http://www.lightinthebox.com
Lightinthebox is one of the most popular Chinese wholesale distributors of the moment. Products are sourced directly from manufacturers, and are only included into the catalogue after a quality assurance process.
The head office in Beijing and two branches in Shenzhen and Suzhou, gives Lightinthebox an excellent coverage of the major manufacturing areas in China. Proximity to factories is important because it simplifies the verification process and speeds up the delivery of goods.
There is no minimum order limitation, so all products are suitable for both resellers looking to increase margins or individuals that want to save some money on their shopping. However, you may get better deals when you buy several units either on the Wholesale section of the site or contacting a Sales Manager.
Is Lightinthebox.com a scam?
The answer is simple: No. It is a legitimate company that would like to keep making money satisfying buyers instead of ripping them off.
Notice that Lightinthebox offers Google Checkout, which is only available to merchants based on US or UK. Google also assigns them a PageRank value of 7 out of 10, which a scam site would never dream of…
However, as always when you buy from China, it is best to be careful and use payment methods that offer additional protection measures for buyers, such as Paypal or Google Checkout. If things go really bad, you could escalate to your Credit Card company and claim for a charge-back.
Site features & Value Added Service
Lightinthebox provides some exclusive services such as the VIP MemberShip Program that should be quite helpful for big buyers. If you do not want to pay the VIP fees, you may try to negotiate with the Sales Managers for a better price. After all you are buying from China, where it is a long-standing tradition to bargain :)
Another interesting service is the wedding dress customization. Wedding and formal dresses are one of the most mature categories on the site. You can customize the dress material, size or style while still getting a competitive price. May not be the ultimate dress for a princess, but you won’t find it cheaper.
If you are an online retailer you should definitely look at their dropshipping service. Lightinthebox will ship the products directly to your customers with no extra cost.
Delivery & Support
Unlike other merchants, Lightinthebox does not allow explicitly customers to choose a specific courier, and commonly they will use EMS, DHL, UPS or TNT depending on what suits best to the order. In the case you purchase large quantities of branded items, you’d better ask Lightinthebox to split them into different packages.
Lightinthebox offers a US phone number as a main point of contact. Don’t waste your time dialing… the line is busy forever. Email, fax and live chat are the best ways to keep in touch, and you can try ringing their Beijing office.
Have you bought from Lightinthebox? Were you satisfied? Did you have any problem? You are welcome to share your experience below.
57 Customers have reviewed LightInTheBox.com Review
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Le 14 aout je’ai passée commande pour un MP3 et j’ai paye US dolars 26,3 par PayPal
Je viens d’etre informé que vous avez inicié mais pas fini ce payement.
Donc, annulé
Comme je ne comprends pas, j’annule aussi.
Rachel Zelesnak
I have ever bought 2 products from Light in the box and they were excellent.I bought a dress for my girlfriend and a skype phone for my pc computer.
Please keep it up
I bought one of the iPhone replicas (*ahem* HiPhone I9) from Light in the box and got it few days ago. I love it!
It took 9 days to ship but it is absolutely worth the money.
what state do you live in and are you a true customer of light in the box and not an employee nor ever been an employee or paid by light in the box
William was very helpful and very quick returning with the answer need!
Well, i cannot get an e mail to send a picture of a faulty drain pipe. they say send to e mail but do not provide one. chat does not work, they refuse to deal with a product already sold. so-do you have William’s number? I sure need help!
I bought a chocolate brown formal dress for my daughter and it is great! She fit it perfectly. She is normally a size 0 or 2 and we ordered a 4 because I heard their stuff runs a little small. I would recommend ordering a size bigger than normal. I must say the quality is better than I’ve seen in the stores recently and I will buy from them again.
I bought a bridesmaid dress for my friend’s wedding from this website, good quality and well-made. I’m considering ordering bridesmaid dresses here for my own wedding.
I bought my wedding dress from “LITB”i love what they have sent me. It came in quick time .they made my dress to my curvs and i think i look great in it thanks to light in the box i can be a good looking bride thank you and aloha Rave
The kids love the touch screen mp3/mp4 players with camera and video. The one problem, I have is I purchased 3 but one does not work properly and I can not find instructions as to how to make a return. Because of this I am weary of ordering a mini laptop. Other than that one problem the items arrived a week after I placed an order.
I’ve just received my sister’s wedding bridesmaid dresses and they look fab. I was kind of scared of things going wrong but now i’m so happy!!
