I hope that by posting this experience it can be a bit more help for others hoping to get a dress they love for cheap. I did my share of research on the Chinese Wholesale website dhgate.com and I can never find a definitive answer! I have read of people who had a mixed up order, or people who just dismiss it outright due to the fact it's from China or from a wholesale site. So, hopefully I can document my experience as I'm going through it and hopefully I can add a bit more information and reviews about DHGate out here in the wedding world.
So far....
I tried on a dress at David's Bridal that I simply loved!
It cost $699, which isn't that bad, but I've been curious about buying direct from China. I really wanted to see if you can get a perfectly good dress for the cheap prices they sell for.
So I decided to try DHGate. It is a wholesale website set up a lot like eBay where the items all come direct from China and the sellers' English is quite broken. It was on this site I found my exact dress for $159!
The seller is weddinggirl and I wanted to test response time by sending her a message asking about the material type, whether they use beading or sequins, and the back zipper disguised as buttons (my favorite feature). In less than 20 minutes I got a reply that answered my questions in broken English. Summary: "Yes, we make dress exact same."
So that night, I took my measurements, which is very close to U.S. dress size 12, and ordered a size 12 in the color ivory (another cool feature is you can pick from a TON of colors).
So, we will see if I a.) Get the dress b.) It fits with limited alterations c.) It comes in the right color d.) It arrives in a timely fashion.
Some other cool things about DHGate: Free shipping to the U.S. and their payment system. DHGate doesn't pay the seller until the buyer (you) leave a review saying you received your item. Also, weddinggirl's return policy gives you 7 days after receiving your dress to return or exchange your item (you pay for shipping it back).
Well, I'll post an update when I receive my order! It should be a couple of weeks. Possibly pictures!
Update: 8/21/11 I was just notified yesterday that my dress has been shipped!
Update: 9/1/11 The dress has arrived! Read the final review in this post: