Ebay shopping tips for the Sexy Career Woman_

I found myself on the brink of turning forty when I became an expectant mother for the first time. Most of my girlfriends had had kids long ago, or were simply not planning on it. So the only words of wisdom that anyone seemed to offer me regarding fashion at this critical moment, were that maternity clothes were AWFUL. It took two pregnancies and a lot of shopping around for me to get the hang of maternity clothes. And in fact, it became one of my favorite obsessions and pass times. My husband is convinced that I went for a second child because I wanted to be able to buy more maternity clothes. He is half right!

The changes in you body are so magical (and scary) and fast that one day you wake up and the pants that seemed to help you postpone the inevitable announcement-to-the-world-until-you-are-ready no longer fit you. Many of my friends suggested that i wear my husbands clothes THE WORST SUGGESTION EVER. I did this for a couple of days in my first pregnancy and I thought I was going to die. I do not know what kind of clothes your husband might sport, but the jeans, and shirts that look so fabulous on him, simply looked horrific on me. So I decided that this method was going nowhere, and that I needed to find something halfway decent to wear to work.

To my surprise maternity clothes were not awful at all! But the good ones were very expensive. Hard to justify when you will be using them only for few months.

Although I had to shop around and dig through piles and piles of clothes at stores, when I found the right garment it made me feel wonderful. I found that everyday casual outfits were easy to come across and were relatively inexpensive at places like Target and Old Navy. The really tough ones were career clothes and dressier outfits. Not everyone has the time and the money to shop around for the right pieces, and that is why the growing Ebay selection of maternity clothes is so amazing. I did not discover this until very late in my second pregnancy so I paid full price at the store!

If you are reading this it means that you already know the first piece of advice I give my girlfriends: Buy your maternity clothes on Ebay! It is easier and cheaper.

My second rule:
Buy on Ebay the dressier pieces and the ones you want to bring to work, the rest is usually just as inexpensive if bought new at a store. Tank tops, jeans, kakis, etc. are easy to find, are really cheap and actually you need to try them on. If a maternity suit looks good on the rack, it usually looks good when you try it, jeans, in my experience are another story. The fabric, no matter how “flexible and stretchy” it is promised to be, is usually thick and uncomfortable. To find the right pair does require a fitting room. This was true before I got pregnant, and it certainly was true after I got pregnant. How many times in my twenties I would see a cute pair of jeans on someone, see it at the GAP and try it on, only to discover that it looked horrible on me or it simply did not fit. It is the same with Maternity jeans, and the savings of buying on line are just not worth the aggravation.

Third rule:
Career clothes and dressier outfits are so expensive in the store that is not worth to buy new. Unlike t-shirts, jeans and tank tops, Career Outfits and Dressier Clothes and even the Casual Clothes of the “going out variety” are not worn very frequently. Think about it, we carry our babies for only nine months, none of us start buying maternity clothes until we begin to show, so most of the Used Career and Dressier clothes for sale would have been worn very few times and in many cases NEVER AT ALL. I spent so much money in suits that I only used twice for that meeting with a prospective client, and likewise I spent so much money for an outfit to that one wedding or Christmas dinner, or the party that got cancelled. I wish I had bought them used, in good condition, for pennies on the dollar.  Be aware, however, of those item titles that claim “career outfits.” Most of them you can’t really wear to work (does anyone really wear capri pants to work?). Also, make sure that you get a variety of 'going out outfits'. Dressy is nice, but there are also many cute informal ‘going out’ outfits that would not necessarily qualify as ‘dressy’ which are worth the investment. A brand that is little known, and I like a lot because has garments that can be worn to work, but also mixed with others for going out, is OLIAN. It is a brand from Miami with unique designs that are extremely flattering. During my second pregnancy, my husband (of all people) discovered this label in a maternity boutique in Miami and brought home a couple of pieces. After that I was hooked! and I had him bring me new Olian designs every time work brought him to Miami. There is no Olian piece I wore that I was not complemented on, or that other expecting mothers asked me where they could find it. It is now catching on department stores and on Ebay, so you do not have to rely on someone that flys to Miami regularly any more.They are sexy, inventive and sooo flattering.

Fourth rule:
When buying on Ebay it is best to buy a Large Lot of used clothes for sale by the actual mom that wore them. Why? Several reasons:
1- You will get more value for your money. Do the math! are you paying under $15.00 or even $10.00 per item for Motherhood, Mimi Maternity and Gap? That is an incredible deal! You will not find that on a store, EVER, even on sale.
2- Someone has already done all the shopping for you. Buying a collection from an actual mom means that the lot usually has been given a lot of thought and the pieces mix and match nicely. It is like having a personal shopper!
3- If your weight or dress size pre-pregnancy matches the one of the seller it is highly likely that all the pieces will fit you at some point in the pregnancy.

