Ladies listen up: if that $12 dress you saw on Facebook seems to good to be true, that’s because it is!
With prom and wedding season upon us, many unsuspecting women and teens are being lured by what appear to be “legitimate” websites offering retail apparel and dresses for next to nothing, leaving them with lighter wallets and heavy hearts.
Media outlets, including ABC News and Buzzfeed, are reporting that sites such as Dress Lily, Sammy Dress, Rose Gal and dozen’s of others are using stolen or phony images to lure unsuspecting shoppers into buying from them, with with buyers getting cheap items that often look nothing like the items they advertise.
To help you avoid these scammers and make sure you get what you pay for we enlisted the help of consumer expert Jeremy Gin from the online review site SiteJabber, to tell you what to look for and ways to shop safe.
Here are his top tips:
Check for signs of professionalism: If you see a site, especially an unfamiliar one, has typos, bad grammar or poor design, odds are they will offer less than quality merchandise.
A website is a reflection of the company and it’s message: a legitimate company will spend money to make sure it is done right.
Make sure the company’s headquarters exists: You can check a company’s address on Google Streetview to see for yourself that it exists and has a legitimate headquarters or storefront in a country you are comfortable ordering from.
Read reviews: Read reviews from sites outside the one you plan to shop on to get a clear picture of how they operate. Reviews on the actual site are not always real, as some companies will pay for positive feedbsck.
Sites like SiteJabber and the Better Business Bureau can give you a real sense of customer experiences from unbiased shoppers.
SiteJabber also offers a free browser extension to make it easier to read ratings and reviews while you shop.
Use a major credit card for purchases: if you are ordering from an overseas site, or one you are unsure of, then use a credit card with strong fraud protection, so you can fight back if something goes wrong.
Your credit card company can help you fight or dispute charges, making them a great asset.
The bottom line is you really do get what you pay for, so if you are shopping for a special dress, protect your wallet and your heart by shopping smart!
Have you had a good or bad experience with one of these dress sites?
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