I want more =)
I want to know if i can get my own name on the cellphones and on other products
Very pleased with the prompt delivery of my order, an ( e-phone) It is exactly how it was described at the site,,works fine and looks great. I recommend this site not only for it’s service but also for it’s great prices.
With my two years experience on buying from Beltal and DHgate, what I can tell is that these two platforms have the same business model.Dhgate commission fee is 30% higer than Beltal. you can get more profits from Beltal.All the sellers on Beltal is free,the levels are nature, according to their sales volumes,product quality and feedbacks
I saw a dress that I like on your website and I want to order it for my daughter’s wedding but there are so many negatives complaints about your service online. Honestly, I want to ask you, should I trust your compagny to place my order and do you think that I will receive my dress on time, and also what I see online is what I will receive?
Thank you
Modeline Pierre
i ordered a wedding dress for my girlfriend at the end of feb and am still waiting for it to be shipped from their main base didn realise it would take so long hope it arrives soon they were quick enough taking the money…………….. not so quick to deliver the goods :(
I am thoroughly disappointed with the service. I ordered a dress a month ago and have been trying to trace it. It has not arrived but they took teh money quickly enough. Now because I have ordered teh dress, I did not buy another and now there is a chance that my daughter will not have something appropriate to wear for a very very special occassion. I regret trusting this company.
I want to say that light in a box is the GREATEST over seas company you can order from, I got taken by milanoo and was scared to re-order from another company, but I am SOOOOOO glad that I did order from light in box. The dresses were PREFECT, my brides maids were VERY pleased. I say keep up the great work and put Milanoo out of business. Thanx for making my big day outstanding!
I ordered my prom dress off this website, even after reading the horrible reviews below this one, and being extremely skeptical of what I was going to receive. The dress came almost a month and a half later, but the delay was to be expected; not only is it dress season, but I was having mine custom sized, and I changed the color of both the skirt and bodice. After the dress arrived, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It is truely one of the most beautiful pieces of clothing I have ever seen, and it fits like a glove. It’s sad to say, but most people won’t write reviews unless they have had a problem with a company or purchase- it’s just typical consumer behavior. However, if you are at all thinking about making a purchase from lightinthebox, the dresses are A-Okay. The dress fit perfectly, was shipped when they said it would be, and is EXACTLY what I expected, only better. I can’t imagine ever purchasing another dress from a different company. They will have my service as long as i’m wearing evening gowns. Also, this trend has caught on at my high school, the available custom sizing and option of changing colors has intrigued so many seniors that I know of at least five others who have been satisfied with their experience as well. It’s a wonderful business providing quality products.
to Modeline Pierre, be careful about when you need the dress shipped by. If it’s a custom design dress, that’s going to be custom sized, it takes about 6 weeks. They don’t hide this information though- it’s on their FAQ section, i think most people just don’t take the time to look for it. so if you order ahead of time, it’s more than worth it to order from lightinthebox
Wow ,Gorgeous ,I got my phone 3 days ago ,it is a good phone for this price , this is really perfect phone .the touchscreen .. the slide made this whole operation smooth and comfortable , the keyboard is really nice ,the voice is also very sound pretty ., the bluetooth headset and solar charger are coming with the cell phone as a free gift!! So that the price is VERY good.!”
This is way better than a brick & mortar estblaihsemnt.
Hello everyone Light In The Box is not a scam. I purchased over $500.00 worth of beautiful things and will continue to order. Makeup brushes,wedding dress and still have more wedding things to purchase. I am a Small Business owner and I love this company. LIGHT IN THE BOX~~ Thanks for such a awesome job with all my wedding needs. Save myself $12,00 Dollars thanks a MILLION!!!!!
The Best In The Business LIGHT IN THE BOX!!!!! Carla Carter (Chicago ILLINOIS) !!!!!! Will send Wedding pictures after the wedding Thanks very very much for the Live chat people, and awesome response from the e-mails Love YA~~~~Keep up the AWESOME JOB !!
I have received 2 Celtic jersey’s and they are fabulous copies, well worth the 66% less than here.
Does anyone know about customs? Did you have to pay customs? I am just curious about that portion.
With LightInTheBox (and most other Chinese wholesalers) the customer is responsible for customs clearance unless otherwise specified (such as a value-added service for VIP buyers or things like that).
You may contact the company to see if they are aware of problems in the past with a similar product than yours.
Hope it helps!
