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HOW TO BUY A WEDDING DRESS ONLINE: THE ESSENTIAL SAFETY CHECKLIST THAT EVERY AUSTRALIAN BRIDE SHOULD READ
BY HILARY THACKER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, WEDDING DRESS EXPRESS
DATE PUBLISHED: 13 JULY 2010
In an era when many brides are actually finding their husbands online, more and more brides are switching their computers on to shop for their wedding dresses too. Why not? Most of us now do all our banking online, pay our bills, buy books, computers, clothes and millions of other goods online every day. We do it online because it's convenient and most items can be bought cheaper on the internet than in the stores. Most brides either work full-time or are stay-at-home mothers caring for young children, so the internet is a great way to save time and money when it comes to buying a wedding dress.
So, if you're a bride who is shopping for a wedding dress on the internet, you'll be faced with dozens of online wedding dress retailers offering all sorts of really cheap wedding dresses:
How do you know which one you can trust with the most important dress you'll ever own?
Here are the Top 10 Safety Tips to follow when buying your wedding dress online:
1. ALWAYS deal only with Australian businesses. Australian consumer protection laws do not apply in overseas countries. So, if you spend your hard earned cash with an overseas website, and the dress doesn't show up, or, doesn't look anything like the one that you ordered, or, the dress is really bad quality - there is very little you can do to get your money back. All Australian retailers, whether online or not, must abide by the Trade Practices Act. The Act sets out the responsibilities of the retailer and the rights of the consumer. If there is a dispute over a purchase, you can seek assistance from the Department of Fair Trading in your state to help resolve your problem.
2. This one might sound really obvious, but ALWAYS make sure that the business you're dealing with has a landline phone number with a real person on the other end of the phone. Steer clear of internet businesses that just have an answering service, or just a mobile phone number, or just an email address via a public email hosting service eg. Hotmail or Gmail. If they don't have a manned landline phone number that you can call during business hours, CLICK OUT.
3. ALWAYS ensure that the business has a valid ABN (Australian Business Number) and an ACN (Australian Company Number). You can check the ABN on www.abr.business.gov.au, and the ACN on www.asic.gov.au.
4. NEVER deal with a business that is using pirated photographs of top USA designer wedding dresses. Designer wedding dresses that sell for $1,500+ in the shops are targeted by unscrupulous counterfeiters who make poor quality, cheap replicas. These businesses are "Two Bob Knock Off Shops", based overseas and are sweatshops. The photos you see are being used illegally, that is, without the copyright owner's permission. The cheap wedding dresses, if they turn up, rarely look anything like the dresses in the photos anyway. You cannot buy a genuine designer brand wedding dress online eg. Maggie Sottero, Alfred Angelo and Mori Lee are only distributed through their networks of authorised dealers, and are never sold online, unless they are sold privately second-hand.
5. NEVER buy your wedding dress from that well-known online auction site. The vast majority of the photographs are pirated and most of the vendors are based overseas. The lead time to get the wedding dress made is usually outside the consumer protection period offered by the payment gateway, so by the time you realise your dress isn't going to show up, it's too late to do anything about it. Do you really think you can buy your wedding dress for $9.99 at an online auction? Come on!
6. ALWAYS read the Purchase Terms & Conditions on the website before you make a purchase. If their purchase terms & conditions are not on the website, CLICK OUT. If you do find them, and they only go for a few lines and start with something like "If you're not happy, we're not happy", CLICK OUT. That's not how credible businesses conduct business. You should only deal with businesses that clearly state their purchase terms and conditions on the website.
7. ALWAYS choose a website that offers a fabric swatch service. This way, you're not just relying on your computer monitor to show you the colour, you can actually order the swatch and see how the real colour looks in the daylight for yourself.
8. ALWAYS avoid websites that have started off as a bridal shop and then decided to go on the internet. If they can't run their shop profitably, they won't be able to run their internet shop profitably either.
9. ALWAYS choose a website that can show you plenty of pictures of their real brides and provide you with customer testimonials.
10. ALWAYS go shopping at the bridal shops and try on plenty of different styles. This way you'll have a good idea of what will look good on you, and then you can shop online for a similar style.
Buying your wedding dress should be one of the happiest experiences of your life. Safeguard your happy memories and your hard earned cash. By following the steps in this safety checklist, you'll be able to shop online for your wedding dress with confidence.
Happy shopping.
Wedding Dress Express is 100% Australian owned, managed and hosted.
This article is protected under copyright law. It may not be reproduced in part or in whole without express permission.
Copyright. Wedding Dress Express Pty Ltd 2010.
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