The Sketchy Retailers Selling Discount Fashion on Facebook
I doubt I'm the only one who looks at the shops that randomly pop up as adverts on Facebook and think, "hmm yeah, probably not going to buy anything from them." Unfortunately, a lot of people see pretty pictures and discounted prices and decide, "Why not? What's the worst that could happen?".
This question is quickly answered when these customers receive their shoddy products a few days/weeks later. This is definitely a problem when it comes to Facebook because anyone can create a business page or sell an ad. Yes, having these be easy to access is good for small businesses and start ups but it seems the fact that these shops are not being closely monitored is leading to some trouble.
The problem has been with a few shops based in China selling clothes based off of stolen photos. These photos would usually be of designer items, only they would be sold for a lot less than they're worth. Because of this people are snatching them up because they think it's a bargain, even if they've already guessed that it's a fake. If you're knowingly buying a fake then it's not as bad, as you know you're not going to get amazing quality but somehow these products are worse than most fakes you can pick up in a market or, lets admit it, a high street clothes shop. They're arriving misshapen, made out of cheap and uncomfortable material and in one case the dress even carried an unfortunate odour. No matter how cheap you buy something you do not want it to smell; even charity shops refuse to sell clothes if they smell after they wash something. So what is going on here?
First things first this is obviously a scam. You're never going to get the clothes in the photo as they didn't even take the photo. If you see something you like on Instagram then ask the user, or if you see something on another site or a shop you don't know then do a Google image search with the picture and see what comes up. If you don't see anything that looks official or you see the item on an official site that's unrelated to the shop you were looking on then back off. Also make sure all the clothes from the site look like they were photographed the same way and that they possibly have a small group of models. Just because something looks like a bargain it doesn't mean that its going to turn out to be one.
You should also be certain of a company before you shop from them and you can easily do that by searching the shop name and customer reviews. If you do want pre-warning of who to avoid, those owned by Chinese company Global Egrow are certainly high up that list. These include; DressLily, RoseWholesale, RoseGal, SammyDress, Zaful, Nasty Dress, TwinkleDeals, and TrendsGal. If a shop has only bad reviews then even if it wasn't a scam then it's probably best to avoid them. There's no way to completely get rid of these shops as they will keep popping under different guises but you can get them taken down for a little while. If you see a stolen photo then report it to the owner or to the customer service team of the shop. They can then report the stolen copyright but only they can do so. Facebook claim to take copyright infringement seriously so you'd hope they'd do something about it but that is proving to be less straight forward than you might expect.
If you choose to still buy something from a suspicious website then it's on your own head if the product is shoddy. If you do buy something by accident, however, then you might not be able to get your money back but you can do your best to warn others and get the shops reported. Don't let this happen to you or other people you know, you deserve better.
This question is quickly answered when these customers receive their shoddy products a few days/weeks later. This is definitely a problem when it comes to Facebook because anyone can create a business page or sell an ad. Yes, having these be easy to access is good for small businesses and start ups but it seems the fact that these shops are not being closely monitored is leading to some trouble.
 |
| Buzzfeed |
First things first this is obviously a scam. You're never going to get the clothes in the photo as they didn't even take the photo. If you see something you like on Instagram then ask the user, or if you see something on another site or a shop you don't know then do a Google image search with the picture and see what comes up. If you don't see anything that looks official or you see the item on an official site that's unrelated to the shop you were looking on then back off. Also make sure all the clothes from the site look like they were photographed the same way and that they possibly have a small group of models. Just because something looks like a bargain it doesn't mean that its going to turn out to be one.
 |
| H&M | DressLily |
You should also be certain of a company before you shop from them and you can easily do that by searching the shop name and customer reviews. If you do want pre-warning of who to avoid, those owned by Chinese company Global Egrow are certainly high up that list. These include; DressLily, RoseWholesale, RoseGal, SammyDress, Zaful, Nasty Dress, TwinkleDeals, and TrendsGal. If a shop has only bad reviews then even if it wasn't a scam then it's probably best to avoid them. There's no way to completely get rid of these shops as they will keep popping under different guises but you can get them taken down for a little while. If you see a stolen photo then report it to the owner or to the customer service team of the shop. They can then report the stolen copyright but only they can do so. Facebook claim to take copyright infringement seriously so you'd hope they'd do something about it but that is proving to be less straight forward than you might expect.
 |
| Buzzfeed |
If you choose to still buy something from a suspicious website then it's on your own head if the product is shoddy. If you do buy something by accident, however, then you might not be able to get your money back but you can do your best to warn others and get the shops reported. Don't let this happen to you or other people you know, you deserve better.
Rosina is a Songbird rookie with a degree in Creative Writing. She's trying to focus on her novel on the side but is hoping that Content Writing will turn out to be a good career choice in the mean time! Follow her @Songbird_Rosina
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The Sketchy Retailers Selling Discount Fashion on Facebook
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Thursday, April 07, 2016
Rating:
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Thursday, April 07, 2016
Rating:
Unknown
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