Hi, my name is Kirsten and I have been involved with the sale of fine, designer and luxury brand fashion for 20 years, since 2001. I got my start on eBay and have offered my garments for purchase on every e-commerce and community based site in the United States and several European based sites as well.
I will be using every bit of my experience to help unite you with high and luxury brands while providing the best possible shopping experience for my customers. Every item offered is guaranteed 100% genuine and authentic.
I am also an active participant of illegal and counterfeit take downs by law enforcement and VERO rights holders with 15 years experience of anti counterfeit advocacy.
It’s been a while since I listed an estate or thrift find for sale on an e-commerce site. I don’t know why but I recently got the bug again. I guess it’s because when I’m within 10 miles of a grab, I can’t pass it by. I have to stop. It’s like a playground for me. There’s just so much to explore in other peoples lives and I find it fascinating. The one thing that always remains consistent is that we are all basically the same, we only view situations through a different set of eyes.
Here’s what my eyes found this week:
Size 8 vintage Giorgio Armani wiggle / pencil dress. I put a rose on the floor to add a splash of color to my Poshmark photo’s. I seem to have found a lot of dark colored fashions this time around. I think the red compliments it nicely, as would a pair of red shoes. Clicking the photo will take you directly to the listing. It opens in a new window.
Size 6 vintage Moschino button front dress. The buttons are really cute. Some of them say, “chic” and the others are hearts. Perfect dress for a day at the office and still very much in style. Clicking the photo will open a new window to the Poshmark listing.
I love this one, not because it’s a Louis Vuitton Monogram but because I love to write and it is a very rare, vintage writing folder. It came with a pad of Louis Vuitton monogram paper which more than likely has absorbed vintage odors over the years but it’s not the paper that makes the folder now is it! It has a three digit date code representing February 1988. It’s officially 30 years old this month! Clicking the folder will open up a new window and bring you to the Poshmark listing. You should know that I also have it listed on eBay (blue link) for $100 less. price is based on the fee structure of the different sites.
Update 8/9/2018 – This article seems to resonate with a large number of readers and it makes me happy to see so much activity around it. This is a story that has long been unrecognized by American media outlets, yet so many are aware of it.
I was contacted by an independent producer regarding this article but I wasn’t convinced he had the actual capability to produce the story the way it should be told so I declined the offer. This doesn’t mean I will not speak to media outlets or interdependent artists because I absolutely will. I only want to be confident that the story will be told through the eyes of a single female who was finding a her way out of poverty, the farming family who lost their second income as their dream was outsourced to China and the small American business owner who ordered inventory en mass only to be bankrupt the very next day.
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A significant story ignored by American media outlets; Google funneled more than $30 billion out of the pockets of millions of Americans, handing their livelihoods directly to the Chinese government, and the “great recession” is now a “great depression” for a fair majority of small American families who relied on eBay for their survival.
Over the fourth of July holiday weekend, I intended to create a youtube video for personal monetization in an attempt to supplement my failing eBay business. The saying, “Those who can’t, teach” applies here. It was supposed to be a SEO, Cassini search and A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) oriented video but the more I researched, the more the direction of my video veered further and further off course as I learned why so many eBay sellers lost pretty close to everything; their businesses, their homes, their marriages, their ability to survive. Why did it happen? What was the cause of it all? The answer is senseless!
Someone at Google made the decision to remove our listings from their search engine, ensuring that we would never see a sale for the next 5 years to come. The manual deletion of eBay by Google was done by a human being.
As a rule, all other search engines crawl Google and post their results in their own search engines. Since eBay wasn’t included in Google searches, eBay wasn’t included in any search.
eBay Corporation acknowledged it may have lost up to $200 million in revenue, but what has never been mentioned in any of the articles I read during my research is that eBay only generates an average of 15% of its profits from the actual sales of its vendors, the small American seller. This means the damage done to eBay Corporation was dust bunnies under the bed in comparison to the utter devastation done to its vendors.