RE: Customs charges
Oct 2011, Germany
Just paid 31 euros for a car nav/reversing camera from LITB at 109 dollars.
I have got mobile phones-hours (S9110 Ultra Thin with Compass 1.8 Inch Touch Screen Wrist Watch Cell Phone (2GB TF Card) (SZ09160003), I ask you to transfer by e-mail the instruction in Russian
Alexander Kotik
зарание it is grateful!
This company is a SCAM. I recently order a camcoder from them and what i got was JUNK. The remote control was missing and so as the batteries. I contact them for a refund but have not heard back from them. By the way, it took Lightinthebox 8 days to confirmed my order but only 2 minutes to charged my credit card. They also want copy of my photo id and credit card information but i refuse to do so. This is my fist time order from them and my LAST time. Please don’t be another VICTIM like me. Thanks
Company may not be a scam but they do not give a satisfaction guarantee. If you have a problem with any product expect a runaround to get a refund which will include you shipping the item to them at your expense AND a 15% restocking fee. I will never order from them again and would advise others not to either.
I would like to order a lighting fixture from LITB but I came to find out the have no telephone #. What is up with that?? You can only get help from a live chat. I’m deathly afraid if something goes wrong with my order I’ll have no way getting these ppl to rectify the problem since they’re making themselves inaccessible from go. Kevin he’s also had this problem with a camcorder. Anyone else had these kind of problems?? Anyone have a customer service number???
Hi I purchased something while I was signed in and paid using my paypal account the order and Oder number shows there but not on my account order list in the website, I even have a confirmation email with invoice number. I bought my item on jan31/11 with expedited shipping and I would just like to know where is my item at. Please contact me at 2409200202 thank you and I will be waiting. I bought here before just don’t know what’s wrong this time !!! Miogy7@gmail.com
Hi TaVon,
During the last week LightInTheBox and every other Chinese shop have been celebrating the Chinese New Year. During this time is normal that orders experience delays (think that LightInTheBox, factories, and delivery companies staff all went on holidays). It’s likely their service will resume within a couple of days and you will get information about your order.
I purchased a few times from Lightinthebox before and they normally turn around within 2-4 weeks. I know it’s far from ideal but it seems they are getting better. Also, you should know this is kind of normal when buying from China
I got a notice on my door today that my wedding dress arrived by UPS but there was a COD of $40. I contacted LightInTheBox by email and they responded that they had no control over customs and what ever they charge is my responsibility. So beware anything you purchase may not be the actual price.
I ordered my prom dress on March 31st. They told me my dress would be here by April 17th. It is now April 25th and I haven’t received any apology or even a we haven’t forgot about you or even heard from them since they charged my card. Prom is on May 7th. I need my dress so my date can buy his tux and I can buy my shoes. This is starting to bug me and it says my order is still processing… they haven’t even shipped it to the warehouse yet and it takes 5 business days to ship. Never buying from here again, and if I do I’ll do it 6 months in advance. DON’T BUY FROM HERE UNLESS IT’S MORE THEN 2 MONTHS IN ADVANCE. Crappy customer service.
Hey Ainsley,
I was wondering if you ever received your order. I’m having the same problem. I placed my order April 27th and haven’t received it yet.
Thanks,
Z
I ordered my prom dress April 18th and they said it would be here by May 8th. Prom is next week so I hope they hurry.
SCAM SCAM SCAM!!! Do not buy anything from this store. I ordered a dress from this store only to receive a defective dress that is not in the correct color. They don’t own the patterns which is obvious because the arm holes are not aligned and not big enough to fit over my slender frame. They will give you the run around when you ask for a return. Giving an address that they never receive mail at. If you value your money do not order anything from Light in the Box.
I will never order again from the company Light in the House. I ordered a simple jacket to go with my wedding dress. The order was placed 3 weeks and I still have not received jacket.Shipping was suppose to be on May 18, 2011. My wedding is in a few days. I tried contacting them. There is no phone number. Only emailing them which they do not respond. This should be the happiest time in my life and I should not be worried sick as to when I am going to receive the jacket. I went on a website and I saw numerous complaints about this company. I was shocked. With this many complaints about people not receiving their merchandise. Light in the Box should have been removed from the website. I think they are a scam company.
i have ordered my wedding dress from here and im now rather frightened as to wether im going to be disapointed or not , also will i get charged on delivery if n when it turns up ?
