Dallas woman falls in love with jacket at the RealReal. Then she tries to purchase it: ‘This seems suspicious’
A Dallas, Texas, woman decides to stop in the brick-and-mortar location of online consignment store the RealReal. She falls in love with a leather jacket from Acne Studios but is quickly turned away at the register. Viewers of the now-viral TikTok say the same thing happened to them.
In a video with over 1 million views, TikToker Vanessa Gerstner (@vanessa_gerstner) films herself trying on a full-length leather jacket from Acne Studios. She asks herself in the mirror, “Should I get this jacket?”
However, her luxury purchase doesn’t go to plan. In the next clip, she walks out of the store angrily, saying she’s “so distraught” over her experience.
“They wouldn’t let me buy her because apparently it’s marked off online, which means that the reseller may want the jacket back,” she explains. “How is that even possible? You have the jacket in the store with a price tag on.”
Gerstner says the RealReal store workers took her number and assured her they would reach out to the seller to see if they would let her purchase it.
How does The RealReal work?
The RealReal is an online consignment store where resellers can have their items authenticated and sold in-store and online. Once the RealReal sells the item, resellers keep part of the commission on the item.
According to The RealReal’s policies, resellers have the option of taking back their item as long as it hasn’t been sold. Resellers may also pause the sale if they don’t agree with the sale price set by the RealReal.
So, it’s possible that the jacket’s reseller put in a legitimate claim to stop the sale.
However, some commenters suggest that there could be another reason the RealReal wouldn’t sell Gerstner the jacket.
“Someone who works in the store wants it,” one writes.
Another says, “Employees probably want it and are ‘holding it’ until the price goes down lol.”
Did the RealReal call her back?
While she didn’t receive a call back from the store initially, the RealReal’s official TikTok account commented on the viral video.
“That’s disappointing, and we get why you’re upset. Please DM us so we can assist,” it writes. Gerstner replies, “You guys going to let me have the jacket? Lol.”
In a follow-up video, Gerstner shares that the RealReal asked for the SKU number on the jacket to investigate. It later tells her that the jacket was put on hold due to a price adjustment, which increased the cost by $1,300. However, the RealReal offered her a credit to her account that would allow her to purchase the jacket at the original price.
While the TikToker questions whether she still wanted the jacket, she ultimately decided to go pick it up. She says the RealReal assured her that the seller would still get full commission for the jacket and it would look into its policies.
She posts another clip of herself walking into the same store, noting that there was “tension” between her and the workers. But she finally scored the jacket.
“We have the jacket! She’s officially coming home with me!” she exclaims.
Other shoppers share disappointing experiences
In the comments of the viral TikTok, other The RealReal shoppers say they’ve also been disappointed when trying to purchase a luxury item from the consignment store.
A viewer says, “I also had a horrible experience. I literally had to call headquarters and tell them.”
A second laments, “I wish the real real were real. Literally always subpar experience online and in-store.”
Resellers also share their frustrations, suggesting that The RealReal’s consigner policies may be partially to blame for Gerstner’s experience.
“The real real accidentally listed all my items under the wrong account and sold them without giving me the quotes first. Still missing 2 pieces,” one shares.
“So as someone who sends a lot of stuff to TRR sometimes when I see the pricing I reach out & have it shipped back. It doesn’t show pricing until right before it lists and sometimes I’m like oh hell no,” another writes.
@vanessa_gerstner Guys I can’t believe the real real wouldn’t let me purchase her. #realreal #acnestudios #leatherjacket ♬ original sound – Vanessa Gerstner
The Mary Sue reached out to Gerstner via email and Instagram direct message and to The RealReal via email for further comment.
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