How To Choose A Virgin Hair Vendor

Hey Y'all!

It seems like everybody and their mother has jumped on the virgin hair selling bandwagon. It has become easier to get a wholesale connection, set up a "flashy" website, and set up shop. It's safe to say that the Virgin Hair Market is almost over-saturated with "newbies" jumping in because they see $$$$. They don't see quality. They purchase sub-par lower grade hair (yes hair is rated by grade) from wholesale vendors overseas tie a cute bow on it and sell it you.

I wanted to share some lessons and tips that I have picked up over the years.

1.~ If something is too good to be true, then it probably is. Let that be your be your guide.

2.~ When looking at a vendors website check for spelling and grammatical errors. I'm not trying to knock anybody's hustle but if you have a lot of spelling errors and your sentence structure barely makes any sense on your website, you won't see a dime from me.
I came across a new vendors site last week and they copied and pasted from a more repetubale vendor's site. How did I notice? The copycat forgot to remove the other vendors name. FAIL.

3.~  Do NOT rely solely on the opinion of Bloggers, Vloggers and YouTube Guru's! If you see a "new vendor that's hot" on the YouTube review circuit, proceed with caution. Especially if the all the reviews popped up around the same time. Vendors know that if they send hair to YT Guru's and Bloggers that it's a great FREE marketing tool.

4.~Do use these outlets as part of your research. Take the reviews with a grain of salt. Remember they received the product for free. It's almost human nature to really love something that didn't cost you a dime.  It's happened to me before, I wont name the vendor b/c they don't exist anymore. They sent me hair to review and I loved it! It was free, pretty in the package soft to touch did what I expected and then a few weeks later it turned into rabid llama hair. I never posted that review because I wanted to wait and see how to hair behaved before I posted anything , within that short period of time the company was gone. I'll bet 8oz of  24" Virgin Malaysian hair that the vendor changed it's name and re-opened shop under a new name. I have personally seen vendors be "exposed" in hair extension forums for using friends to post video reviews on YouTube. Of course reviews of that nature will be biased lies.

5.~ I've found most of the woman in the Bloggesphere and YT World to be friendly and reply to these types of inquires. I also find that sending a private message or email elicits a more honest opinion (asks how they feel about the hair after a few washes, four weeks later, ask if they re-used the hair or plan to re-use it, ask if they would purchase with their own money. If you do see a review on a vendor your considering purchasing from send the reviewer an email and ask how they feel about the hair after a period of time (ex. after a few washes, four weeks later, ask if they re-used the hair or plan to re-use it, ask if they would purchase with their own money). I've found most of the woman in the Bloggesphere and YT World to be friendly and reply to these types of inquires. I also find that sending a private message or email elicits a more honest opinion.

6.~ Always check out the longevity of the vendor. If it's not clear on their website, contact them. You can even check the registration date of their website/domain. Be your own detective.

7.~ If the vendor has a free website keep it moving.

http://www.XXXXXX.weebly.com/ <-- Seriously? This vendor doesn't care enough to own their own domain? That's a bad business move in my opinion.

(This is a screen clip from a "new vendor")

8~ Contact the vendor prior to purchasing from them. Test out their customer service. How do they handle inquires?  Do they have a phone number? Do they return calls in a timely manner? Do they only provide customer service via email? Are you comfortable with that?

9~ What is their return/exchange policy? READ it before you make an transaction.

10~ Research, Research, and Research some more.
Check the Better Business Bureau
Ripoff Reports

Black Hair Media has a wealth of vendor related information in the Weaves & Extensions Forums and Weaves & Extensions Forums (Newbies).  Tip: Google the vendor name and BHM (ex: ABC Haircompany, BHM)



 

*Disclaimer* Yes, I am affiliated with Black Hair Media as a Blogger but I was all over there website and all up in the forums long before this opportunity came about.You can also see that I've mentioned the site and forums in previous posts before becoming a part of their blogging network.

 

11.~ Do not make your decision based on price alone. I did that once and I regret that purchase. I should of stuck with my previous more reputable vendor, but I got caught up in the bandwagon effect. I have some left over in my stash and it's clearly labelled DO NOT USE! It looked great for about a month then it swelled, matted, tangled and died. R.I.P.  I am willing to pay a little bit more to a vendor that has longevity, a stable reputation and good customer service.

I hope this tips are useful to you as a guide when searching for a dependable and reputable Virgin Hair Vendor. If any "vets" are reading this post. How do you research vendors?

XoXo

Kendall