I got my wedding dress from Light in the box it was better than I hoped! I did have to get it resize, they did not convert inches over correctly, but overall I was surprise how well it was made. In addition, I could not believe how fast I got it; it took 32 days in total. If you have to call them, just remember the time difference, I forgot about that and was scared that I had been had. However, once I called about 3 am my time, I got someone. I called so many times being the crazed bride that I was and they were always happy to help me and answered all my questions.
thank you jaye , im so nervous but kinda hopeful can i ask what dress oyu ordered xx
I looked at lightinthebox for a long time and almost buy my dress from them,I gave up my thought after read so many negative reviews though I think lightinthebox have professional and beautiful website.I finally bought my dress from perfectweddingforever.com which recommended by my friend, it looks very nice and well made!
Besides me,I do know quite a few people that have ordered from china manufacturers like perfectweddingforever,lightinthebox for their wedding dresses and have got them come and were very satisfied. Most do advertise that its a designer replica and not the actual brand. Now it does take 4-8 weeks to get it in most cases as thy have to custom make it and then send it. I also know a girl that went to a local seamstress got measurements of all 5 of her girls and sent it and just got all their dresses come last week with no complaints. But again it all depends on you and what you want. If you want the fanciness at a fraction of the cost then go for it ..if money isnt an option for you then maybe not.
i got my dress last week after paying an additional 75 pound for it at the door was handed a tiny box i just kept thinking ohmy god this cant be my dress , on opening and realising it had been vacum packed ( was a relief ) and actually removing the dress i was gob smacked its absolutly beautiful and well worth every penny although i was a tiny bit disapointed with the quality of the bow / sash but can change this , id recommend litb and will certainly be returning for my bridesmaid dresses all 9 of them .. x
This is a review I wrote on your dress.
A very angry bride-to-be. 2011-08-13 01:30:45
By Erin
I am getting married in November, and wanted my girls to wear this dress. Three of my girls ordered the dress in their sizes according to the charts, and all of them came in the wrong size. The first was three sizes too big. the second was two sizes too small, and the third a size too small. Upon my girls coming onto the website, and writing customer service to try and get their accurate sizes shipped to them…they were told they weren’t going to be able to get their correct sizes because it was against their policy…apparently because all the dresses are made “custom” so that means the 7 day money back guarantee does not count, and you’re stuck with a dress that doesn’t fit. My sister was also told if she wanted anything done they would have to take pictures of their dresses to PROVE they had the wrong size (to prove it was the companies fault and not her fault…which it WAS the companies fault)…which she did, and all they agreed to do (after several emails of my sister being persistent and trying to get them to help her) was give her 50 dollars to get her dress taken in (the other girls didn’t even get this far with the website. They brushed them off.) Sure, 50 dollars might sound good, but here’s the thing though…to get chiffon taken it…50 dollars won’t even cover half the price of what it is going to cost to get the dress in the right sizes. I had to go and find my girls other dresses, and we are now selling these somewhere else..where NO ONE is biting because let’s face it…selling something in only one size isn’t going to be very appealing to consumers
CONS:
- If you want to get any amount of money back you have to ship it back on your own dollar so that they can then examine it to see if your claim has any right. if they think you don’t they will make you pay to have it sent back to you…more money…on an already expensive dress.
- if you buy a dress through them, the 7 day money back guarantee is NOT eligible for dresses because they are all “custom” made…even if they are made in the wrong size.
- they will NOT work with you on your purchase. won’t even budge. If you question their process you will get a “sorry for your luck” reply, and blame you for the issues instead of blaming themselves.
- If they do offer you money to get it sized…it won’t cover the charges to get it sized. (and again, this was after my sister insisted THEY had messed up…otherwise this would not have even been offered.)
- three of my girls are now stuck with dresses that don’t fit, and all are on tight budgets so hopefully they can somehow sell their dresses so that they can go to David’s bridal and get different ones.
PROS:
-Dress is made well.
Thank you Lightinthebox for making a brides life a living hell. I am happily now a customer of David’s Bridal (where my other 5 girls, who were going to get their dresses from you, are now getting their dresses at David’s), I will never buy from this site again.
