u/ChampionshipNormal67

I really love the older AB crystal pieces, and I’m specifically looking for the Swarovski Brilliant Butterfly Aurora Borealis (953056). So far I’ve checked Crystal Exchange America and CrystalWebShop, but I was wondering if there are other trusted places I should be looking?

I’ve been avoiding eBay because I’m looking for a like new / mint piece without scratches, and as a newbie collector I honestly don’t trust myself to judge condition well from photos alone. I’d much rather buy from a reseller that has actually inspected the item carefully first. Is that a reasonable approach, or am I being overly cautious?

Would also love any advice/tips on collecting older Swarovski AB pieces in general!

In what condition is everyone else getting their Kate Spade outlet shipments? I got some orders perfectly packaged in foam and came sealed in clear plastic bag, that is what I expect for shipments, but got one of the bag without any wrappings or stuffings at all, not even a silica gel inside, the leather was kind of beat up and bag felt used too. I called customer care and requested replacement, I shipped it back and they just gave me a refund…oh well.

Another bag that I got was partially wrapped in foam(some missing), half the wrappings on the flowers were missing, (I got the dahlia tote bag before and you know how kate spade wraps individual flower decorations with foam?), and also half the stuffings missing so bag was out of shape and it still had no clear plastic bag whatsoever, and it came bouncing around bare naked inside the shipping box. At least a bit of tissue paper to protect it would have been appreciated? One of the flower is quite..loose so I can see why it may have been possibly returned. I was so disappointed and since it is oos now maybe I will just suck it up and keep it, still thinking about it, but if I order a new bag online I expect in a new condition and packaged appropriately to protect it during transit, and my shopping experience was essentially ruined.

All my other bags came sealed in clear plastic bag and foam and stuffing all intact, but this one was the one I really wanted and I feel really disappointed overall with the online outlet shopping experience. So now I’m confused whether I just got unlucky, or if inconsistent packaging/condition is something common with outlet orders?

Genuinely asking because I loved the styles so much I spent over $750 during this mother’s day sale event after I randomly saw the ads and I instantly got hooked, and wanted to check back regularly to spend more, but hesitating now because I don’t want to go through the stress of worrying about if the shipment that I will get is a hit or miss every time I order. Does Kate Spade make separate items for outlet and regular retail or if the unsold/overstocked items come to outlets? Really hoping the answer is the latter, I would gladly pay more to just get crisp new items with good packaging that will prevent it from getting scratched or losing shape during transit, sadly the regular kate spade website did not have the items listed in the outlet when I searched for it…