Your favorite high-end brand may be selling you Walmart and Shein-level quality at a huge markup. Here’s how you can tell and how to get the best deal out there.
Age-old wisdom dictates that it’s better to invest in the more expensive, high-quality item than to buy a cheap knockoff. The thinking is that you may have to invest more upfront, but over the years, it’ll end up being worth it.
For example, if you buy a $300 pair of leather boots that last you 10 years, your cost per wear (based on year, for simplicity’s sake) is $30 a year.
That ends up being half the cost of the $60 boots you have to replace yearly because they start to fall apart.
But what happens when what you thought was superior quality turns out to be an expensive farce?
Why labels aren’t always worth it
In a trending video with more than 150,000 views, TikToker Gigi (@freckles_g) responded to a person who shared that even when they buy the more expensive, presumably higher quality item, “they only last as long as the cheap Chinese knockoffs.”
Gigi explained that just because you see the same item on a site like Shein, Amazon, or Walmart, it doesn’t inherently make it a “cheap knockoff.”
Instead, the retailer you were buying from may have the same supplier or distributor as cheaper sites like Shein, Amazon, and Walmart. It’s a practice known as white labeling.
“So Shein is selling it for $5 and the store that you go to is selling it for $45 and a brand tag,” Gigi said. “That’s it.”
What is white labeling?
White labeling is a common business practice in which a company buys a product—typically from a wholesaler—and sells it under its own brand and logo. The name suggests there’s a blank label that brands can feel free to replace with their own.
This business approach means that multiple companies will be selling the exact same product but with different packaging, marketing, and pricing.
White labeling happens in many industries, including beauty, fashion, food and drinks, furniture, and even software.
Companies tend to go the white-labeling route because buying a premade product can be cheaper and less intricate than designing and producing your own.
But, on the downside, you’re selling the same thing as several other brands and need to find a way to differentiate yourself in the market. It also limits how much you can customize an item to fit your audience.
How to find a product for cheaper
If you suspect an item is white label or just want to double check if you can get it for cheaper, here’s what you can do:
Reverse Google Image Search: Go to Google Images and click “Search by image” (it’s the little camera icon). Insert a picture of the product in question and watch as Google pulls up identical or similar matches from other retailers.
Dupe.com: Paste the item link into dupe.com. It’ll work similarly to a Google Image Search, but the links will be limited to retail sites (and not others like Pinterest). Dupe.com even tells you the price difference between your original item and their matches.
Commenters react
“This!! I did a few test and ordered things off amazon and shien and they had the same tag and everything. Half of what’s on amazon is just resold shien/Ali express/temu,” a top comment read.
“I was convinced when I got a Shein Stanley and I swear to god it’s the exact same. I did the ice test and it was the same result it both my fake and my real Stanley,” a person said.
“Yup bought a cat tree on shein for $28. Amazon and everyone else sold the exact same thing for 120$+,” another shared.
@freckles_g Replying to @Unicorn McMuffin theyre playing us Unicorn McMcuffin #fastfasion #vintage #thrift ♬ original sound – Gigi
“Literally unless u are paying a good chunk of change for something it’s probably shein quality im at a point of just thrifting at this point bc damn,” a commenter wrote.
The Daily Dot reached out to Gigi for comment via Instagram and TikTok direct message and to Shein via email.
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