{"id":14580,"date":"2017-06-27T19:32:36","date_gmt":"2017-06-27T18:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pennygolightly.com\/\/?p=14580"},"modified":"2023-05-24T13:52:38","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T12:52:38","slug":"review-everything-5-pounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pennygolightly.com\/review-everything-5-pounds\/","title":{"rendered":"My review of Everything 5 Pounds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This site may get paid a small amount of commission for purchases made after clicking some of the links in this post. There’s no extra cost to you & it keeps us going so please support us if you can. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have finally gotten around to writing a review of Everything \u00a35 Pounds, AKA Everything5Pounds.com<\/span><\/strong><\/a>, the online fashion discount shop. Here’s a proper no-punches-pulled account of my shopping experience, and an appraisal of whether the pros outweigh the cons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the company<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you don’t know anything about them, Everything \u00a35 Pounds sell a huge range of reduced-price fashion clothing on their website. Some of it is de-branded ex-high-street stock, and the labels have been removed to prevent identification of the brands. The rest of it is mainly non-branded clothes, shoes and accessories that you’d perhaps find in a catalogue or on a market stall<\/em>. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The clothes from the high street shops<\/em><\/strong> tend to include mid-priced brands such as River Island, ASOS, Zara, Next, Topshop, Vero Moda, Benetton, Marks & Spencer, and maybe even the occasional garment from Karen Millen. They’re generally past season stock, but you sometimes find current season overstocks as well. They’re mostly well made and the \u00a35-ish price tag usually represents good value for money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In more recent years, their prices have been creeping up. It’s more common for things to cost \u00a35.50, \u00a35.75, or \u00a35.95 now, so the original brand name is slightly misleading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The non-branded clothes<\/em><\/strong> and shoes are a lot more variable in their sizing and quality, but the nature of the way Everything \u00a35 Pounds works means that you can’t be told that it’s a non-branded item either. The shop isn’t allowed to tell you which is which, and it doesn’t say what the original price would have been. Some of them are still good value for money, but there are others that you could get for \u00a33 at Primark that would be better quality, pound for pound. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a mixed bag, and you have to take a little extra time when you shop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you find an Everything \u00a35 bargain?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As you can imagine, you have to shop carefully to get the good stuff<\/em><\/strong>. Some of the items on the site have multiple clear pictures, making it easy to get a good idea of the size, fit, colour and general quality – but others don’t, making it more tricky. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing that can help is that many of the listings have reviews underneath them, so it’s worth taking time to read those, and quite a few of them say things like ‘much nicer than the picture’ or spill the beans on the brand name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The contents of the individual listings can be fairly sparse, and the search function doesn’t always pick up what you’re looking for<\/em><\/strong> as it doesn’t seem all that flexible. I found I got the best results by being patient and trawling some of the sections after selecting the size. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listings seem to be made quickly and not always carefully<\/em><\/strong>. They often don’t include important full descriptions about the fabric, fit or the shape, or the type of print. Information is sometimes missing, and occasionally it’s not correct<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ordering & delivery process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So I filled my online basket and placed an order, which was very straightforward and simple. The thing that really got me though was the postage prices. There’s a minimum of \u00a33.95 per order (Royal Mail 1st Class Standard), going up to a total of \u00a320.00 according to weight, which is easy to hit if you’re buying a few pairs of shoes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, \u00a320! More than most of us would like to spend, I’m sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got an email two days later saying my order had been picked, and another the following day to say it was ready to dispatch. However, from the time of ordering it took a full fortnight for the parcel to be delivered. As I’d paid over \u00a310 for my postage and it was supposed to be First Class, I was not impressed – I would definitely not order from this site if I was in a hurry to get something<\/em><\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, when it arrived it was well packaged and hadn’t split or been damaged in transit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was my order like?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In general, I was very pleased with the contents of the parcel<\/em><\/strong> even though I’d taken a risk with a couple of the items. Most of the things I’d ordered were exactly as described, looked like their website photos and were of average high street quality or above. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One top was too baggy so I sent it back for a refund. Two pairs of shoes were excellent quality but too tight, so I sent them back to exchange for the next size up. More about this return and exchange experience later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest problem I had with my first shop<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There was one serious issue: some knitwear I’d ordered had eleven different rips in it, and was smudged with dirt all over. I was shocked that it had been sent out in that condition as the problems were clearly visible and the garment was ruined<\/em><\/strong>. Well, accidents can and do happen, so I emailed their customer service politely and gave them a fair chance to put it right. They came up trumps with a quick apology, and sent me a free returns label for it which arrived through the letter box within 48 hours. E5P put the faulty item through the system very quickly and refunded me with hardly any delay and no quibbles. They also refunded a proportional part of the original parcel’s postage, which made me happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Returns and exchanges are a slightly different matter. There’s no returns form anywhere and you actually have to make your own and put in in with the parcel – there’s definite room for improvement here, and they could easily redesign their packing slips to allow for this. There’s also no returns label in the parcel or printable from their website, a more minor issue, but still room for improvement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, and you have to pay for posting your returns yourself<\/em><\/strong> (on top of the pricey original postage). This is a level of outlay that some shoppers might not feel comfortable with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They processed my non-faulty item return fairly quickly, and the money was back in my account in under a week, although the return postage wiped out some of my refund<\/em>. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

E5P exchanged my shoes and sent the replacements to me within eight days from handing them to a courier. Everything \u00a35 Pounds<\/a> don’t charge you for the second set of outward postage for exchanged goods, which is a relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the best uses of Everything 5 Pounds?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I would say that there are a few different types of people who’d benefit from using this site to buy their discounted clothing and accessories, for example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n