Buying kids costumes can become a challenging prospect, especially if you are looking to purchase one online. Without being able to go into the store how will you know if what you are seeing is really what you will get? Kids costumes come in a variet of sizes as well as materials. Shopping online can present a difficulty if you don’t carefully read the description of the costume you are purchasing. Then there is the store itself – can it be trusted. With a brick-and-mortar store you can evaluate not only the costume you are buying but the store and it’s staff. Again, online this is a bit more tricky. However, there are a few things you can look for as an indicator that a store is reputable and willing to give excellent service and representation to their product. There are four factors that we will consider in the evaluation of these sites. First, it must be a secure sight and have a certification attesting to that. No one want’s to shop online at an unsecure merchant site. Next, it must have a toll free number for customer service. After all, if there is a problem, you don’t want to pay for the call to get it fixed, do you? Third, it should have an affiliation with the Better Business Bureau or similar consumer-friendly certification. Last, but certainly not least, is brand familiarity. If a certain offline brand is available online and has an excellent reputation, then we should consider that in our assessmetn and perhaps even allow that to trump one of the other criteria if need be. OK, so let’s take a look at the five best websites for kids costumes after the jump.
5. Lillian Vernon
I’ve Included Lillian Vernon on the list primarily because the mail-order catalog is well known across the country and the company has been in business 1951. It has a small selection of well-priced kids costumes and a secure site, along with a great reputation and a toll free contact number. What it doesn’t have is any Better Business Bureau connection, nor any customer feedback format, such as BizRate.com. Because of these factors, it ranks the lowest on our list.
4. Costumes4Less.com
Costumes4Less.com boasts over 1200 costumes for children, although not specifically for Halloween, but for all occasions. Located in Paramount, California, the company meets our criteria for a good site as previously noted. The only difference from what we discussed earlier is that they have an alternate for the BBB affiliation. However, based on the information on their website and their contact info’s prominent placement, it has all the earmarks of a great site to shop at for kids costumes.
3. HalloweenExpress.com
HalloweenExpress.com lays claim to having the largest selection of Halloween costumes and costume accessories anywhere. While this may be true, our focus is on the kids costume selection. They have over 30 categories of kids costumes to choose from, ranging from Disney to Superheroes, from Science Fiction to Religion – take your pick. They have excellent security certifications on their site, as well as the official BBB badge. In addition, they also use BizRate to allow customer’s to rate their experience with the site, which is an added plus.
2. AnytimeCostumes.com
Anytime Costumes ranks high on the list for several reasons. They have a good selection of costumes, but they also meet all of our criteria for a great online shopping experience. In addition, they utilize the BizRate system to allow customer feedback and ratings. Finally, they have been in business since 1954, which is a big plus as well.
1. CostumeSuperCenter.com
Costume SuperCenter has a huge selection and offers many special deals depending on your purchase for shipping. In addition, they organize their costumes by age group. This is different than most sites which organize based on costume genre. With the costumes organized based on age groups, you only have to wade through the costumes most likely to appeal to that child’s age. Again, this site meets all our criteria and uses BizRate’s services. Another unique note on Costume SuperCenter is the fact that they have customer services lines available seven days a week. All of these features give evidence of an excellent quality site with excellent service to back it up. That’s why the Costume SuperCenter is our pick as the best website for kids costumes.
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