Review: Bowkuma on Storenvy

This is an unsponsored review. All opinions given are completely my own, formulated by my own personal experience with the shop!

Today I'm going to be reviewing my purchase from a fairly well known shop within the "kawaii" and j-fashion communities on Tumblr, Bowkuma. The owner of the shop has a small assortment of things listed for sale including jewelry and apparel, though as the name gives away, Bowkuma is mostly recognized for their assortment of unique bows. A lot of attention has been directed toward them for their melty dessert bit bows, such as the ones like these: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4. Though I do enjoy the aesthetics of that style, I decided to purchase two white with black cross bows ("changeable cross bow") when I saw that they had finally become available again.

I placed my order for the bows for a total of $13.10 ($5 each plus $4.10 shipping, with a $1.00 discount code) on June 16th. At some point in late July or early August, I decided to check the shop's FAQ to see what processing times were listed as. 

I was a little bit worried about the fact that my order still hadn't been received or even marked as shipped around 6 weeks after my purchase date, especially given that the only holiday within that time frame was Fourth of July. I decided to send an email through the shop's Storenvy contact page to get an update on my order. I never received any sort of communications either in response to my email or even an update.

On August 26th, just a few days after I was thinking about how I had luckily spent less than $15 at the shop since it was too late to open a claim with Paypal, I received an automated email from Storenvy indicating that my package had finally been shipped out via USPS First Class,  71 days later. I received the bows on August 30th.

My order came packaged in a bubble mailer with a few stickers by the address lines. Nothing was harmed or damaged in transit.

The actual items had been placed inside of a plastic bag along with a few business cards, two pieces of mini stationary, a piece of candy, and a note saying "thank you for your patience and order".

The bows are of decent quality considering the handmade nature due to the nice material used, though it's fairly obvious my order was rushed as the construction is lacking. The top bow's shape is nice but the cross was glued slightly off center and the bottom bow's cross is centered but the shape is a bit off on the right side, even after having tried to bend and poof it into something more favorable. These are factors that could have been easily prevented had more attention been paid. 

Some of the more positive qualities of the bows would be the fact that there are no loose strings or threading in the fabric, the resin crosses have smooth edges and don't do any dipping, the glue used to secure the crosses is not visible whatsoever and the visibility along the clips glued to the back is minimal. There are also no seams that I can see, even from the back, which I found to be fairly impressive.

Overall I am extremely unimpressed by my experience with Bowkuma. With the lack of communication, unnecessarily long processing time, and any sort of apologetic compensation for the falling short, the bows should have been flawless, which they weren't. If orders were really that taxing to fill in a timely fashion, the shop should have closed down in an attempt to catch up, but it remained open with new products becoming available the entire 75 days I had waited on my order. The FAQ was misleading and was never changed to reflect the true expected processing time frames.

Had I received any emails to update me, an actual response to my polite and justified inquiries, free upgraded shipping, a complementary bow, etc. I would have definitely been much happier and I would even consider purchasing again as so many of the styles available are interesting and unique. Had my order been shipped and received within the time frames listed in the FAQ, I would not have been so picky about the flaws I found. Unfortunately, I don't plan on giving my money to someone who has a very blatant disregard for paying customers and a lack of respect for proper business ethics and in turn, their brand as a whole. If waiting 75 days to receive products that aren't perfect isn't an issue, then I would recommend purchasing from this shop.

My personal favorite online shop specializing in bows is Sweetheart Bows, also located on Storenvy! Even though the styles are much plainer, the construction is fabulous. Every bow I have received has been created with stellar material and all four of my bows have been even in shape. Most bows are $4.50 or less and orders are fulfilled quickly and within the promised processing time frame listen in the FAQ.

(There are no photographs of me using the bows as I cut my hair too short to style them properly with since placing my order.)

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