WARNING: If this is all you read of my review, then read it well and take it to heart. If you order from this website, do not expect customer service!
i’ve just ordered 2 lots of items from this company. all i can say is the delivery time, the quality of product and just everything else in general is just the absolute best! i’ve been constantly chatting on live help as i was confused about the shipping – it was to leave china and make its way to the uk but the ups site said it had left china, arrived at stansted and then went to beijing! korea! kazakstan, poland and then the uk! the live help is (and i’ve emailed them this) the BEST ever live chat help. they ACTUALLY reply to YOU and don’t just hit a button with an automated robotic response (take note AOL and EBAY!!!). i ordered on the thursday and it arrived on the monday! blimey even royal mail couldn’t get a letter 10 miles away from home that quick! only problem? yes and its a BIG one for me – the shipping rates fluctuate so vastly that you really do have to buy when you see the timer and the shipping is low. the box i ordered was £18.00 and 4 days later i wanted some more and it went up to £39.00!!! it then makes a cheap item very VERY expensive. but i’m always on the computer and always checking so its not really a big deal but just a very expensive one. Full marks to this company – i’d take my hat off to them (if i had one)
Never order from this company! Chances are you won’t get what you ordered and you will incur considerable unexpected costs. I ordered several items from them for my wedding. On the first order I bought 3 x custom sized bridesmaid dresses and on a separate order I bought a guest book, ring cussion, flower girl basket etc. Neither order arrived correctly. The bridesmaids dresses arrived completely incorrectly sized, the quality was okay but they were unwearable because they were tiny (more than 4 inch discrepancy from the measurements provided) so didn’t even zip up. After several months of their excuses and delay-tactics, I gave them bad publicity and took legal action, they replaced the dresses with the correct sizes. The second order that I had placed did arrive with the correct items included but also came with a $47.30 bill from DHL Express for delivery (I had already paid LightInTheBox for their standard delivery). I disputed the bill with DHL but apparently, because LightInTheBox had not filled out the Australian Customs declaration correctly, this was an additional “Quarantine Processing Fee”. The products were okay but definately not worth the price after the unexpected cost was added. I have written to LightInTheBox asking them to reimburse me for their error but to no avail. My best advice – don’t buy from this company!
Chinese Quality
Bad manuals and bad packaging
Bad Batteries (cell phone purchased)
No transparency in final taxes (I payed a 35% more at destination)
Bad quality in software and materials
Not recommendable
Such a scam! I bought a chandellier some time back and was so looking so cheap (5 euros max), not to mention it was damaged. Same experience from other friends, this site sells Chinese cheap stuff!
I have had a very bad experience with Light In The Box. Below is three messages I posted with them for a defective MP4 player they sent me that fell apart on day 1. It is a nightmare ($$ and time wasted) trying to return a defective product. See the messages below that I sent to them.
=====Message #1 =====================
Subject: Returns & Refunds
Additional information:
I recently purchased two 4GB 2.8 Inch Fashion Style Touch Screen MP4/MP3 Player with Digital Camera and I would like to return them due to a defect.
The first player was opened up and in use for only one day. The “ON-OFF” button was loose and fell off. I am very disappointed with the quality of these MP3 players and I am treating this as a ‘defective return’ and asking for a full refund.
Harry R.
Order Date: September 05, 2011
========Message #2=======================
I am also very disappointed with the product documentation and software that came with the MP3 players. The manual was very poorly transplated from Chinese and was very difficult to read. The CD that came with these MP3 players was terrible and useless.
I am asking for a full refund of $88.52.
Harry R.
========Message #3==================
Additional question: Who pays for the shipping costs since this is a defective product? Shipping costs for USPS are $12.76 ship + $11.50 to track the package. These costs should be paid for by Light In The Box since there are problems with the items shipped. Please let us know how we can get reimbursed for these expenses ($24.26 US Dollars)caused by poor workmanship on your company’s end.
Harry R
I’am trying to find out about a bridemaid dresses-in a color antique white do you’ll carried that color. Thank you
I ordered something and the next morning happened to notice they reduced the price of what I ordered quite substantially….they wouldn’t adjust my order amount and had already processed it…so I was ____out of luck. I don’t believe I will be ordering from them again. Most companies give you even 30 days to go back with your receipt if the price has changed and they adjust it, and this was the very next day…less than 24 hours…don’t expect great customer service.
Also they said if I wanted to cancel it they would charge me 50% of what the products cost as a processing fee….
Terrible return policy and totally unacceptable. Never dreamed when ordered it it would come from China.
They tryed to tell me the dress was custom made for me.
HA they never took measurements.
PLEASE DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM.
i bought two android tablets one has been deliverd i had to pay extra fourteen pound for it to be deliverd wich i wasnt told about it has no english charger or accseories and make clunking sound not impressed ad will not buy from the company again