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Tuesday, March 19th
Trendy Halloween has been shipping costumes worldwide from southern California since 2010. The store (theoretically) carries over 20,000 Halloween products: costumes, accessories, decorations and more.
Where are the costumes?
We were pretty taken aback by the lack of inventory once we started going into the categories here. Teen & Tween was limited to just 11 prints/characters, which included Glee, Care Bears, Mario Brothers, and Star Trek, among a few others. The Adult category fared better, with approximately 400 Halloween costume choices and more prints/characters, but that's still pretty small compared with rival retailers who carry thousands (or tens of thousands) of options (more on the inventory issue later).
14-day returns, no exchanges
What if you want to return your Halloween costume? No problem, just make sure you get an RMA from Trendy Halloween first. You've got 14 days from the date you received your package to request one, and then once you get an RMA you've got 20 days for your return to be received. There are no restocking fees here, unless you make a return without an RMA (and then you'll be charged 30% from your refund). Also, Trendy Halloween doesn't do exchanges for sizing or any other reason: you'll need to return your order and place a new one. That's not the most convenient process we've seen, but not a huge problem either. And, by the way, customer service here is strictly through their online form - and that includes RMA requests.
BBB says "A+"
In terms of reputation, Trendy Halloween is one of just a few retailers that has an "A+" rating from the Better Business Bureau and absolutely no complaints filed there. We love that.
Website, social media out of date
On the other hand, there were some glitchy and less-than-polished aspects of the Trendy Halloween website that left us feeling a little "meh" . The site's URL wasn't secure - not to get too techie, but that's an update that was recommended and standardized net-wide back in July 2018. The copyright of the site itself was two years old at the time of this review, the banner at the top of the site encouraged us to see what was new last year (?!), and the SpookBook linked to Pinterest boards that were at least a year old. Ditto that for all of the social media channels listed under "We Are Social" at the bottom of the Trendy Halloween store; none of them had posts after 2018.
Hard to find anything available for purchase
It got worse. Costume after costume, we picked a size and added it to our cart, only to be taken to a page that essentially said, "Sorry, that size is out of stock." Why are you listing it on your website if we can't buy it? We started clicking on random costumes we didn't even want - Yoda dog ears headband! Squid Game tracksuit! 50s Polka Dot dress! - and none of them were available. The only ones we wound up finding after many, many tries were the Colonial Girl and George Washington children's costumes: not exactly what you'd be looking for in a "trendy Halloween" store, in our opinion. *sigh*
Barely alive
Let's recap: you won't know if the Halloween costume you've got your heart set on is actually in stock until you try to add it to your cart. You can't call or even email Trendy Halloween to see when it might be back in stock, and there's almost no point in trying to reach out through their social media accounts. No wonder there were no complaints filed with the BBB: maybe no one is buying Halloween costumes here (but hey, maybe there'll be a run on colonial attire this year). Save yourself some time and hassle by looking for your Halloween costumes from another store, because Trendy Halloween is barely alive and breathing, from the looks of it.
There's something in Halloween for everyone, from the kids who can't wait to get their hands on piles of free candy, to grown-ups who get to feel like a kid again by dressing up like their favorite superhero or celebrity. Of course, at the heart of any Halloween celebration is the perfect costume. If you're tired of dragging out the same tired clown, witch, or devil attire every year and you're ready for something new, it's time to get shopping!
But wait - what if it's not even fall yet? Or what if you're trying to dress up your kids for their end-of-the-year theme days at school? No need to panic: even though they're called "Halloween" costumes, you can shop for almost any imaginable attire with any number of online retailers who keep the proverbial doors open year-round. That's especially true now that conventions, cosplay, and other dress-up occasions have become so popular - why should that kind of fun be limited to the month of October, right?
One of the best things about shopping for your Halloween costume online is the selection. Have you been to a retail store a few weeks before the holiday and seen how picked-over it gets? Good luck finding anything that fits or matches, let alone a costume that everyone will be talking about.
Yes, you're always going to find the most options in stock if you shop sooner rather than later, but some online stores can hook you up with a killer costume - literally, if you're into dressing up like a slasher movie - and get it delivered even just a few days before Halloween.
With so many Halloween costume stores out there, and so many themes to choose from, it's normal to feel a little overwhelmed when deciding where to shop. Want to make it a little easier? Keep these factors in mind:
To help you get your spooky on, TopConsumerReviews.com has evaluated and ranked today's most popular online retailers of Halloween costumes. We're sure this information will make it fun and fast to get the perfect outfit before the big party or trick-or-treat!
Select any 2 Halloween Costume Stores to compare them head to head