On paper the losses incurred by the individuals who make up the small American selling population is somewhere in the range of $3 billion. When you add the cost of lost revenue; sales that didn’t happen on inventory that sat on the shelves beyond its expiration date, overhead losses and the balancing act of losing their livelihoods, their homes, their cars, and their ability to even pay basic living costs as a result from the feud between eBay and Google , the numbers extend far above $30 billion. Ebay did not take the brunt of the “manual deletion”. As with all of the big bank bailouts and the fortune 500 free rides, again, it was the people who bared the burden of bad leadership and bad decisions.
For the duration of the time eBay was removed from the worlds search engines, at no time did eBay ever attempt to off set or counter balance the loss in sales traffic or revenue. There was no television advertising, no newspaper ads, no magazine ads, not even a silly Weird Al Yankovich style social campaign. American eBay sellers were literally snuffed out while John Donahoe was handed a $130 million severance package and Devin Wenig took the helm. eBay, under Devin Wenig’s leadership, plastered Chinese government-owned products all over its front pages and at the top of every “best match” and “lowest price” search result. eBay shoppers worldwide were directed and redirected to shop China at a time when American businesses were most vulnerable.
It wasn’t until 2015, four years after the fact that eBay began to roll out corrections of the issues that caused Google to take action, and six years until we saw one commercial on one single TV channel… for less than a week. Unfortunately for today’s small businesses the unethical and manipulative behavior continues within eBay’s own search mechanism. Government owned manufacturing plants in China continue to spam, flood and dominate eBay’s search engines with toxic, cheap manufacturer direct to consumer products, and eBay continues to suppress small American vendor listings because, “it’s what the public wants”.
Is it? Is it really what the public wants?
I’m pretty sure the only reason anybody ever bought what appears to be a $800.00 dress for $1.00 was because they didn’t have the appropriate finances to buy a proper dress. Common sense might tell you one thing, but need usually dictates everything else.
As you can see, the direction of my video quickly turned away from eBay search engine optimization. The goal was to introduce eBayers to the many webmaster tools Google offers because so many are unaware of it. For a brief moment I even became a Google cheerleader but after uncovering the truth and living a life of utter financial devastation as a result of the feud between eBay and Google, I’m having a hard time cheering either of them.
The end of this video sprite was supposed to segway into an exploration of Google webmaster tools for struggling eBay sellers, especially the home based businesses, but I just couldn’t do it, not with a clear conscience. It’s safe to say that at this moment, I have no love for Google. I’m so angry about what I’ve learned that I decided to scrap the video and share what remains.
What happened to the small eBay vendor can never be changed and most will never be able to recover. We watched the downfall of one of the worlds greatest and most influential community based sites without ever actually knowing the story behind it.
Googles’ actions against eBay may not have been a deliberate punch in the gut for eBay based businesses, many of which are single women, women with special needs children and sole proprietorships created at a time when jobs are scarce, I find myself struggling with forgiveness equally as much as I continue to struggle financially.
Millions of eBay sellers were rallying to have Donald J. Trump elected into office under the false belief that it was inequality of trade deals being the root cause of our destruction when the reality of it all is that it was Google, Devin Wenig and eBay all along.
Spread the word. Maybe they’ll grow a conscience and right the wrong.
I’m not holding my breath.
This article was originally indexed into Google search engines upon it’s publish date. Within two weeks it was manually deleted from Google search results along with any search result pointing to any part of this entire blog. It has since been resubmitted and reindexed, seemingly staying within search.
Google has since manually removed all of my individual eBay listings from their search results, punishing me above and beyond the damage that’s already been done, for having the audacity to speak about it. I will continue to submit them, we’ll see how it goes and I will continue to keep my footnotes updated.
Any current or future Google class action representatives have my full cooperation and may contact me directly at any time.
10/06/2017 – As promised I am back with an update.
Google manually deleted my eBay product listings as a result of this article. Example: “Mansfield brown Skirt Suit” is not found in Google search or any image search, in spite of the listing being active for approximately three months. None of my eBay listings currently appear in Google. By refining the search by using the exact title of my product listing, “Mansfield Skirt Suit Brown Blazer size 8 Pencil Skirt”, search results show similar products, however mine has been omitted.
