A realistic guide on how to shop for heritage pieces online

 Online shopping is everyone’s guilty pleasure. Perks like endless variety, competitive prices, convenience of purchasing from home and quick comparison add to the favoritism towards online shopping.

However, just like anything else in this world, online shopping too has its own bane. Prepaid scams, no refunds, getting catfished with fake images, poor quality, lost parcels, and delayed shipping are few of its many disadvantages. This doesn’t mean you must stop shopping online. This only means, you must be cautious!

Here is an in-depth guide on how to shop for heritage or expensive ethnic wear online without having regrets later!

• Smell if something is fishy - If the prices of ajrakh dresses online seem too good to be true on a website, chances are it is a scam. This is because art forms like ajrakh, kalamkari, Kanchipuram etc. are labor-intensive and thus naturally expensive.
• Research well on the brand – Now let’s say you find stunning kalamkari anarkali suits online on a website at justified prices. However, the brand doesn’t offer COD or has no contact details. Treat this as a big red flag, do yourself a favor and do not order! No matter how tempting it gets – always check a brand’s social media handles, reviews and definitely contact details. If you are ordering for the first time, opt for COD to avoid any chances of getting duped.
• Exchange, return and refund policy – This is one of the most neglected aspects of online shopping. What is you get palazzo pants online and they don’t fit you? Or worse, you receive a defective piece? Does the brand offer exchange or return? If return, does the brand offer refund into bank account or a credit note? How long will it take for this entire process to complete? After all, online shopping should be anything be inconvenient, right? For customer’s ease, a good brand’s exchange, return and refund policy should be flexible.
• Authenticity is everything – No matter how expensive or affordable your heritage piece it, it would have no value if its not authentic. For instance, you brought the prettiest hand block printed kurtis and paid a fortune for them. However, later you realize that these are machine printed and not authentically hand block printed by artisans of Rajasthan. Now you will have to go through the entire hassle of returns. Instead, do your research and ensure that you always get the value for money paid. Especially in the case of heritage apparels where authenticity is everything, we recommend putting sometime into understanding what the brand does, from where and whom they create their masterpieces, etc.

That said, online shopping might seem intimidating at first. But once you get a hang of it, it’s pretty rewarding and incredibly convenient. Have you ever shopped online? If yes, from big marketplaces like Amazon, Myntra or from homegrown heritage labels like Vishnu? Let us know in the comments about your journey with them and which one was better!

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