A woman says she saw a Shein swimsuit being sold at a boutique for more than four times its original price.
In a TikTok posted last week, Lauren Harris (@laurharr22) shows a blue bikini with Shein stickers on it being sold at a boutique. The item was marked at $40; it sells for a little over $8 on Shein.
“If your boutique is selling Shein clothes for 4x the price,” Harris wrote in her video’s overlay text, “at least take the tags off and hide the evidence.”
On Monday, Harris’s video had almost 1.5 million views on TikTok.
@laurharr22 Like who do they think they are fooling #shein #boutique #bikini ♬ original sound – Lauren
Harris shared in a comment on her video that she understands that stores need to make a profit to stay afloat, “but like at least do brands where we don’t know how much they really cost.”
Many commenters on Harris’s video shared that they no longer shop at boutiques—or trust that boutique merchandise is high quality.
“THIS is why I hesitate to go to boutiques or small shops,” a user wrote. “I swear everytime I pay like $70 for a dress and it’s damaged within the first three uses.”
“All these boutiques I see selling $6 Temu slippers for $35-$40 has me gagged,” another said. Temu is another online retailer that sells items for discount prices.
One commenter shared that they do reverse image searches on items they are interested in purchasing from small businesses.
“This is why I reverse image search online boutique photos,” they wrote. “Most of the clothes are on Shein or AliExpress.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Harris via Instagram.