An even bigger issue which was brought to my attention by a peer of mine is that Devin Wenig and eBay has re-birthed the very same manipulative practices that got eBay manually deleted from Google in 2011. In 2017, eBay has openly been redirecting eBay shoppers away from American businesses and abusing keywords for the purpose of manipulating search results within Google search results:
Pictured below is a product listing for Pampers Swaddlers Diapers, initially brought to eBay by a small American business. Ebay, replaced the sellers photo with a completely unrelated product, a card game, which is a listing based in China. Take notice of the word, “refurbished“. The term, “refurbished” is not an option where diapers are concerned. Either they are “New” or they are “handmade”. The term “refurbished” is being used to force Googles’ index bots to pick up these product listings by way of keyword spam.
What’s even more disturbing is the American who created the actual listing has a proven track record of excellent customer service and has earned the identifiers of “Top Rated Seller” with 100% positive feedback and 5 star ratings across the board. On the other hand, the China based seller eBay is redirecting the shoppers to has a less than stellar record of customer service, is not a “Top Rated Seller”, has a 99% positive feedback rating and only has a 3 star rating in communication and in quality of product. I have highlighted in red the points of interest.
If anyone has inside knowledge of what eBay is gaining by suppressing American businesses and redirecting shoppers to China, please comment below. It is quite possibly the most baffling manipulation I have ever seen.
If you are interested in reading the reaction of American eBay sellers, here is a direct link to the conversation they are having at the eBay community message boards.
As you don your red, white, and blue and head out to enjoy the beach, social gatherings and fireworks for the Fourth of July holiday, what favorite all-American style in fashion history will you be wearing?
This classic white sundress featured in Vogue Magazine, July 2012, should be a staple in every womans wardrobe. Years after this Ralph Lauren made it’s debut in stores across America, it is considered a staple whose “trend” life extends beyond the pales of being current. Well designed fashion will always be in style no matter how many years have gone by. It’s equally as fashionable today as it was back in July 2012.
Dolce & Gabbana’s Spring 2016 RTW inspiration boards were pasted with printouts of vintage posters and pictures of all kinds of handmade, homemade souvenir embroideries. That summer, sundresses, printed scarves, sandals, straw hats and bags—things that women from all over the world could enjoy wearing while celebrating patriotic holidays. While this specific dress was actually inspired by Italian living, American women can cetainly take ownership!
The 2016 collection use of stripes which ranged from soft and subtle to bold and extra large in horizontal, vertical or diagonal patterns and remains timeless. Perfect for the fourth of July.
From the time Esquire first introduced America to the Varga Girl in 1940, Alberto Vargas’ classic choice of fashion, many of which were patriotic, remains inspiration for July fourths today and for decades to come.
Alberto Vargas (PinUp) is a great source for Americana and patriotic fashion inspiration. Inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris, The Ziegfeld Follies was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions (and the more elaborate high class Vaudeville variety show) on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931.
Alberto Vargas was painting in a store window in May 1919 when he was asked by a representative of the Ziegfeld Follies to show his work the next day to Mr Ziegfeld … he was to become the most famous and prolific pin-up artist of all time.
Whether you choose to wear a UNIF Americana Denim Jacket, a classic Ralph Lauren white dress, Dolce & Gabbana stripes or if your style is to inspire others with fabulous fashions of the past, remember two things:
1) Have a happy July 4, 2017 holiday!
2. Have a safe July 4, 2017 holiday!
For close to 35 years I’ve lived in and around Palm Beach and Broward counties (Florida). For the majority of those years, through all of the boyfriends, apartments, jobs and cars I’ve been through, the one thing that has remained consistent is my personal style. I have always been a small town Rockabilly girl in a big city where fashion and personal style says just as much about who you are as a person as does the company you keep.
Rockabilly do rag.
One of my favorite accessories is the do rag. I like it because for most of my life I’ve only had long hair. I have a big forehead so bangs of some sort have also been a part of my forever look. The thing about a do rag is you can never have a bad hair day, and in a city of high humidity, that’s pretty cool. It’s also pretty cool that I don’t have to take a shower and get all gussied up just to run to the convenience store for a pack of cigarettes. Dirty hair? Who cares? I’ll just tie it up, covering my roots and off I go like a fashion plate!
