Thoughts on vintagesunglassesshop.com?

[neardistant]

Has anyone used this site or know if it’s a legitimate place to buy x metals from? The website layout seems really outdated and kind of sketchy; any thoughts would be appreciated

 

[Jon the Don]

Buy from the Exchange on here.

It’s safer and you will be able to source your Grails.

 

[neardistant]

I’ve been trying to get my hands on a pair of mars craters for close to a year now; that’s the only reason I’m considering doing this

 

[Jurist]

Has anyone used this site or know if it’s a legitimate place to buy x metals from? The website layout seems really outdated and kind of sketchy; any thoughts would be appreciated

The vibe I get from the grossly primitive website is that of a small business whose owner has Luddite-ish tendencies. I like to imagine that they learned how to update the site when the company was founded in 1998, and now..."god dammit, Linda, this one ain't broke and I'm too old to learn a new system. We do just fine, stop asking." Pretty much the same reason my mom still uses a flip phone even though she could easily learn smartphones and would have a much easier life as a result. Their "Our Mission and History" page says the company was founded by a "tech entrepreneur," but that could mean anything. If the owner is the older surfer dude-looking guy who often models the glasses, it makes perfect sense...guessing he probably just wants to drink, smoke weed, and creep on younger women at the beach. And who can blame him, that + selling sunglasses for a living would make a great life.

As far as whether their merch is legit...my impression is that yes, they are professional dealers who are experts in authentication and have a strong interest in selling only authentic, top quality items. A business like that wouldn't survive more than a handful of public counterfeiting accusations these days, and you would find those near the top of Google from social platforms and other places if they were ripping people off with fakes. I have eyed a lot of items on their site, and I have yet to encounter anything that looked suspect. However, I have not personally purchased from them, so I do not have firsthand experience with their professionalism, whether they honor their return policy, etc. I also am not an authentication expert, but I can spot fake X Metals well enough.

The reason I haven't bought from them is simple...they tend to be wildly expensive relative to everywhere else. The value they provide is in professional authentication and curating a selection of items into one trustworthy source, which allows buyers to skip a lot of the risk and hassle inherent in buying vintage online. They are primarily targeting customers who want to buy vintage sunglasses but aren't interested in learning authentication themselves or scouring the internet for items...i.e. REALLY wealthy clients or people who only want that 1 really specific piece. Since you mentioned chasing Mars Craters for over a year, you're squarely in the latter category, I assume.

Again, this is just my general impression from checking out their site and imagining how this type of business would have to function to survive. I would also be interested in hearing from anyone who has dealt with them directly.

 

[XxRuMKaxX]

I can say their prices have never changed LOL. They were set so high back in the day that no one in their right mind considered buying from there so my guess is they were targeting a richer breed of buyer than most of us. Now it is kinda sad that the prices are closing in to them even being considerable.

Here is my advice... move on to something else and be ready to buy when your time happens. It is strange how it goes in this hobby but it seems there are 100 for sale while you are not looking and as soon as you do there are none and no one willing to even discuss it. It comes in waves... drought or flood there is never a in between. Look at the MJ Mars... this time last year everyone was selling one and now ... none to be had for reasonable prices. Craters even had a spell there they were popping up for sale. I promise if you wait it out and keep the funds ready your time will come and the right one will find you as soon as you stop looking high and low.

I have said this to many and many times... Patience has saved me $10's of thousands of dollars and I have watched others impatience lose them money when it was all said and done.

 

[neardistant]

Appreciate the advice

 

[XxRuMKaxX]

Appreciate the advice

I had to go look... so two summers ago I bought sealed BNIB unopened Crater for less than this

"2 Step up another level beyond our already unequaled vintage condition standards with new old stock Oakley Mars Crater sunglasses in mint, unworn condition. Includes vintage Oakley microfiber storage bag and an extra set of rubbers.

Item VS3783-2 / Price: $1385.00"

I overpaid myself for that one I felt but it was sealed and I never in my life got to break the seal on a X metal and wanted to pop just one cherry in my lifetime. It was sooooo worth it too! A mint Crater right out of the box, still as it looked the day it was packaged.

 

[Mystiko Neossia]

Way overpriced and never cared for them. That website hurts my eyes.

 

[Jurist]

Way overpriced and never cared for them. That website hurts my eyes.

No kidding, you have to squint hard just to see which thumbnail to click on. It's effectively unusable, especially considering how photo-intensive sunglasses shopping is. I bet anyone who wasn't exposed to that sort of "Internet beta" level of website early in life would have serious trouble navigating it at all. Even someone pathologically cheap would have sprung for a few hundred bucks to get an off the shelf cookie cutter sales website + someone to port their data into the new setup...has to be a Luddite/technologically functionless owner.