eBay Welcomed As A Sponsor Of The British Fashion Council’s Fashion Forward Initiative

Every bargainista’s guilty pleasure, eBay has been named as the new multi-season sponsor of the British Fashion Council’s Fashion Forward initiative. In its sixth year, Fashion Forward now supports seven designers each year, a mix of both womenswear and menswear.

This year’s talented recipients include Grazia favourites Louise Gray, Henry Holland and Mary Katrantzou, as well as London-based menswear designer James Long. Caroline Rush, CEO of the BFC, explained the auction site’s involvement in the initiative: “eBay's sales statistics are overwhelming and we hope they will help to bring opportunities to the designers they support.”

As well as Fashion Forward, the BFC will also work with eBay on Save the Children’s Born to Shop campaign to host the charity’s first ever online fashion auction which will showcase donations from British designers and celebrities during September’s London Fashion Week.

We regularly find ourselves hunting down a bargain or coveted ‘sold out everywhere’ item on eBay, but to avoid being outbid or, worse still, bidding on the wrong item altogether, follow our three golden eBay rules…

1. Always search for items under ‘Newly listed’ and add them to your ‘Watch list’ , that way you won’t find yourself making a last-minute bid on something you neither want or need. Just because it costs 99p, doesn’t mean it’s worth taking up much needed space in your wardrobe, does it?
2. Stick to brands you know so that you’re confident that the items you buy online are going to fit. We all know Topshop sizes differ from Marks & Spencers sizes and so on, so if you're aware of what size which labels consider you you’ll know what to search for and what to bid on. Equally, you should also factor in some bidding budget for alterations, as a simple trouser leg tuck or waist adjustment could be the deciding factor in whether or not you love or loathe your thrifty purchase.
3. Not for the faint hearted or those who enjoy the thrill and excitement of the bid, but online tools such as Auctionstealer make winning that little bit easier by automatically placing your highest bid at the very last moment thus foiling those suckers who’ve been sitting around all morning refreshing their browsers in order to pounce.

Those are just a few of our eBay tips, but what bidding advice have you got for us? Share your knowledge and experiences by commenting below and we’ll add your wise words to Grazia’s list of golden eBay rules.