So anyway… back to the story of my my Rockabilly look! I’ve recently moved to a very rural, agricultural town where the mjority of the population either works for the Sugarcane industry or for CAT corporation (Caterpillar Inc).
Suffice to say, the do rag doesn’t mean what it did in the big city… The agricultural community knows my secret! Do’h!!
In a small, rural agricultural town, a woman wearing a do rag is not sending the same fashion forward signals that it sends in Palm Beach.
In the palm Beaches I had style inspired by history, vintage posters and WWII. But for my new agricultural neighbors, they know exactly why I’m wearing my do-rag! They know my hair is dirty or that I’m having a bad heair day. While they still get a kick out of it because it’s not worn as commonly as it once was, the do-rag is closer to their roots. Click here shop KirstenRaye’s full mix & match wardrobe
There’s a great vintage Ralph Lauren Western Wear Rockabilly skirt I would have kept for myself but it’s a size or two too large. The link above will take you there.
When I bought this Dooney & Bourke bag, it didn’t look like this…
It was a very scuffed up, abused, tan/camel leather that, when I saw it, my heart sank when I could see and feel how well it’s made. It’s a very strong and sturdy bag. Certainly there must be something I can do to salvage it, right?
When I got the bag home the first thing I did before bringing it into my apartment was to wash down the leather with saddle soap, and bleach the inner lining. Such a pretty, supple leather.
As luck would have it, one of the first people I met in my new, rural, farming town was a leather worker whose job is to keep his employers’ saddles and leather goods in top shape. I gave him a call, he invited me to bring the bag to him, and with a smile he handed me everything I need to “practice a new trade”. I’m very thankful. It was a fun project and I’d like to do it again. The question is, what was I doing? Was I Upcycling? Recycling? Restoring?
Upcycle: Reuse (discarded objects or material) in such a way as to create a product of a higher quality or value than the original.
Recycle: Convert (waste) into reusable material. Return (material) to a previous stage in a cyclic process. Use again.
Restore: Bring back (a previous right, practice, custom, or situation); reinstate.
Well I guess I didn’t restore it because my Dooney & Bourke bag used to be a tan/camel colored pebbled leather. I removed some of the pebbling and created new texture in place of it, and also significantly changed the color. It’s actually much prettier now than it was in it’s previous state, even when it was new.
I’m pretty sure I recycled my Dooney & Bourke bag. I converted an old, abused bag and returned it to a state where it can be used again.
I’m positive I upcycled it! To me, this bags appearance is far more attractive than the original. If I were shopping at Dooney & Bourke, I would place a higher value on the custom red-brown leather bag.
Anyway, with a little guidance from my new friend, I stripped the bag, reconditioned it, treated it, gave it a marbled blend with leather paint and polish, antiqued it, then polished it. It took about 3 days between drying times and sleep. Since it was the weekend, I didn’t do much else so it took about 30 hours of actual hands on (manual labor) time.
What do you think? Is it upcycled, recycled, restored or maybe a little of all of the above?
Side note – whoever programs spellcheck for the world needs to update his dictionary. “upcycle” does not need to be corrected. It is correct, in every sense of the word.
Aside from the agony and self torture I put myself through when I know I’ve done something wrong, after sitting down with myself for some serious self introspection I’ve come to realize that it’s more than just a tantrum. It’s that I lost faith in my own self and as a result I allowed myself to succumb to fear which, turned inward becomes anger. Anger is never good. How very self destructive.
Ebay can be very stressful for small businesses and I wonder how many others experience the same anger in their journey, be it on their way back up from a fall, fighting to find a new niche or just getting started?
If I [we] allow it to become a pattern then I’ll [we’ll] always fail…. even when I [we] don’t. That’s the outcome of my self introspection following my tantrum, but what was my tantrum about? Something so simple. Lack of patience. I owe @DevinWenig an apology as well as @AskeBay an apology. I’m probably being harsh with myself and they’re probably used to it but this doesn’t make it right. It makes a miserable environment that potentially can get me into trouble with eBay. If I’m depending on eBay for my livelihood, and if I’m genuinely thankful for the opportunity to be my own boss, work at my own pace, sometimes in my pajamas, have an unlimited earning potential and a bright future, then why am I creating my own roadblocks?