Which takes me to the fifth rule:
DO NOT buy a Lot of a SINGLE SIZE. When I first got pregnant I believed the instructions on the maternity clothes at the GAP: if you were size 8 before you got pregnant, the you are a size M for maternity clothes. That lasted about a month or two. WHAT WAS I THINKING??? My body, as it would be expected, eventually went pass M into L and even XL at the GAP. On top of it, I discovered that other brands seemed to use different standards. For example Pea in the Pod Large is like a GAP Extra Large. And an Old Navy M tends to be on the Small side. I had been a size 8 all my life and never thought of the difference from one brand to another. 8 always seemed to fit just fine. So this newly found incongruence obsessed me for a while (was I loosing and gaining weight day to day?... It had to be me, it could not be that brands did not have their act together...) By the way, this lack of parity in sizes across brands turns out to be a great warm up for what you will encounter when you enter the world of baby clothes. In fact, I would argue that the discrepancies are even more extreme in that arena. My first daughter who just turned one still wears clothes that are labeled 3-6 months. And everyone very soberly will tell you that age is not the actual guide, but weight. She is over 20 lb and most of her clothes say 12-18 lb. Go figure! But that will be the subject of another Ebay guide.

So, the best strategy, again, is to buy a lot worn by a mom who was your size before she got pregnant. The lot, in fact, should include a RANGE OF SIZES in that way you know that you will be covered for all trimesters. Most importantly, there should be pieces in the Lot designed to expand and adapt as your body changes. Look for that in the description of each garment. Elements like: tie backs for blouses and dresses, adjustable elastic bands for pants, and flexible elastic materials are a MUST. Make sure that at least half the descriptions include these features, or that the seller specifically mentions that the garment fit well in more than one trimester.

Six Rule:
Know what you are getting. Before you bid, make sure that every item in the lot is clearly photographed and described. There are so many Lots up for auction, why gamble with the ones that say something like “I have many clothes. I can not photograph all. I promise you will be satisfied” or worse, "The pictures are a SAMPLE of what you MIGHT get. Many Motherhood and Mimi items included in this lot."? I am shocked that the more vague the description the higher the lot seems to go for. Stay away from vague promises, look at each item carefully and decide if that group is for you. If someone did not take the time to photograph everything and describe it thoroughly, go to the next seller. Why should you spend your money on them?

Seventh Rule:

Do not disregard a whole Lot because there are some pieces that are not your taste. Not every piece in the Lot will be to your liking. It is impossible that you will equally like all 25 or 45 pieces, however if you like the majority of the garments, you will still come ahead! Again do the math. If there are 25 pieces for sale and you like 20 figure out how much you would want to spend on each and use that as you maximum bid. Also, you will be surprised what you end up liking. In one of those trips to Miami, my husband got me a pink dress with an elaborate pattern in addition to the cute black dress I had asked him for. Pink! for me? How could he get me so wrong???? At his insistence, I wore it for his birthday at home (just the two of us) and to my surprise it was so flattering that it became one of my favorite outfits! I used it for night outs with my husband or simply when I needed to feel sexy. I got so many compliments with that outfit that I can honestly say I will miss this dress. So, those items in a Lot that you think you would never wear, might turn out to surprise you when you try them on!

Eigth Rule:

Don’t let the condition of one or two items scare you away from the whole Lot! Moreover, the fact that the seller identified the flaws in the Lot is a good sign! It means that the seller is honest and that the condition described for all the other clothes will most likely be accurate. Again, do the math! If you are really concerned about those pieces, eliminate them from the equation, calculate your maximum bid based on the rest and you will still come ahead.

Ninth Rule:
If bidding on a large Lot is too much for you, then you should bid on sets. For example, a business suit, or a pair of dresses or, a pant already coordinated with a top, even if they are of different brands (or especially if they are of different brands). This will save you on the shipping, save you the time of finding a matching piece and ultimately give you a better value. If you look up the same items on Ebay separately, you will find that they usually go for more individually, in particular after you add shipping.

Tenth rule:
Look for extraordinary clothes that will give you pleasure. For work, choose career outfits that are beautiful and elegant and that do not seem to apologize on your behalf for being an expectant mother. For the rest of your wardrobe choose outfits that are unique, fun and celebrate your body! You are only pregnant a few times and it does not last that long. The good news is that there are a lot of brands now that have these qualities. They tend to be expensive, but Ebay offers us the possibility to acquire them at a fraction of the cost.

Enjoy your pregnancy, it goes by fast and you will miss it.

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