Market... I couldn't help but feel a little jealous. It wasn't the kind of "I want to burn this girl's dress" type of jealousy. I was more like "What the heck she's so lucky".
I was also seeing the same dress on IG, but it was only sold by Thailand stores. 😢
March 24th 2017
I had started to surf on Fril for clothes a couple of days ago (after having purchased my Liz Lisa boots, I had realized how easy it was to buy from Japanese sites with a proxy service).
And since my first order with ZenMarket had gone smoothly, I was planning to use the website again to buy from Fril.
While skimming the Liz Lisa items, I saw this:
It's the dress I wanted in December! (and still want)
Condition is almost new (according to Google translation, let's hope it's accurate)
I immediately transferred money to my ZenMarket account and sent them the link to purchase the dress. I was so nervous someone would buy it before ZenMarket.
Several hours later, they sent me back this message:
My day was really shitty after receiving this message.
I was kind of angry with them, thinking they had not been fast enough to buy the dress (my Liz Lisa boots had been purchased in like not even one hour after winning the auction, while for this dress it took them a working day to get back to me about it.)
Then I checked on the dress' page and didn't see any Sold out sign. I thought maybe the owner was keeping it for someone else, or it was just Fril being slow updating its items' status. I think I continued stalking the dress for 2 days (with no Sold out sign still) then stopped because ZenMarket had told me the dress was sold out, so I didn't see the use of looking at it again and again and feeling sad.
April 5th 2017
Almost two weeks later, I'm still looking for clothes on Fril when I see
The same dress still for sale.
Wasn't this dress supposed to be SOLD OUT?!
I sent a message to ZenMarket to see if they could provide me an explanation as to why they had told me the dress I had tried to buy two weeks ago was sold out when two weeks later, it was apparent the dress was still for sale. This was their answer:
Wait
You told me two weeks ago that you couldn't purchase the dress because it was sold out, but now you're telling me you couldn't purchase it because Fril has refused to deal with proxy services?
After digesting this answer, I realized there must be proxy services buying from Fril (that are not labeling themselves as proxy services since Fril supposedly refuses to work with them.)
So I did some research on the internet and emailed 4-5 proxy services in Japan, asking them if they were able to buy the dress from Fril (I had provided them with the item link).
I got a reply from three of them, who told me they could buy the dress. And it's clearly obvious on their website that they are proxy services, such as Japan Goods Finder.
After comparing different estimates, I chose to go with From Japan. I have no idea whether it's considered a good proxy service or not, but I thought their price was alright and they had replied me quite fast. I haven't mentioned it but from the moment I had read ZenMarket's message and had realized the dress was actually not sold out, I wanted to buy it the fastest possible so that no one would buy it before me. I couldn't believe the dress was still for sale all that time between March 24th and April 4th and that someone could have bought it in that period. So I really didn't have time to search for the best price among all proxy services and then ask the cheapest ones if they were able to buy from Fril and wait for their answer.
Then, after the usual money transfer and purchase procedures, From Japan notified me they had bought the dress. Two minutes later I saw the Sold out sign on the dress:
I do take part of the blame because I naively thought I could order from almost any shop in Japan with ZenMarket (without asking them first), and since Fril seems a quite popular Japanese secondhand shopping site, I thought there was no problem ordering clothes from there. I should have asked ZenMarket first.
And does Fril really does not deal with proxy services?
Well yes. LOL.
I admit was wrong when I foolishly thought I could buy from any shop in Japan with a proxy service. Japonica Market states it on their homepage:
I feel stupid since everyone must have known it except me.
Following this, I asked From Japan if they were able buy from Mercari and Mbok. Turns out From Japan can buy from Mbok and Fril, but not from Mercari. The reason they gave me was because Mercari refused to deal with them. Since I know other proxy services deal with Mercari, I suppose these services "hide" their activties like From Japan does when buying from Fril.
This is kind of disappointing since I really like Mercari, but I like From Japan's service fees.
BUT what frustrates me is that ZenMarket lied to me (a customer) and I (stupidly) trusted them.
They told me the reason they couldn't buy the dress was because it was sold out. Jesus.They should have told me right away they couldn't buy the dress because their proxy service just can't. I almost "lost" this dress because ZenMarket preferred to lie to me (so that I wouldn't get the item via one of their competitors) instead of telling me the truth.
Maybe any shopping service would have done that since I understand they all want to keep their customers loyal.
Will I use ZenMarket again?
No, because they can't buy from Fril and I really like that website along with Mercari. But also because they lied to me (and I happened to discover it which is kind of frustrating and doesn't make me want to use their proxy service again). \(◕ᴗ◕)/
Happy Easter!