My temper tantrum was this; I became a snot nosed child throwing puff punches at eBay for no other reason than I can’t control EVERYTHING. I can micromanage every aspect of my life, I can be a controlling girlfriend, I can be a controlling pet owner, but what I can’t be is controlling of eBay. It drives CRAZY!! Crazy lady comin’ through!
In my defense, the bidding didn’t look like this [above] when I threw the tantrum. It looked something more like this [below]…
..and this is why I lost control of my sanity. The thing of it is this; when I run auctions, which is mostly what I do as opposed to “Buy it Now”, I know that the bidders will bid the item up (or down) to it’s resale market value. I may think the end result is wrong, but the truth is, the buyers/bidders drive the market. I know this.
I know my product. I’d like to think I choose my products wisely. I’d also like to think I know it all. What’s great about eBay is what’s driving me insane. It’s that I can control nothing {insert grrrr noise here} in a life where I control everything…. but my temper. I can be such an asshole… but lets get past that and move on to what I’ve learned.
For home based eBay businesses, especially those with limited storage space, auctions really are the best way to survive and earn a living. There are variables that come into play, and having to compete with cheap Chinese knockoffs or an over saturated market in a very competitive niche has very little to do with it.
My niche is fashion. I love fashion. I know fashion. I have an entire eBay careers worth of experience with fashion. While I don’t know everything there is to know about fashion, I’m smart enough to conduct searches through eBay’s completed auctions section to find out what’s selling. I don’t watch T.V. but I do watch YouTube videos, social media videos around the web and news videos. All of the women I see in the videos have one important fact in common and that is that they all wear clothing as do the women at the cash register as I’m reading the tag lines of Vogue Magazine, Cosmo and all of the Rag Mags. If I’m in a long line I’ll grab one and start browsing. If I see something interesting, I’ll buy the magazine. One need not be very bright to do this.
What I’m saying is, if you know your product and you proactively seek out new information, it really is impossible to fail. But then there’s more. What days do the average, mainstream Americans get paid? Do their shopping? Do their browsing and bookmarking? There’s a synchronicity to it.
…and last but not least (lesson learned), stay… away… from the eBay community message boards. The majority of the people who post messages are posting them in angst. They are impatient too. They are venting, being negative, spreading false information, often insulting to one another, sometimes passively, sometimes aggressively, but most important, they are affecting your psyche. Misery loves company. If they are down, they want you to be down too. If you read it enough, it begins to set in. Don’t let it set in. Just don’t read it. Take it out of your bookmarks. Forget it exists. Think of it this way, when is the last time you saw one of the larger, more financially fit businesses hanging out and posting? They are busy being financially fit what is what the rest of us should be doing.
Yesterday was for learning. The day before was for practice. Today is for taking the trophy. It’s an old saying my gymnastics coach drilled in my head when I was a kid. It’s stuck with me all my life.
So in the end, my zero bid blouse sold for it’s resale market value. I allowed myself to forget what I know and I grew impatient. Bidding usually doesn’t gain momentum daily. Auctions are awesome and for the most part, if done with forethought, turn out right 🙂
Liégeois Sylvain, Place du Marché 27, Battice, Belgium.
I’m a small town girl and would never have experienced world travel had I not met the most wonderful couple in a thrift store. Girls like me aren’t fortunate enough to experience the finest things in life but today all of that changed, if only for an hour or two.
As I walked in it’s grungy doors my eyes were immediately drawn to the “collectibles” department where the isles were freshly restocked. There was very expensive pieces of pottery, dishes and ceramics, each having a makers mark from all parts of the world. There were Starbucks mugs from several different states, some had dates, others were holiday mugs. After inspecting all of them I realized they all came from the same place and as I toured the store I realized that these were the the belongings of an elderly couple whose remnants told a story of great love, extensive travel and what I perceived to be a very sudden and sad ending.. but the story in and of itself was one of the most beautiful stories that could ever be told.
