my first little black bag order/impressions

 

so here's what i got from my first little black bag*! i don't foresee myself getting these very often as they are pretty expensive. i bought a "$29.99" single-purchase bag. basically the gist is:

• when you make an account, you take a style quiz. (style quiz can be retaken whenever)
• when you go to buy your bag, you get to pick one item from a long list of items. this list will not show you everything-everything that they have available--it's based on your answers to the quiz, but you are ensured to have the first item that you picked, unless you decide to trade it off later.
• items include jewelry, handbags, scarves, wallets, sunglasses, random electronics accessories (like phone cases), makeup, etc. from many different designer brands.
• before you check out, they will tell you how many items their "stylists" have picked and put into your bag (can be 1-3, based upon first item's retail amount); these are hidden until you complete the check out process, but it does tell you the brand name and the price of the item..so if you hit the back button and look at the list, you might be able to figure it out or have an idea... or you can go back and forth between tabs doing this, wait a few minutes, and mess with it so that it'll put other, different items in your bag ^____^
• you go through the purchasing process with credit card and shipping info, etc.
• usps shipping: $4.95
• $29.95 (monthly subscription) or $39.99 (non-subscription) + shipping
• $49.95 (monthly subscription) or $59.99 (non-subscription) + shipping
• facebook "like" discount code: facebook10 for 10% off
• monthly subscription can be "skipped" by every 5th of the month; read up on more info before deciding to start a monthly subscription as i don't know the full details.
• i feel like they're kind of deceptive in saying that the bag is only $29.95 or $49.95; when in reality it isn't. it's based on your subscription status and they only tell you otherwise when you go to input your payment information...and possibly on some of their policy, etc. pages.
• afterward, it shows you the hidden items in your bag, opening up the whole site so you can see everything that they have available, and you can trade with other users for items you want with items in your bag that you may not want. their inventory changes very often, so it's highly likely that if you miss something, it may not come back.
• trading time: 3 days ($30 bag) or 7 days ($50 bag) -- your credit card will not be charged until trading ends or if you click "ship my box"; there is a countdown at the top of the page for your reference.
• when offering a trade, you can offer more than one item to trade for an item, but you can't ask for multiple items for one. you can offer to trade a single item for multiple other items if you want to try asking everyone for all the different things on the site
• OR if the item you really want is available (it will say "buy"), you can add it into your bag for half of it's retail price in addition to the cost of the bag. i believe that if you do this, you are not allowed to trade these items, but don't quote me.
• you will receive notifications when trading ends and when the "bag" is shipped. they use a weird website that lists the usps tracking number on it if you'd prefer using usps, like me...newgistics???? what?
• package arrives in about a week from shipment date, give or take holidays.

betsey johnson's pearl round studs, all the rage pyramid earrings, and a full-sized smashbox full exposure mascara

so, the betsey johnson earrings (ret. $38) were my first choice. raeview on youtube was showing them off in one of her videos and i really liked them. turns out, basically everyone in existence wanted to trade for these earrings. suddenly, after finishing the check-out process, my phone was going off like crazy with emails. by some bizarre logic, lbb thinks it's ok set the default to email you every time someone offers you a trade. why would you do that???? anyway, so i had to go turn that off, because really 108594759 people wanted these earrings and i can't handle my phone going off every 2 seconds. anyway, some people were offering dinky things like travel-sized shampoo while others were trying to trade upwards of $60 worth of items for it! it was insane. and i denied each and every one of them! =P

anyway, the pyramid earrings (ret. $14) and mascara (ret. $19) are another story. my other two initial items were smashbox limitless eyeliner pencil (ret. $19) and a pretty, leafy costume jewelry necklace (ret. $24). i liked the necklace, but it looked kinda long on the mannequin so i wanted to trade it off. eventually i decided to trade it for the mascara. then, i couldn't figure out what to do with this eyeliner. i have a ton of eyeliners and i didn't really want another (not that my stockpile of mascaras is any better off, but that's another story.....) to try out and potentially love. so i searched and searched, and i decided on the pyramid earrings. i'm not huge into gold-toned jewelry, i really prefer silver-toned ones. which i guess for both pairs of earrings, that's uncharacteristic of me but whatever. they are cute and i love them. >w<

i hope you guys found this helpful and if you'd like to join little black bag, here's the link again*! the account is free and you don't have to purchase from them immediately, nor do you have to become a monthly member. i made my account earlier this year and waited until now to actually buy something. this bag ended up being ~$41 with shipping and the discount, but i did get $71 worth of stuff. ~Lin-chan ^.~

*Affiliate Link.