reptonia guarantee to beat any price from a UK-based supplier but, no doubt, you may have been charmed by the prices for the same garments from overseas online traders.

Buying from reptonia via our online shop gives you more consumer protection rights than actually purchasing from our shop! The price we show on our website is the price you pay, no hidden costs or custom charges. Both our trading address and our registered address are shown in our contact information, as are our Company Number and VAT regsitration number so you can be assured that we're not a fly-by-night outfit!

Here's a few things to bear in mind if you're thinking of purchasing from overseas:

Beware of hidden costs:
These often mount up through sneaky currency conversion charges, taxes and insurance. Be particularly cautious of delivery fees, packaging and posting if your goods are being posted on to you there may be charges at the post office when you collect them, and you could also be liable for postage charges if the items are returned.

Note that VAT and customs charges will be levied on both the price of the item AND the shipping charges. The Customs and Excise website gives information on when VAT and duty has to be paid. However, if your supplier is based in the EU, the price you are given should be inclusive of all taxes.

Also, beware of websites that tell you they'll put a much lower amount on the Customs declaration - Her Majesty's Customs & Excise have access to the internet too and are becoming more savvy to overseas companies who do this.

Fakes
Make sure that the company you are dealing with are an authorised supplier for the design you are interested in. Perhaps the reason the dress is so cheap is because it isn't an original, but a copy of inferior quality.

Know who you're dealing with
Checkout the company. Never deal with a company who don't provide their address details on their website - in the UK this is against the law.

Check out the Bad Business Bureau website for US traders - www.badbusinessbureau.com. Just enter the company name into the search box. This website notes consumer complaints against companies and will give you an idea of the level of customer care provided.

If things go wrong
Suing a supplier based overseas can be difficult, expensive and take a lot of time. It might not be clear from a website where in the world a supplier is based. Also, the contract may be governed by the laws of the country from where the goods were supplied rather than bought, or even by the laws of some third country.

Legal action can include having to start court proceedings in the supplier's country. And even if these proceedings can be started in the UK, it may still be necessary to enforce a judgement given by a UK court in the other country. In either case, you may be unlikely to recover all your legal costs from the supplier.