As a young couple, they loved to travel. They vacationed under the stars in Paris, enjoyed fresh baked pastries in Venice, raced down the slopes of Switzerland on ski’s and traveled the Ryfylke Tourist Route in Norway. Each piece of pottery, every souvenir dish, ashtray and mug, terrine, and figurine that I examined took me further and further away from my own little town and it was then that I can honestly say was the only time I’ve ever experienced true love. They weren’t just a couple. They were more than just traveling companions. The story I was able to quietly and peacefully put together in my mind was that two people who were very much in love, were friends, partners, confidants, and lived only for each other in every moment of their time together. The more I looked at on the shelves, the more their story unfolded.
As time went on and age began to set in, their travels became closer to home but not after many years of world travel and luxurious stays. As a young couple, they were married in California. They honeymooned in Paris and threw a key in the canal. Shortly after the honeymoon they relocated from California to Florida, I think it was after an earthquake. At one point they went to Africa but something went wrong and they didn’t stay long. They flew back to Europe by way of Germany where they drank beer from steins.
As time moved on, beer turned into wine for her and liqueur for him. I think he drank much more than she did. His collection of tumblers was far more extensive than her carafe and glass collection. I think she was sick. Not in her mind, but physically. For this he pampered her and took the best of care of her until the end of her life. She lived a happy life. She never needed for anything, only her health, but that wasn’t until later, after many years of marriage. He probably drover her insane LOL.
It wasn’t until after his passing that I discovered this great love affair. An affluent couple who really lived life. They didn’t just go through the motions as so many couples do, they LIVED.
My senses felt alive, I experienced great love, overwhelming joy and in the end, was overcome with the sadness of their parting from this world. I believe she passed before he did, probably explains the extensive liqueur accessories collection. Regardless of the way it ended, their life story gave me an insight to something I’m sure I will never experience in my own life and I’m glad I had the opportunity to visit with them. They shared a love that few people ever get to experience.
I took home a souvenir from my travels from California, to Florida, across Europe, down to Africa and back across the United States… It was made in France and was purchased in Belgium at some point between the mid 1960s to 1970s. I can envision her face lighting up with joy and smiling at her husband as she finds her treasure at Liégeois Sylvain. I know she loved it. She took good care of it.
I know she’s used it at least once because there was a bit of gravy stuck to the bottom. The inside of it is glazed so it cleaned up real easy. No chips, no stains, no cracks. Only an old gold colored sticker on the base. Liégeois Sylvain, Place du Marché 27, Battice, Belgium.
For as many times as I have shopped at thrift stores, this is the first time I have ever experienced someone else’s life through their discarded belongs. As tragic as their ending may have, their memory has created a moment that will forever live on through my minds eye.
Yeah… I did sell it on eBay. The memories can’t be sold though.
Fair notice to mainstream media. As you continue to force your negativity, your opinions and your false rhetoric down the throats of mainstream America, you’re failing to recognize the obvious fact that the mainstream population is moving away from you. There is a reason we’ve turned you off and tuned you out. Your life and your opinions are no more important than the millions of unemployed, under employed, self employed, small American business owners and hard working individuals that populate this country. There are more of us than there are of you. It’s time to see yourselves for who you really are.
Your life is not important and neither is your opinion. Opinions are like assholes. The media seems to have a few too many of them.
Journalism and reporting is not subjective. It’s foundation is objective.
Celebrities do not have an opinion. We pull your strings, you dance.
News, “reporters” are objects we turn on at 6pm. You tell us facts, and then you go back into your box until tomorrow at the same time, same place.
Get over yourselves. If I am not looking at your face in the mirror when I brush my teeth in the morning, then your opinion means nothing. If you don’t understand what that means, and clearly you don’t, it means, we see our own reflection or the reflection of those who are important to us, and those are the only opinions that matter.
I am tired of feeling judged by a “news” entity who doesn’t even know I exist. I’m tired of you believing that I should be told what I should and shouldn’t think, feel, eat, breathe, live. You are a select few who have no idea what it’s like to get in MY car and drive to MY job every day. Here in the REAL WORLD my life is much more important than yours.
When you stop reporting your opinion, I will reconsider adding you to the list of channels I subscribe to.
Until then, subject line, “remove”.
Tag this: ego, egocentric, self centered, narcissistic, the elephant in the room.
Haute Again: A Fashion Blog 