Here's a screenshot of what the welcome page looks like when you first sign in (thought obviously the listings change continually).
First Impression
When I first heard about Copious (affil) I immediately thought to myself, "Oh my gosh, not another shopping community..." and passed it up. Of course, within a week I saw quite a few fellow bloggers hopping on the Copious train and it peeked my interest as to why? I signed up and received $10 for joining, which is a nice touch since you can find products for under $10. After joining I realized that Copious is actually a social-media driven, fashion-focused marketplace that allows individuals to buy and sell to one another. I originally thought it was another sample site or virtual-stylist type site. I've seen everything from NWT Coach bags to nail polish. It reminds me of Etsy in a way, but it's not craft-focused. I started to peruse through some of the items on there, but found myself a bit overwhelmed so I left the site and decided to come back later. That was back in April! Life, BeautyPopShop and general busy-ness distracted me quite a bit, though I occasionally popped on when others posted about what they'd bought and how amazing the deal was.Changing My Approach
Finally I saw a fellow blogger post about a rare polish she'd been able to find on Copious and I realized I'd been going about shopping through this site all wrong. Rather than going through and browsing as I would a typical e-commerce site, I went with a purpose. I fell in love with the OPI Vintage Minnie Mouse collection the second I heard about it and began searching for it. Since it's a recent collection a decent selection of listings popped up. The neat thing about Copious is that because it's so social-network-driven, you can actually see the ways in which sellers connected to Copious as well as how many followers they have. Obviously the more followers and networks you participate in the more likely it is that your listings will be seen. Obviously Copious encourages you to network with one another and connect your social networks to the site. The one thing I can't figure out is how to view or whether you can view someone's ratings as a seller. Does anyone know?Safe Purchasing
One factor that really makes this a safe site for buyers is the fact that money goes into escrow until a sale has been completed, rather than going directly to the seller. I think this is definitely more motivation for sellers to be honest and timely when shipping their products.Verdict
I can see myself popping onto Copious when I'm looking for something specific. It's easy to purchase (yes, I've purchased a couple times on Copious now) and they've been very generous with credits. I received $10 for joining and then another $10 randomly this past week. Keep in mind the credits do expire so keep an eye on those. The initial one I earned lasted a couple weeks and this last one only lasted a couple days. You can also earn credits by inviting friends (of course haha). If you invite a friend and they sign up they instantly get $10 credit. Once they purchase you $5 credit after they make a purchase. It doesn't look as though there's a limit as to how much they have to purchase in order for you to receive a credit like with Fab.com. It's important to note that you cannot use your credit to cover 100% of your purchase. You MUST pay $.01 minimum (that's right, 1 penny haha) on every purchase you make. Not a huge deal, but simply something to note if you have $20 in credit and go to purchase something that's $16 total with shipping. You can apply up to $15.99 worth of credit towards the product and shipping, but you will have to pay $.01. Also, if you buy multiple items from different sellers, like Etsy, you will have to check out multiple times and pay shipping for each seller.I haven't sold anything on there and I'm unsure of whether or not I ever will. When I go through my closet or makeup collection things typically go to 1 of my 3 sisters ;) However, I can see the appeal!
All in all, I'm looking forward to finding out what deals I can find on Copious for things I've been searching for. It's important that you not get swept up with the fun aspect of shopping on there because I've seen some items priced well above what they should be, but I've also seen some truly fabulous steals. My advice is to remain a savvy shopper and I think you can do well on Copious!
How to Join
You can join Copious through this link HERE(affil) or by visiting Copious.com. Sign-up is simple and you can choose whether or not you link all of your social networks to the site or just the one you use to sign up with.Have you joined Copious? What do you think?
