Hello everybody! So, lately while I've been getting back into Lolita I've discovered that there's a whole different side of Lolita than what I originally knew. Sure, I might have every major sub-type and several minor ones memorized as well as descriptions of each, but I've never bought Brand. Heck, I've only just recently made my first purchase from Bodyline despite years of drooling over their cute items. So I'm learning that all the knowledge in the world about the Lolita style itself comes down to diddly squat when trying to figure out how to buy that dress you've had your eyes on from Closet Child. So here's what I've learned so far about actually buying and obtaining Lolita clothing.
Paypal: A Girl's Best Friend
The first thing I learned about when buying clothing online is how to pay for it. A lot of places such as Amazon and Vinted accept your credit or debit card, but when ordering Lolita clothing or buying second hand, Paypal is where it's at. Paypal allows you to transfer funds from your bank account to your Paypal account allowing you to buy items without any transaction fees. This takes 3-5 days (or more if there's a holiday) to acchieve though, so it's not the best option for buying something unexpected such as a desperate sale or an auction. Paypal also allows you to use your debit card like regular, but does charge a small fee for it. One of the nice things about Paypal is that should you not get your item you can always file a claim to get your money back. This only works if you use the 'business' option as oposed to the 'family' option when you're paying though, so be careful!
Budgeting
Budgeting makes it a lot harder to spend all your money on that Twinkle Mermaid auction that just popped up when you really should be paying rent or bills. While it takes self control, I've found that budgeting helps me keep my finances stable so that when I do obtain pieces I enjoy I don't have to turn around and sell them in order to pay utilities. You can do whatever you want for your budget, but I chose to set a weekly spending limit of $40 for myself. This makes it so that I can still buy cute stuff, but I have to wait a while before buying which also makes it easier to avoid shopper's regret as I'll have several weeks to think about a more expensive item before actually buying it. What's that? You just bought a $200 JSK from Angelic Pretty? No problem. Your budget hasn't been completely blown as long as you lower your spending money for the next few weeks to make up for it. In this example, I'd lower my spending limit by $20 for 10 weeks (or 8 if I didn't buy anything else that week) so that I'd still have a weekly spending allowance, but not have to worry as much about the impact of that JSK on my finances.
Second Hand
There's plenty of different places to look for second hand Lolita clothing. Lolita sales groups on Facebook and Lace Market. There's also eBay, Closet Child (in Japan and online), and EGL sales on LiveJournal. Prices vary depending on the item and its condition, but usually you can find Brand pieces for significantly less than originally priced. If you're good at removing stains and fixing small damages, you can get even cheaper items this way as many sellers will significantly decrease their prices if an item is damaged. I have yet to buy from any of these platforms, but I know most personal sellers take Paypay. I haven't figured out how to order from closet child yet, so I don't know if they would require a buying service or not.
EGL Forums, YouTube, Lolita Groups, Blogs, etc.
There are numerous resources for finding out how to buy inexpensive Lolita online. Most of what I know has been gleaned from various sources. If you can, I would recomend finding a friend who's either into Lolita and used to buying online, or just one that frequently orders from overseas or online. Thanks to the help of one of my friends I was able to figure out how Pay Pal works so that I would be able to buy clothes and accessories online without having to worry as much about the integrity of my bank account.
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