The Russian Roulette Website. Will You Win or Will You Lose?
Classic Closeouts
Classic Closeouts doesn't have a very good rep. I have shopped with them several times and have never had a terrible experience although there have been minor problems along the way.
What Classic Closeouts Sells
This site sells clothing for men, women, kids, and babies as well as jewelry and accessories, outerwear, some home furnishings, and lots of bargain and clearance items.
Navigation
The site is busy with links everywhere and promotions going on but really, it is just broken into simple categories that you can easily browse.
The photos are decent and I like that, when you click on a color of an item, the color changes in the photos. The descriptions are often lacking but seem to be better than they were last year. They often leave out details like inseam length and sizing info that is very important — usually in the Bargain Bin and Clearance areas.
You can browse by category or perform a keyword search.
The Bargain Bin area has no descriptions at all and very limited sizes and the Clearance area also has limited sizes and colors.
There isn't much for the guys but there are quite a few pages of clothing for the ladies. Some children's and baby clothing looks cute and the prices are reasonable. The housewares are mostly junk. The jewelry is actually decent although by no means high quality.
From my vast experience on the site, most of the clothing runs small. If you normally take a Medium in tops, buy a Large. Trust me. I made many mistakes buying my true size only to have to send the stuff back which is a hassle.
When you see something you want, click on the color and size (Often you won't be able to get the combo you want) and add it to your cart.
Continue on until you are ready to check out. They do often have promotions and fatwallet.com gives back 6% of your purchase price which is a nice little chunk of change if you order a fair amount of stuff from the site.
If you have shopped on the site before, input your email and password to retrieve your shipping and billing address and proceed. If you are a first time shopper, you need to fill out the usual information and pick a password for tracking orders later on.
You can pay with a major credit card or PayPal. Shipping depends on the amount and the promotion. This week, for instance, shipping is free for orders over $50.00. There is a $5.99 flat fee for orders under $50.00. I never saw a time when shipping wasn't free for orders over $50.00 but they claim it is for a limited time only.
There is also expedited shipping for an added fee.
Checkout is simple. I use PayPal but you can also input your credit card details and you will get a confirmation email immediately. I am charged tax. I don't know if everyone is but I hate that.
When the order ships, you will get another email with a tracking number. It takes a while to get your order but it will get there.
Quality is classic closeout. Ha! I didn't even mean to make a funny. I mean, the quality is generally not good and it's like anything you would find in a bargain bin all rifled through and tossed around. Most items are made from pure cotton and turn into doll clothes after being washed so definitely think big and choose a size up at least.
Providing you are satisfied with your order, that's that.
If you aren't, you can return items. It's a little bit of a hassle to do so and takes forever for a refund but you can do it.
My Experience
I have shopped at Classic Closeouts several times. They have women's silky pajamas for $4.99! I stock up because I know they will shrink or get lost (Don't ask me how I lose pajamas. I just do.) so I always buy a bunch in the fall to have on hand. Their offerings have really dwindled lately. They used to have much more in the way of clothing for both men and women.
The stuff they do have is ehhh. Some is OK and some is junk. You just have to take your chances at times. The prices are generally low and clearance prices are very low. I just bought a denim mini skirt for $2.99. I don't NEED a denim mini skirt but it was less than a Big Kid's Happy Meal at McDonald's. I also stocked up on my $4.99 silky PJs and got my son a few T-Shirts in two sizes larger than he takes because I know how small everything is cut from this site.
Coats and jackets are good deals though and, if you have a lot of kids or just want to save some money, they do have a variety of styles of outerwear at very low prices. They won't keep people super warm in very cold climates but they'll do fine for fall and early winter here in New York. Warmer states could get by all winter with their outwear.
My email confirmations come immediately after I pay for my orders.
It takes a while to get my shipping emails and, at times, they are out of stock on items and have to refund me back without giving me the opportunity to replace the out of stock items with different ones.
Shipping takes a while — around 10 to 14 days. My items arrive in a polybag and in plastic bags inside. I have never ordered anything big enough to merit a box but I assume breakables and large orders come in a box.
When I first started shopping at CC, I thought my standard size was their standard size. No way! Their size Medium tops fit like size Small at best. My usual size 4 pants fit like, well, they didn't fit above my knees.
