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Amazon has rolled out its 'try before you buy' shopping service to all Prime members. Here's what it's like to use.
Amazon has rolled out its 'try before you buy' shopping service to all Prime members. Here's what it's like to use.
Madeline StoneJul 6, 2018, 19:25 IST
Business Insider / Madeline Stone
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Amazon's Prime Wardrobe - a "try before you buy" shopping service - is now available to all Prime members in the United States.
Prime Wardrobe sends customers as many as eight items to try for seven days before their credit card is charged.
I tried the service to see if it made shopping for clothes on Amazon easier.
Amazon recently expanded its Prime Wardrobe service to be available to all Prime members in the United States.
A free, "try before you buy" shopping option, Prime Wardrobe could be seen as competitor to services like Stitch Fix, which involves stylists sending customers sending personalized clothing selections that they can test out for several days before deciding whether they want to return or keep each one.
In the case of Prime Wardrobe, however, customers are able to select the items they want to try for themselves, with as many as eight items allowed per box. Customers can then trial the items for seven days before their credit card is charged for the things they want to keep. It had been in beta and rolling out to select customers until it became fully available at the end of June.
After logging into my Amazon account, a landing page laid out how everything worked.
From the beginning, it seemed obvious that Amazon wants to imitate sites and magazines that consumers might associate with being more high-fashion. Items were assorted into collections, like the 4th-of-July-themed "American Remix."
There were lots of references to seasonal trends.
Products were also arranged by occasion, like "date night" and "weekend getaway."
Once I clicked into a collection, however, it was a mishmash of brands and different kinds of products.
Amazon pointed out which items were from its private-label brands, which have been an area of focus for the company as it grows out its apparel business.
Having dresses, shoes, and crossbody bags all together might be helpful for a shopper who isn't quite sure what they're looking for ...
... but I was on the hunt for something specific, so I went straight into the shoes section.
Not every piece of apparel is eligible for "try-before-you-buy" with Prime Wardrobe. You'll want to keep an eye out for this designation.
On other product pages, I was prompted to add to my "Prime Wardrobe Cart" rather than the typical cart.
You can add up to eight items to each Prime Wardrobe box.
The checkout page reminded me that my card would not be charged until I designated the pieces I would want to keep.
My box arrived on Friday, June 29, a day into the delivery window.
An envelope contained my receipt and instructions for what to do next.
My box had everything I had ordered — plus a shirt I hadn't. The mystery shirt didn't appear on my receipt, and it wasn't even in my size.
One obvious downside to shopping for clothes online is that it's not always obvious what the quality will be like. This dress, for example, was a lot flimsier than I would have ordinarily bought.
I was happy with this romper after trying it on, however ...
... and these shoes fit great, too.
After I tried everything on, I decided to stick with the romper and the shoes. My order total updated accordingly. At this point, I wasn't sure what to do with the mystery shirt.
It appears to be a common enough problem that Amazon's customer-service page has a dropdown option for it. I ended up just putting it in the box and shipping it back with the rest of my items.
Overall, Prime Wardrobe was easy to use, and everything arrived on time and in good shape. However, considering that you can usually return most clothing items you buy online, I'm not sure it offers enough of an advantage that I would use it on a regular basis. Plus, the fact that you still select each item yourself meant it wasn't very different from the usual Amazon shopping experience.
