Anybody that has to at least occasionally wear neckties......

.......ever try buying them on eBay?

I have a buddy who recommended it. He says he will buy 3-5 new ties a month on eBay from $1-5 each shipped. They are almost all from Chinese sellers, and sometimes the shipping takes a month, but they are decent quality silk ties. So if you aren't in a hurry, and need some ties, he said they are the way to go.

Usually I'm big for "you get what you pay for" and at least buying decent quality stuff. But I've found that a $70 necktie and a $17 necktie very rarely differ much. As long as it's decent silk it will tie fine, and it's not like there is great wear and tear on a tie (as long as you are only using it for it's defined purpose ). So I usually load up on ties at Kohl's or the like when they are on sale. But they still run $15 or so each. Last night I threw a bunch of bids out on eBay and just won a tie for $3 shipped. I'll be interested to see what I think when it gets here.

 

Obviously, I've only worn neckties when dressing in drag, but I used to purchase them on a regular basis for my dad. My go-to place was the Nordstrom or Nordstrom Rack, depending on my budget. I never thought about buying them on Ebay. I doubt I ever will, though--engineers don't wear ties very often.

 

Gross.

 

Do recall that my mind has been ruined by 50 Shades.

 

Totally.

 

I've bought a few from Kohl's as gifts. Never worn a real necktie myself, I've never tried dressing in drag.

I like Western shirts, and do occasionally wear a Western tie, aka bolo or string tie. That style goes well with a Western style shirt and the weighted tips let the tie hang nicely between my boobs.

My dad favors clip-on bowties, partly as a protest against even having to wear a necktie.

 

I only occasionally wear ties. A button-down shirt and a tie is considered pretty formal in the publishing world, excepting galas for awards or other such honours.

That said, I think ties are overrated. I don't think too much about them. I had a handful of them for years. There were different colour schemes that I would wear depending on my shirt. Over the past few years, I acquired a couple new ties, but that was pretty much by accident. So I think I have five or six of them now.

The idea of buying new ties each year or, especially, each "season" is really foreign to me. I suppose I would do the annual buy if I were wearing them every day and had more issues of wear and tear. I don't wear them that much, so I don't bother buying new ones.

That said: Cheap ties? Sure. Why not? It's better than paying full price elsewhere.

 

I can understand wanting ties to match your suits well. I have about half a dozen suits in a variety of colors (black, charcoal, charcoal pinstripe, brown, grey, navy) and usually wear a white or blue shirt (several shades of blue, from very light to royal). So as long as the tie isn't too gaudy I can find a matching set-up between those combinations.

I won a second auction last night. So I'm up to two ties for less than $6 total, shipped. The shipping is pretty slow from China on that cheap of a rate, so the fastest one is estimated to be here in 2+ weeks. I'll try to remember to update the thread then.