I had to return the stuff so I headed to the site and had to fill out a form telling the site what I was returning and why. Then I had to wait for a number to put on my package. That took a few days. Finally, I sent back my stuff.
They won't exchange for size so I had to get a refund. That took forever. It was at least a month before the refund showed up in my PayPal account. I rarely return anything because it is such a hassle and not worth it. I just pass the stuff along to someone who can wear it or donate it. After all, the clothing is really inexpensive and someone out there can use it. It saves me the cost of returning items and possibly being charged shipping because I dipped under the free shipping amount and all kinds of hassles.
The quality is very, very mediocre. Some items are cute and look nice and others look like junk. The jeans look good and are often brand name but many are 30 inch inseams which are way too short for me. Even when the inseams are longer, they don't specify the waist size and I have no idea what size I would be in "CC terms". I generally stay away from the jeans although the prices make me want to take a guess at what size I would wear. Tops, I just go up to a Large and I am fine.
In all, I haven't had any dreadful experiences but it takes a long time to get a refund and the quality is often as bad as the prices are good. Now and then you will get a great bargain. I got a really nice long jean skirt last year for a stupid cheap price that was as nice as any I have seen in stores or expensive catalogs. It's like Russian Roulette. You may or may not win.
I could easily live without ever shopping at Classic Closeouts. It's just there for when they have a promotion (I used a $10.00 coupon off $50.00 and got free shipping this time.) and when September rolls around and I want my cheap jammies.
I wouldn't say it is a bad website, just a very, very average at best one with some low quality stuff to go along with some decent stuff.
Shipping and Returns
Shipping is $5.99 for orders under $50.00 and free (at the moment and at every moment I ever shopped there) for orders over $50.00.
You can choose to get expedited shipping for a fee.
You can return items within 30 days but nothing from the Bargain Bin is returnable. Keep that in mind when you are rifling through the $2.99 bin.
You must go to the site and check off the items you are returning then wait for them to send you a RMA number before returning anything.
Once you get that, you can return the items.
However, if you got free shipping and you go below the threshold for free shipping by returning the items, you will be charged the $5.99 shipping fee. If you used a coupon code and you dip below that amount when you return items, the code is void. Really, just keep the stuff and find people to give it to if it doesn't fit. It is actually cheaper to do that than to return stuff unless you have a huge return.
Contact Info
There is an online contact form where you can ask any questions and give any feedback to the site.
You can also send an email to info@classiccloseouts.com.
I can't find a phone number anywhere. That is a bad thing.
Conclusion
The quality and descriptions are getting better. I saw Forever 21, Mudd, and Hot Kiss jeans on the site and they actually stated their inseams which were 31 or 32 inches. Some actually went up to 34 inches and that is a long legged girl's dream. There are some other decent brand names as well. Then there is the no name, take your chances and hope for the best stuff. The prices are really low though so I can't complain when the quality isn't up to my usual standards. I mean, I can't expect a skirt that costs $2.99 to be $50.00 quality.
If you choose wisely and if you order carefully, you could get some good deals. Kids and baby clothing is cheap and cute. Just buy a size up from what you normally would. Outerwear and jewelry is decently priced and a good deal.
What isn't good is if you have to return items. That becomes a hassle. You CAN return things but you risk being charged shipping (If you got free shipping) and will be waiting a while for your refund. You will also have to pay to send the items back obviously.
This site is hit and miss. I don't expect great quality and am pleased when stuff actually fits and looks decent. Most of the clothing and jewelry I have purchased has been of low to average quality with a few things that stood out as really good deals.
All that said, I am not so sure how to rate this site. If you go into it with your eyes open and know you are bargain shopping, you won't really have many problems. But if you expect terrific steals and deals and super high quality on everything, you'll be let down.
Because there is no contact phone number and because returns are such a hassle (but they are accepted and you do get a refund eventually), I am going with 3 stars. That is pretty generous considering all the low rates I saw for this site but my experiences were always average. I never had any major problems and, once, when something was missing from an order, they quickly refunded me without any questions asked.
Below average here and there, above average here and there...
Add it all up and you get an average website with cheap stuff that doesn't pretend to be anything more than that. If you have a problem, don't say I didn't warn you though. Russian Roulette, I tell ya!
Recommended:
Yes
